Cardinal Richelieu, engaged in intrigue at the court of Louis XIII, attempts to rule by threatening the queen, who is secretly in love with the Duke of Buckingham. From Gascony comes D’Artagnan to join the King’s Musketeers in his quest for adventure. He wins the right to membership by proving his prowess with the sword and forms an eternal alliance with Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, the Three Musketeers. After many adventures, he embarks on a dangerous mission to England to recover a diamond brooch, a gift of the king, which the queen has given to Buckingham as a token of affection. He recovers it and returns in time to save the queen from the wrath of Louis, defeat the cardinal’s intrigue, and win Constance, the queen’s seamstress. (AFI Catalog)
The Three Musketeers was produced by Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corp. and released in twelve reels on 28 August 1921. In 1938 The Museum of Modern Art received a 35mm nitrate negative of the film from the estate of Douglas Fairbanks. This nitrate negative was duplicated to 35mm safety stock in 1963 and it is this preserved negative upon which this restoration is based. This restoration was completed in May 2017 by San Francisco Silent Film Festival, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Film Preservation Society.
