The Three Musketeers (1948)

Gene Kelly heads up George Sidney's star-studded version of the classic Alexandre Dumas tale of adventure and espionage. In this wry, tongue-in-cheek retelling, the country swain D'Artagnan (Kelly) survives his prickly initial encounters with the Musketeers (all three separately challenging him to a duel) to become a valiant ally in their gallant exploits. The foursome's efforts to defend the honor of the queen and the peace of the realm become imperiled when D'Artagnan falls in love with his landlord's daughter, a spy, while a Musketeer's secret comes to light that could threaten both the throne and the swordsmen's seemingly unbreakable bond. The impressive supporting cast features Vincent Price bringing his inimitably sinister creepiness to the role of the scheming Richelieu, a young Angela Lansbury as Queen Anne, and Lana Turner at the height of her achingly alluring beauty as the evil Lady de Winter. Kelly, with his dashing, balletic swordplay and acrobatic leaps, provides the greatest of the many pleasures in this lighthearted, dazzlingly colorful swashbuckler.