The Flickr Thethreemusketeers Image Generatr

Unknown artist, 2000, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, relief

Unknown artist, 1996, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, relief

Vintage postcard by Animated Animations Company / Edition Size, no. 500. Image: Walt Disney Animation Art. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy in The Three Musketeers (Donovan Cook, 2004).

Mickey Mouse is a funny animal cartoon character and the mascot of The Walt Disney Company. He was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at the Walt Disney Studios in 1928. An anthropomorphic mouse whose face can be drawn as three black circles. Often he wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves, Mickey is one of the world's most recognisable characters.

Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement for a prior Disney character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Walt Disney got the idea for the character from a mouse he saw in his Kansas City office. Initially, the character was to be named Mortimer Mouse, but Disney's wife Lillian Marie Bounds thought that name was too serious and not representative of the weaker members of the population. Therefore, the name Mickey was chosen. The character's depiction as a small mouse is personified through his diminutive stature and falsetto voice. Mickey's voice was originally provided by Walt Disney. Mickey debuted publicly in the short film Steamboat Willie (1928), one of the first sound cartoons. It was co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks again served as the head animator, assisted by Les Clark, Johnny Cannon, Wilfred Jackson and Dick Lundy. This short was a nod to Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) released earlier that year. Although it was the third Mickey cartoon produced, it was the first to find a distributor and thus is considered by The Disney Company as Mickey's debut. Mickey Mouse went on to appear in over 130 films, including The Band Concert (Wilfred Jackson, 1935), Brave Little Tailor (Burt Gillett, Bill Roberts, 1938), and the feature Fantasia (James Algar, a.o., 1940). The Band Concert (Wilfred Jackson, 1935) was Mickey's official first colour film. In 1932, he first appeared animated in colour in Parade of the Award Nominees. This film strip was created for the 5th Academy Awards ceremony and was not released to the public. In the production of The Band Concert (Wilfred Jackson, 1935), the Technicolor film process was used. Here Mickey conducted the William Tell Overture, but the band is swept up by a tornado. By colourizing and partially redesigning Mickey, Walt put Mickey back on top once again. Mickey reached new heights of popularity. Brave Little Tailor (Burt Gillett, Bill Roberts, 1938), was an adaptation of 'The Valiant Little Tailor', which was nominated for an Academy Award. In total, ten of Mickey's cartoons were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, one of which, Lend a Paw (Clyde Geronimi, 1941), won the award in 1942.

Mickey Mouse's original design strongly resembled Oswald the Rabbit. Ub Iwerks designed Mickey's body out of circles (distinctly, the ears) to make the character easy to animate. Over the years, Mickey's appearance changed considerably. Pretty soon, Disney managed to give Mickey a friendlier face. In the oldest comics, Mickey wears red shorts with big buttons. In later versions, he dresses ‘normally’. Furthermore, he wears gloves that he never takes off. In the 1930s, animator Fred Moore tried giving Mickey's body more of a pear shape to increase his acting range; Walt Disney liked this adaptation and declared, "That's the way I want Mickey to be drawn from now on." Mickey's character also changes quite a lot. In the first stories, he is predominantly a wanton little fellow who often plays strange pranks. Later, Mickey becomes much more serious and also quite sensible; Mickey is often the one who knows the right solution in difficult situations. Mickey generally appears alongside his steady girlfriend Minnie Mouse, and his friends Donald Duck and Goofy. Remarkably, his pet dog Pluto behaves completely animal-like in every way, being the only one of the regular characters in the Mickey Mouse stories. Together, Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy would go on several adventures. Several of the films by the comic trio are some of Mickey's most critically acclaimed films, including Mickey's Fire Brigade (Ben Sharpsteen, 1935), Moose Hunters (Ben Sharpsteen, 1937), Clock Cleaners (Ben Sharpsteen, 1937), Lonesome Ghosts (Burt Gillett, 1937), Boat Builders (Ben Sharpsteen, 1938), and Mickey's Trailer (Ben Sharpsteen, 1938). In 1939, Mickey appeared in Mickey's Surprise Party (Hamilton Luske, 1939), along with Minnie, with a new design, which included pupils. Later on, in 1940, the character appeared in his first feature-length film, Fantasia (James Algar, a.o., 1940). The film used the redesigned version of Mickey with the pupils. His screen role as The Sorcerer's Apprentice set to the symphonic poem of the same name by Paul Dukas, is perhaps the most famous segment of the film and one of Mickey's most iconic roles. The apprentice (Mickey), not willing to do his chores, puts on the sorcerer's magic hat after the sorcerer goes to bed and casts a spell on a broom, which causes the broom to come to life and perform the most tiring chore—filling up a deep well using two buckets of water. When the well eventually overflows, Mickey finds himself unable to control the broom, leading to a near-flood. After the segment ends, Mickey is seen in silhouette shaking hands with conductor Leopold Stokowski. Mickey has often been pictured in the red robe and blue sorcerer's hat in merchandising.

