El Zorro y los 3 mosqueteros

Officially set in the summer of "sixteen hundred and something or other", this is an unapologetically anachronistic crossover of two proven swashbuckling staples. The Four Musketeers are little more than the backdrop for our dashing protagonist Zorro, but that's totally in character for them, given how the original Three Musketeers are often portrayed in the same relationship to d'Artagnan, their number four.

The setting is the court of King Philipp II of Spain (1527-1598) and the French-Spanish border during one of the numerous wars between these two countries. Lady Isabella, a cousin of the Spanish king, is held for ransom in France by Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), with the reluctant (in fact disgusted) participation of the famous Musketeers. Zorro (usually depicted as a resident of Pueblo de Los Angeles, settled 1781) is incognito at the Spanish court and sets out to France to free her single-handedly, disposing of a treacherous rival on the way. From here the plot unfolds pretty much how you would expect it to, given the characters.

It is doubtful that fighting was really exactly the same in the early 16th century and in the late 18th century, but in films it is almost always depicted in the same way: People usually use their rapiers; guns exist, but they are cumbersome and unreliable muzzle-loaders that almost never hit their targets. This is why Zorro and the Musketeers go so well together. Zorro has a bit more cunning and the Musketeers a bit more fighting prowess, but overall they are quite similar because they all fit the swashbuckling hero stereotype.

I think the same premise could be used for a really great film with deep personalities, where our heroes turn out not to be 100% compatible. Instead, we are getting a rather unsubtle, straightforward pure adventure film. For swashbuckling fans who are intrigued by the crossover, there is no reason not to watch this. But everyone else won't miss much by skipping it.

One of the sure signs of desperation to any genre is when it begins to match up various popular figures to excuse one further trip to the well and, hopefully, double the intake at the box-office; where the "Peplum" was concerned, however, this ran hand in hand with pitting its various heroes in wildly unlikely surroundings (such as ZORRO CONTRO MACISTE from the same year)! To be fair to the film under review, the settings in which the titular characters operated were not that outrageously removed from one another – even if Zorro actually emanated from Los Angeles rather than Spain and he supposedly arrived onto the scene a couple of centuries after The Four {sic} Musketeers! For the record, this was the fifth effort I have watched during the current Epic Easter marathon to feature D'Artagnan et al (with an obscure 1966 British TV series, and perhaps even the 2001 THE MUSKETEER, still to be checked out!) but the only one that will be included with respect to Zorro – though I have at least eight other titles handy related to his exploits!! The main reason for this is that, judging by the contemporaneous 'vehicles' of his under my belt, they constitute among the most indifferent "Euro-Cult" ventures that emerged during the trend's fairly long tenure!

Anyway, what we have here is the Musketeers engaged in the war between the two countries – while Zorro (or, rather, his dandyish alter ego) is accused of being the traitor who sold his side to the enemy… naturally by the rival for the hand of the girl (being held hostage by the French) he loves and who, needless to say, is the true guilty party! Indeed, when we first meet the quartet, they are to meet with the villain towards this end – but it is the Spaniard (played by beefcake Gordon Scott) who turns up under this guise! Cue a number of shifting allegiances, as the Musketeers first antagonize then aid Zorro (who, by the way, only dons his traditional costume twice throughout!), after they discover that he has no sympathy for their old enemy Cardinal Richelieu (who is left strapped to a chair by Scott!). Eventually, they go to Madrid to retrieve the girl Zorro has returned safely home because only then will they be pardoned by the King over the affront done to Richelieu…but, in the meantime, their army has emerged victorious in the conflict and Scott sentenced to death for high treason – so, they decide to (literally) save his neck.

While normally, it is D'Artagnan and Athos who get the lion's share of attention, here they are the most anonymous since both were not even deigned of star presences; on the other hand, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart is Aramis and the ubiquitous Livio Lorenzon Porthos! Given its pedigree, the film does not take itself too seriously – with the best joke involving the Musketeers getting the executioners drunk on the eve of Scott's proposed demise but being themselves overcome by wine and almost missing their appointment in the public square! On the other hand, we get a quartet of comic-relief servants – one of whom is tongue-tied and even allotted a Sicilian accent redolent of lowbrow farces! – for the Musketeers (to go along with Zorro's own bungling sidekick) who turn up out of nowhere at one point but then just keep resurfacing for no very good reason!! Apart from being attractively set against a backdrop of large fountains in a palace garden, the climax reverses the typical formula of having a number of opponents to the lone protagonist by pitting the weak villain against our five heroes all at once! A measure of the carelessness involved, however, sees Aramis romance the female lead's lady-in-waiting throughout and then leave at the end of the picture without so much as a backwards glance! Given the below average results obtained here by director Capuano, I am somewhat wary now of the fact that I have at least four other similar efforts of his in my unwatched collection

A romantic adventure about royal kidnapping, friendship across the trenches and high treason!

Or, if you prefer: an Italian imitation of a Hollywood adventure film. Nevertheless, director Capuano manages to lift his film above the cinecitta- cardboard sets and plastic acting and turns a dull generic script into a genuinely sympathetic and exciting sword wielding action adventure.

If you like the Hollywood films this one imitates, I see no reason why you shouldn't like this one as well!

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

In the mid 1600s, Cardinal Richelieu of France declared war with Spain. One of these skirmishes between the two countries was for ownership of a strategic fortress in the Pyrenees at Vandremond.

King Philip's cousin, Donna Isabella is kidnapped and held within the castle walls of St. Denis in France. The Count of Seville, who aspires for the hand of Isabel, is secretly aligned with the Cardinal; and while pretending to be in Spain's best interest, his real intentions are to hand over battle plans to the enemy in exchange for Isabella and the riches that come with marriage.

Zorro, a mysterious Spanish swordsman intercepts and defeats the Count and his men, burns the plans, and then heads into French territory under the guise of the Count of Seville. Upon his arrival, he is to meet with the Three Musketeers (four including D'Artagnan) as his escort for the alleged mercy mission. At first meeting as friends, the Musketeers later learn the Count is an imposter. Unable to trust a spy, the plan to free Isabella fails; however the Musketeers soon realize Zorro's honorable motives and unite together against Cardinal Richelieu and the traitorous Count of Seville.

Zorro and the three Musketeers sharply captures the spirit of the swashbuckler classics a la Flynn and does so with style - here, you don't just get three musketeers but Zorro, though Zorro only dons his mask twice. He does most of his swashbuckling as a count, a dandy fop. Gordon Scott fits the role really well, playing Zorro and the count energetically. The sword fights are lively, the dialogue is witty - a light comedic tone runs throughout which suits the tone to a T. Quite enjoyable.

The most interesting thing is this is Zorro and the Three(Four) Musketeers together which warrants enough of an interest in this. I think that there are directorial flourishes in here for retaining interest , while the story script is for 63 could be more than just a court meddling about a background French/spain war , while the Musketeers and Zorro are good with what they're given to do like being not attached to their own Kings and working as rascals which makes them work great together is interesting that they're 'raucous' like nature draws them together. I would like to see more Zorro masked though as I count like 2 scenes of him with the mask while the Musketeers have a comedic touch that adds to that flourish.