Why So Blu?

The Three Musketeers (1948) (Blu-ray Review)

Warner Archive is bringing one of the many takes on a legendary tale to Blu-ray this month. Even in 1948, The Three Musketeers had already been adapted countless times, but with this George Sidney directed affair came some major star power both of the time and looking at it in the rear view. Warner Archive Collection’s Blu-ray debut features a handful of fun extras and a new 4K scan of the original nitrate technicolor negatives to showcase and bolster this disc. You’ll find it released on February 15th. Pre-ordering is already available and you can do so by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows this review.

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Film

Gene Kelly stars as the swashbuckling young French nobleman D’Artagnan who, possessing nothing more than his title, travels to Paris to join The Three Musketeers. D’Artagnan no sooner arrives in the capital, than he insults Athos (Van Heflin), Porthos (Academy Award winner Gig Young) and Aramis (Robert Coote), the most feared of the musketeers. Challenged to a duel by each, D’Artagnan earns their respect with his courage, if not by his fighting prowess. But his courage, skill and wit are quickly needed to help the musketeers thwart a plot by the powerful Prime Minister Richelieu (Vincent Price) to overthrow King Louis XIII (Frank Morgan), save Queen Anne (Angela Lansbury) and win the heart of Lady de Winter (Lana Turner). This all-star frolic was a box-office hit as M-G-M and director George Sidney pulled out the stops to bring together its finest talents, and now it’s been restored and remastered for its Blu-ray debut.

As one can tell by that description, the film is loaded with stars of the time and ones on the rise. The Three Musketeers is a delicious blend of watching all of them chew scenery and gallop through a genre film together. Gene Kelley showcases his physical mastery through plenty of tumbling that weaves itself into some swordsmanship to go along with his charming lightning in a bottle charisma that makes him so iconic. There’s a little bit of Vincent Price here that’s some devilish fun as well as some good, young Angela Lansbury. Lana Turner also proves to be quite showstopping through the fames as well.

What really makes the film tick is how colorful it is and how the tone of the film matches that brightness. While there are some impressive sword fights, they aren’t of the nail biting variety. Everything is played for big show or a laugh gag. I would akin this type of action choreography to such of a Jackie Chan style. Its where you can ooh and ah and impress, but also be hysterically laughing at the same time while noting some danger. Its an odd duck to master, but this film has it down. And matching that with a classic story and actors who chew scenery better than most, you have yourself one of the better and more unique The Three Musketeers adaptations.

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: The Three Musketeers debuts on Blu-ray with a new 2022 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of Original Nitrate Technicolor Negatives. This transfer is a stunner as Warner Archive showcases how they are of the best in the biz with ease as this one boast some outstanding color saturation to go with great depth and strong details in this crisp image.

Depth: Depth of field is very impressive as the interior sets feel quite spacious, pushed back and multi-dimensional. Movements are smooth and natural with no issues occurring from any sort of rapid motions causing jitter or blur.

Black Levels: Blacks are deep and close to natural as can be here. Good word with shadow and dark surfaces that still showcase lots of patter, texture and other information. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction:  The technicolor source marvels here with luscious pop. Its vivid without a bleed. Clothing fabrics and upholstery dazzles here in the image. Even the greens of the grass and trees looks very marvelous and quite rich.

Flesh Tones:  Skin tones are natural and consistent an find now flicker at all throughout the runtime. Facial features and textures are quite impressively seen with great detail from any given distance in the frame.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English 2.0 Mono DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English SDH

Dynamics: The Three Musketeers comes with the original theatrical mono mix. Its very much of its time and age in this presentation. While its plenty clear and well balance, it does carry a bit of an analog hiss and might need to be bumped up a few notches on the volume dial. Overall, its a fine presentation even if it is in more of an authentic mood.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension: N/A

Surround Sound Presentation: N/A

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear with a bit of an analog hiss sharing their space.

Extras

Fitzpatrick TravelTalks Short: “Looking at London” (SD, 10:09)

Tex Avery Cartoon: “What Price Fleadom” (HD, 6:57)

MGM Radio Promo (HD, 14:04) 

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:56)

Summary

The 1948 take on The Three Musketeers is a lot of fun and a silly, swashbuckling romp. Warner Archive Collection produces a gorgeous transfer of the film that looks quite stunning on Blu-ray. The extras allotted to this disc are pretty fun in both a sense of the film and its era when it came out. Collector’s of any of the performers or the film itself should find itself pleased with this release.

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