1933 Serial The Three Musketeers

The film serial was very loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel The Three Musketeers, with the musketeers changed into three soldiers in the French Foreign Legion, and d'Artagnan being reconfigured as Lt. Tom Wayne (played by John Wayne), a pilot in the United States military.

The Three Musketeers
Film poster
Directed by	Armand Schaeffer Colbert Clark
Written by	Norman Hall Colbert Clark Ben Cohn Wyndham Gittens
Based on	The Three Musketeers 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas
Produced by	Nat Levine
Starring	John Wayne Ruth Hall Jack Mulhall Raymond Hatton Francis X. Bushman Jr. Noah Beery Jr. Creighton Chaney
Edited by	Ray Snyder
Music by	Lee Zahler
Distributed by	Mascot Pictures
Release date	April 7, 1933 (1933-04-07)
Running time	12 chapters (210 min) Film (96 min)
Country	United States
Language	English

Wayne only received fourth billing behind Raymond Hatton, Francis X. Bushman Jr. and Jack Mulhall who play the three legionnaires. Lon Chaney Jr. had a co-starring role in the serial, mainly appearing in chapters one and ten.

In the harsh deserts of North Africa, the French Foreign Legion provides a military presence. Lt. Tom Wayne is framed for the murder of Armand Corday, the brother of his fiancé. He vows to capture the real killer, a mysterious Arab terrorist known only as El Shaitan. He encounters three bumptious legionnaires: Clancy, an Irishman always spoiling for a fight; Renard, a wily Frenchman; and Schmidt, a German who loves sausages. They are the surviving members of a Foreign Legion unit that was wiped out in an attack.

Nicknamed the "Devil of the Desert", El Shaitan remains a shadowy figure, hiding his face and his true identity, as a result of which many people are mistakenly suspected of being the cult leader in the course of the serial, while other characters impersonate him for their own ends. At a meeting place called, "The Devil's Circle", El Shaitan commands a fanatic desert cult, a secret society formed to fight against the French authorities.

When Clancy, Renard and Schmidt are trapped by a horde of Berber tribesmen, Lt. Wayne quickly stops the attack using the machine gun mounted on his aircraft. The three legionnaires are in constant danger but Wayne comes to their rescue many times, acting as a modern-day d'Artagnan. Eventually the trio, with the aid of their new friend, triumph over their adversaries.

Like many other serials, The Three Musketeers was reedited into a feature film version when it was rereleased. In 1946, Favorite Films Corporation edited the serial into a 60-minute feature film called Desert Command. The chapter screen titles were eliminated to create a more continuous flow.

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During the 1930s, after starring in The Big Trail (1930), its subsequent commercial failure meant that Wayne was relegated to minor roles in A-pictures, or starring, with his name over the title, in many low-budget Poverty Row Westerns, mostly at Monogram Pictures and serials for Mascot Pictures Corporation. Wayne would star in two other Mascot serials: The Shadow of the Eagle (1932) and The Hurricane Express (1932).

• John Wayne filmography
• List of American films of 1933
• List of film serials
• List of film serials by studio
• List of films in the public domain in the United States

Notes