At Sword's Point

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
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	RKO Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Pictures
Release date	February 4, 1952 (US);
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

At Sword's Point, also known as 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 sons of Aramis, Porthos and D'Artagan and Claire, the daughter of Athos, are reunited by the aging Queen Anne to halt the villainy of her treacherous nephew, the Duc de Lavalle.^[2]

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 is being pressured by the evil Duc de Lavalle into agreeing to a marriage with Princess Henriette. Unable to respond, the musketeers send their sons (and one daughter) to the royal court to help.

The men are imprisoned and betrayed, and a romance forms between D'Artagnan Jr. and Claire.

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 the purchase of the script Sons of the Musketeers by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen.^[3] Eagle Lion also announced a film titled Sons of the Musketeers, a concern for MGM, which was planning the 1948 film The Three Musketeers.^[4] Eventually the project went to RKO where it was devised as a vehicle for Cornel Wilde.^[5]^[6] Lewis Allen was announced as director on November 15, 1949.^[6] Filming began on December 14, 1949.^[7]

MGM had some difficulties depicting Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, so the filmmakers decided to not show Cardinal Mazarin in At Sword's Point although the character was in the original script.^[8]

Notes

Porthos is played by Moroni Olsen, who played the same character in the 1935 film of the original 1844 Alexander Dumas novel, The Three Musketeers. Alan Hale Jr., who plays the son of Porthos, was the son of Alan Hale Sr., who appeared in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) as an aging Porthos.
In another Three Musketeers movie, The Fifth Musketeer (1979), which retells the story of The Man in the Iron Mask, two of the young musketeers from At Sword's Point reappear in the roles of their own fathers: Cornel Wilde stars as D'Artagnan and Hale Jr. as Porthos.

References

^ "At Sword's Point: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
^ "At Sword's Point (1952) - Lewis Allen, Paul Lynch | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
^ Schallert, Edwin (Mar 22, 1947). "French Star to Keynote Korda Bilingual Series". Los Angeles Times. p. A5.
^ THOMAS F. BRADY HOLLYWOOD. (Feb 1, 1948). "HOLLYWOOD DEALS: Prospects Brighten for United Artists -Budget Runs Wild and Other Matters". New York Times. p. X5.
^ "FOX WILL BORROW M'NALLY FROM U-I: Actor Will Play White Doctor Who Befriends Negro Interne in Studio's 'No Way Out'". New York Times. Oct 13, 1949. p. 33.
^ ^a ^b THOMAS F. BRADY (Nov 16, 1949). "FILM WRITERS VOTE FOR CONSERVATIVES: Screen Guild Names Valentine Davies Its President -- Tally for Left Wing Is Light". New York Times. p. 39.
^ Schallert, Edwin (Dec 5, 1949). "Zero Mostel Villain; Clayworth Role Tops; 'Wyoming Mail' Slated". Los Angeles Times. p. B9.
^ THOMAS F. BRADY (Jan 22, 1950). "HOLLYWOOD DIGEST: Selznick Plans to Shift Production to Europe--Garbo Returns--Other Matters On Again Satisfied Exit, the Cardinal Paper Reports". New York Times. p. 85.

External links

At Sword's Point at IMDb
At Sword's Point at the TCM Movie Database
At Sword's Point at AllMovie
At Sword's Point at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

[1] "At Sword's Point: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 31, 2014.

[2] "At Sword's Point (1952) - Lewis Allen, Paul Lynch | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".

[3] Schallert, Edwin (Mar 22, 1947). "French Star to Keynote Korda Bilingual Series". Los Angeles Times. p. A5.

[4] THOMAS F. BRADY HOLLYWOOD. (Feb 1, 1948). "HOLLYWOOD DEALS: Prospects Brighten for United Artists -Budget Runs Wild and Other Matters". New York Times. p. X5.

[5] "FOX WILL BORROW M'NALLY FROM U-I: Actor Will Play White Doctor Who Befriends Negro Interne in Studio's 'No Way Out'". New York Times. Oct 13, 1949. p. 33.

[NYT_1949-11-16-6] THOMAS F. BRADY (Nov 16, 1949). "FILM WRITERS VOTE FOR CONSERVATIVES: Screen Guild Names Valentine Davies Its President -- Tally for Left Wing Is Light". New York Times. p. 39.

[7] Schallert, Edwin (Dec 5, 1949). "Zero Mostel Villain; Clayworth Role Tops; 'Wyoming Mail' Slated". Los Angeles Times. p. B9.

[8] THOMAS F. BRADY (Jan 22, 1950). "HOLLYWOOD DIGEST: Selznick Plans to Shift Production to Europe--Garbo Returns--Other Matters On Again Satisfied Exit, the Cardinal Paper Reports". New York Times. p. 85.

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