Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

The Three Musketeers (1921)

Douglas Fairbanks stars in this adventure classic based on the famous Dumas novel, with support from Nigel de Brulier as Richelieu, Adolphe Menjou as King Louis, and Leon Bary, George Siegmann and Eugene Pallette as the musketeers.

As Richelieu, de Brulier is excellent as the hiss-worthy corrupt cardinal.

It is unfortunate that the film appears to have only survived in 16mm reduction prints.

The film is accompanied by a music score compiled and arranged by Rodney Sauer and performed by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

This may be the best available home video edition of The Three Musketeers.

This Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .

The film is likely to be presented with a custom music score.

This may be the best available home video edition of The Three Musketeers.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region A Blu-ray Disc edition is also available directly from . . .

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print restored by Karl Malkames. The 4K high-definition digital scan runs a bit faster than natural speed. While the scan is very-good, the source material doesn’t look much better than other prints that have been utilized for home video. The print has a light amount of dust and speckling (less than usual), fine vertical scratches, scuffing and other minor flaws and the picture details themselves are soft. Viewers will soon get lost in the story and not be distracted by print issues.

The film is presented with a very-good music score composed and performed on virtual theatre organ by Ben Model.

This is the best available DVD edition of the film and it is recommended to collectors who prefer the format.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Kino International rereleased their DVD edition of The Three Musketeers as produced for video by David Shepard utilizing a very-good 35mm duplicate print licensed from The Douris Corporation that appears to originate from a 16mm reduction print. Unfortunately, the opportunity to upgrade the presentation was not taken and this edition is of similar visual quality to the 1999 DVD. The video transfer is a little soft in image detail and runs at a slightly faster than natural speed. The source material has the usual amount of dust, speckling, scuffing and other print flaws.

The film is accompanied by the original 1921 music score compiled by Louis Gottschalk, performed by Brian Bennison on synthesizers. OK, at best, the music is passable.

As the disc is largely the same in content and visual quality as their previous edition, with no remastering at a higher video bit rate that could have resulted in a slightly improved picture image, we prefer the Undercrank Productions edition noted above.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

This early DVD edition was produced for video by David Shepard utilizing a very-good 35mm duplicate print. The video transfer, likely originally prepared for laserdisc and VHS videotape, is a little soft in image detail and runs at a slightly faster than natural speed. The source material has the usual amount of dust, speckling, scuffing and other print flaws.

The film is accompanied by the original 1921 music score compiled by Louis Gottschalk, performed by Brian Bennison on synthesizers.

The disc has gone out-of-print, having been replaced by the Kino edition noted above.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

This DVD edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print, greyed-out in its tonal range and flecked with a typical amount of speckling and dust. The image detail in the very-good print is predictably soft, but — to be fair — we’ve seen worse than this.

The film is accompanied by a collection of inappropriate vintage jazz recordings from monaural 78rpm records, which begs the question why St. Clair Vision thinks that 5.1 surround sound is justified, other than to dupe an unknowing consumer into thinking they are getting a disc of value. Actually, quite horrid.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

The film is presented with an episode from a serial and a Snub Pollard comedy.

If you own a copy of this disc please consider loaning it to us to review for documentation purposes. We pay postage both ways.

SUNRISE SILENTS has discontinued business and this edition is . . .

The disc also contains a slight supplemental material section.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
DELTA ENTERTAINMENT has discontinued business and this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is . . .

The film is likely presented with a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is likely presented with a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .

The film is likely presented with a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.