gordonl56 AT SWORD'S POINT – 1952 This fun to watch adventure film is another take on "The Three Musketeers" tale.It is several decades past the time setting for the first story. Queen Anne, Gladys Cooper, is being pressured by the evil Duc de Lavalle (Robert Douglas) to marry off her daughter, Nancy Gates to him. Anne knows that Douglas is a power hungry swine who just wants to rule France. He is also trying to find the location of the next in line, the young boy, Peter Miles.Queen Anne has sent messengers to the King of Spain for help, but Douglas's men catch, and murder said riders. So she sends for her loyal Musketeers of years before. There is however a slight problem with this idea. The original men are all dead, or bedridden. Their children, Cornel Wilde, Dan O'Herlihy, Alan Hale JR and Maureen O'Hara however answer the call.Plenty of swordplay, escapes from the bad guys and thrilling rescues abound in this quick pace romp.I found it Interesting to see Miss O'Hara handling a sword with the rest. It looks like she must have taken more than a few lessons. Needless to say the new Musketeers save the day and dispatch the evil Douglas and his crew.Director Lewis Allen must have had a blast making this one. Allen, was better known for helming some dark film noir, such as, DESERT FURY, SO EVIL MY LOVE, A BULLET FOR JOEY, ILLEGAL, CHICAGO DEADLINE, APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER and SUDDENLY.

atlasmb "At Sword's Point" contains homages to "The Three Musketeers" and some common conventions for such films. Placed in 1648, it starts with Queen Anne of France (Gladys Cooper) worried about threats to her throne and her son's succession to the throne. The Duc de Lavalle (Robert Douglas) is stirring up the nobles, who are circling like sharks. The queen has hidden her young son in a monastery to keep him safe from Lavalle. Since Lavalle is unable to find the prince, he resorts to plan B: he will marry Princess Henriette (Nancy Gates). But Henriette despises him and the queen resists all threats. She attempts to contact Spain for assistance, but all her messengers are killed en route by Lavalle. Time is of the essence, because the queen is sick.She decides to reach out to her trustworthy four musketeers from the past: Athos, Aramis, Porthos and D'Artagnan. If you have not seen "The Three Musketeers" (1935), you should probably watch that film first. By now the musketeers are older men. Each sends his son in his place, except Athos who sends his daughter Claire (Maureen O'Hara), a fine swordswoman.This story is full of intrigue, swordplay and clever twists, even if it departs from history. Nods to "The Three Musketeers" include the passing of the father's sword to the son. Also, when the musketeers meet, there is swordplay among them to establish their abilities. (It should be noted that the swordplay and stuntwork in this film is quite good. Maureen O'Hara displays an athleticism that few actresses could match.) Moroni Olsen plays the aged Porthos--the same role he played in the 1935 film.The film uses the common convention of a woman passing as a man--something that just has to be accepted because there is no way anyone would mistake Maureen O'Hara for a man simply because her hair is under a hat and she is wearing men's breeches.Shot in Technicolor, this film is a colorful addition to the "Three Musketeers" canon. The acting is solid and the action scenes are worth seeing.

JLRMovieReviews At first I was a little wary of watching this, after seeing Miss O'Hara in some clunkers like Forbidden Street, The Black Swan, and Sentimental Journey. But I was pleasantly surprised by its tongue-in-check attitude and the naturalness to it given by its capable stars, in this continuing saga of the three (or four) musketeers' children grown up to defend their country and queen. Gladys Cooper is great as the Queen and gives the film some regard it may not have without such a good actress. And, Robert Douglas is excellent as a duke (our villain) who wants to ascend to the throne by marrying the Queen's daughter and getting rid of others in his way. While I never gave Cornel Wilde much consideration before, he was quite good, and much of the film's dialogue was good without being corny. One line I really appreciated was when Maureen says in response to a man who doesn't fight or duel with a lady that "when I fight, I'm no lady." If you want a good old-fashioned b-picture that gives its heart to a Dumas classic, but really is no classic itself compared to Lana Turner and Gene Kelly's "The Three Musketeers," then this short adventure is for you.

blakduke i have this movie in my home library, both as a purchased film and having taped from amc. the fencing sequences are some of the best on film. i do not think enough has been said of robert douglass. his fencing skills must have been superb since he fought with all of the best duelists in hollywood, errol flynn, cornel wilde,burt lancaster to name a few. all good leading men need a bad guy, and r.d. was very good at being bad.