THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1975)

STARS: Raquel Welch, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Faye Dunaway, Michael York, Charlton Heston, Simon Ward, Geraldine Chapman, Frank Finlay, Roy Kinnear.

DIRECTOR: Richard Lester. DURATION: 107 mins.

SYNOPSIS: The scheming Milady de Winter returns to attempt revenge on our heroes in a lavish, tongue-in-cheek, swashbuckling journey which takes them across Europe to France, England and Italy.

RC PLAYS: Aramis.

The film itself is darker in tone to its prequel, The Three Musketeers, despite being filmed at the same time. However, the mix of humour, slapstick, romance and swashbuckling made it another hit with both cinemagoers and critics.

Lester it seems was only too pleased to be reunited with Chamberlain, with whom he'd worked before on Petulia. "Richard came to mind immediately for the part of Aramis," explained the director. "The technique of filming those two movies simultaneously meant we had to juggle everybody's availability. It was a nightmare in that way, but Richard was available long enough to do that with us. Again, his physical abilities; that he rode well and that he had the ability to learn physical movement well contributed to his casting. Rehearsing the sword fights was all part of his skill. He is an easy man to work with and I have enjoyed my time with him very much. He's a good, hard-working actor who takes his job seriously. And he's also pleasant to have a meal with, so what more can you ask?"

But not everyone was quite to thrilled to be working with Richard Lester. Chamberlain said of the experience of filming the two movies together without the cast knowing, and therefore getting double the work for a fraction of the pay: "Everybody was furious. It was very shrewd of Lester, but that's why film contracts are so thick now - they've got to add clauses to cover that trick."

Lester rectified the problem by making the actors an offer they could hardly refuse. "All the stars agreed on a certain percentage paid in cash and another percentage of the profits," explained Chamberlain.

What a tidy sum they must all have made.

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