Well, it wasn't in 1921, in that world-famous classic swashbuckler "The Three Musketeers", that the world got to see Douglas Fairbanks for the first time in the role of D'Artagnan - it was in 1917, in this fabulous adventure-comedy! So, in the very beginning we see him dressed up 17th century style, with long hair and mustache - and a meaningful wink towards the audience, which tells us that this is only his 'dress rehearsal' for his great role...
For in reality, he's a young fellow living in 1917 Kansas - but certainly not an average one. Why? Because his mother has always been an ardent reader of Alexandre Dumas, and she raised him literally with the hope that he'll become a modern-day D'Artagnan one day... And he REALLY is a gentleman of the old school in every way; he's a member of the 'Society for the prevention of cruelty to women', he intervenes wherever he witnesses injustice (and often with quite unpleasant consequences for himself), he does the most stunning stunts...
And one day, he sets out on his journey of adventure, just like D'Artagnan had done - only with a Ford instead of a yellow steed... And in the middle of the desert, he meets, of course, his 'damsel in distress': young and pretty Elsie, who's just about to be married (forced by her mother) to a man she doesn't want - and what a break: since their car has broken down, he's able, by adjusting his car to the railway tracks, to take them to their destination; and to steal Elsie's heart away on the way, of course... But now, in the Wild West, there are some REAL adventures waiting for our 'modern Musketeer'...!
What a wonderful mixture of Dumas and Western, of 17th century ideals and early 20th century reality; and, of course, a GREAT vehicle for the rising star Douglas Fairbanks! Here he can show both his romantic imagination and his great physical shape: in his youthful exuberance, he jumps out of windows on to lamp posts, climbs a church steeple, and even makes a handstand on the edge of the Grand Canyon! Ageless and timeless family entertainment even today, almost 100 years later - and, as we said, a foretaste on what was to come a few years afterward...
For in reality, he's a young fellow living in 1917 Kansas - but certainly not an average one. Why? Because his mother has always been an ardent reader of Alexandre Dumas, and she raised him literally with the hope that he'll become a modern-day D'Artagnan one day... And he REALLY is a gentleman of the old school in every way; he's a member of the 'Society for the prevention of cruelty to women', he intervenes wherever he witnesses injustice (and often with quite unpleasant consequences for himself), he does the most stunning stunts...
And one day, he sets out on his journey of adventure, just like D'Artagnan had done - only with a Ford instead of a yellow steed... And in the middle of the desert, he meets, of course, his 'damsel in distress': young and pretty Elsie, who's just about to be married (forced by her mother) to a man she doesn't want - and what a break: since their car has broken down, he's able, by adjusting his car to the railway tracks, to take them to their destination; and to steal Elsie's heart away on the way, of course... But now, in the Wild West, there are some REAL adventures waiting for our 'modern Musketeer'...!
What a wonderful mixture of Dumas and Western, of 17th century ideals and early 20th century reality; and, of course, a GREAT vehicle for the rising star Douglas Fairbanks! Here he can show both his romantic imagination and his great physical shape: in his youthful exuberance, he jumps out of windows on to lamp posts, climbs a church steeple, and even makes a handstand on the edge of the Grand Canyon! Ageless and timeless family entertainment even today, almost 100 years later - and, as we said, a foretaste on what was to come a few years afterward...