At Sword's Point
| At Sword's Point | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Lewis Allen |
| Written by |
Aubrey Wisberg Jack Pollexfen |
| Produced by | Jerrold T. Brandt |
| Starring |
Cornel Wilde Maureen O'Hara |
| Cinematography | Ray Rennahan |
| Edited by | Samuel E. Beetley Robert Golden |
| Music by |
Roy Webb Constantin Bakaleinikoff |
Production company |
|
| Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time |
81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
At Sword's Point, also known as The Sons of the Three Musketeers, is a 1952 American historical action adventure film directed by Lewis Allen and starring Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara. It was shot in Technicolor by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was completed in 1949, but was not released until 1952.
The Three Musketeers' offsprings of Aramis, Porthos, D'Artagnan and Claire, the daughter of Athos, are reunited by the ageing Queen Anne to halt the villainy of her treacherous nephew, the Duc de Lavalle.
Plot
The sons (and a daughter) of the original Four Musketeers ride to the rescue of besieged Queen Anne in 1648 France.
D'Artagnan and his companions are alerted that the terminally ill Queen (Gladys Cooper) is being pressured by the evil Duc de Lavalle (Robert Douglas) into agreeing to a marriage with Princess Henriette (Nancy Gates). Too old (or dead) to respond, their sons (and one daughter) race to Court to help.
After much derring do – including episodes of imprisonment and betrayal, with a burgeoning love sub-plot between D'Artagnan Jr. and Claire, daughter of Athos (Maureen O'Hara) thrown in for good measure – they succeed.
Cast
- Cornel Wilde as D'Artagnan
- Maureen O'Hara as Claire
- Robert Douglas as Duc de Lavalle
- Gladys Cooper as Queen Anne
- June Clayworth as Comtesse Claudine
- Dan O'Herlihy as Aramis
- Alan Hale Jr. as Porthos
- Blanche Yurka as Madame Michom
- Nancy Gates as Princess Henriette
- Edmund Breon as Queen's Chamberlain
- Peter Miles as Young Louis XIV
- George Petrie as Chalais
- Moroni Olsen as Porthos
- Lucien Littlefield as Cpl. Gautier (uncredited)
Production
In 1947 Republic Pictures announced they had purchased a script, Sons of the Musketeers by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen. Eagle Lion also announced they would make a film called Sons of the Musketeers which concerned MGM who were making a version of The Three Musketeers. Eventually the project went to RKO where it was set up as a vehicle for Cornel Wilde. Lewis Allen was announced as director on 15 November 1949.
Filming started 14 December 1949.
MGM had some difficulties depicting Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers so the filmmakers decided to not show Cardinal Mazarin, even though he was in the original script.