The Three Musketeers (1973)

Richard Lester's rendition of Alexandre Dumas' classic swashbuckling adventure is a tongue-in-cheek comedy that thumbs its nose at its more serious predecessors. Having divided the story into two separate films, Lester manages to capture some of the more intricate details of book.

The first film features the arrival of D'Artagnan in Paris and his efforts to become a King's Musketeer, just like his father before him. In Paris he encounters three men who quickly become his friends and allies. Together they get entangled in court intrigues, and take up arms against the plotting, conniving Cardinal Richelieu. In the course of duty, they travel to England, where they try to preempt a scandal involving some diamond studs, the Duke of Buckingham and the reputation of the Queen of France.