Since 1930, Mickey Mouse has been featured extensively in comic strips and comic books. From 13 January 1930 to 29 July 1995, Mickey Mouse existed as a newspaper comic strip, published in numerous countries around the world. After 1940, Mickey's popularity declined until his 1955 re-emergence as a daily children's television personality. Despite this, the character continued to appear regularly in animated shorts until 1943 (winning his only competitive Academy Award—with canine companion Pluto—for the short subject Lend a Paw) and again from 1946 to 1952. In these later cartoons, Mickey was often just a supporting character in his shorts. Pluto was instead used as the main character. The character was featured in television series such as The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1996). The last regular installment of the Mickey Mouse film series came in 1953 with The Simple Things in which Mickey and Pluto go fishing and are pestered by a flock of seagulls. A fan club for Mickey Mouse was founded in the 1960s, which is unprecedentedly popular and has thousands of members worldwide. Mickey returned to theatrical animation with Mickey's Christmas Carol (Burny Mattinson, 1983) an adaptation of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' in which Mickey played Bob Cratchit. This was followed up with The Prince and the Pauper (George Scribner, 1990). His most recent theatrical cartoon short was Get a Horse! (Lauren MacMullan, 2013) which was preceded by Runaway Brain (Chris Bailey, 1995), while from 1999 to 2004, he appeared in direct-to-video features like Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (jun Falkenstein, a.o., 1999), Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (Donovan Cook, 2004) and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (Theresa Cullen, a.o., 2004). Mickey also appears in media such as video games as well as merchandising and is a meetable character at the Disney parks. He is one of the world's most recognizable and universally acclaimed fictional characters. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sources: Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Vintage British postcard. Ellis & Walery. Lewis Waller in the play The Three Musketeers, adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Waller played Buckingham in The Three Musketeers, performed at the London based Haymarket Theatre in 1898-1899. When touring the provinces he also played D'Artagnan. He reprised the role of D'Artagnan in the provinces in 1900.

Lewis Waller (1860-1915) was best known as a matinee-idol in the popular romantic plays of his day. He also worked as a playwright and a stage manager, and appeared in several films.

nordicgrl3 -
www.instagram.com/nordicgrl3/

nordicgrl3 -
www.instagram.com/nordicgrl3/

Alexandre Dumas père. 1855. Salted paper print from wet collodion negative. Nadar was a journalist, novelist, cartoonist, balloonist, lithographer, and, beginning in 1849, photographer. Like Brady’s establishments in America, Nadar’s Parisian studio quickly became a center for celebrity photography, selling compelling images of the major political and cultural figures of the time. Nadar avoided symbolic props and elaborate backgrounds; he let his sitters choose their own pose, putting them at ease enough to reveal glimpses of their true character. Dumas, one of France’s most popular authors, wrote The Three Musketeers. The year this portrait was made, he and Nadar were hoping to collaborate on a play, but their only joint production seems to have been this casual, intimate portrait.

Two final shots from my morning at Charlestown Harbour
Charlestown Harbour is a popular point of interest for visitors coming to Cornwall. With its resident tall ships' it is also a working harbour with grade II listed granite quays. Over the past 40 years Charlestown has become one of the most popular filming locations in Cornwall. Such productions as Poldark, Alice in Wonderland and the Three Musketeers, just to mention a few.

Charlestown Harbour is a popular point of interest for visitors coming to Cornwall. With its resident tall ships' it is also a working harbour with grade II listed granite quays. Over the past 40 years Charlestown has become one of the most popular filming locations in Cornwall. Such productions as Poldark, Alice in Wonderland and the Three Musketeers, just to mention a few.

British postcard by Film Review, set H, card 1. Photo: Walt Disney / Buena Vista (UK) International Ltd. Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Chris O'Donnell, Oliver Platt, Tim Curry and Rebecca De Mornay in Three Musketeers (Stephen Herek, 1993). Caption: Disney's contemporary re-telling of a classic adventure.

British-American actor Kiefer Sutherland (1966) is the son of Donald Sutherland. As a teenager, he became known with films like The Bay Boy (1984). Stand by Me (1986) and The Lost Boys (1987). Later he starred in Flatliners (1990) with Julia Roberts, the military drama A Few Good Men (1992) also starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, in the American version of The Vanishing (1993) and with William Hurt and Rufus Sewell in Dark City (1998). A triumph was the drama series 24 (2001-2010) as Jack Bauer for which he earned a Golden Globe. His later films include Phone Booth (2002) and Lars von Trier's Melancholia (2011).

American actor Charlie Sheen (1965) is the son of actor Martin Sheen and the brother of Emilio Estevez. His big break came when he starred in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning epic Platoon (1986). The success of Platoon (1986) prompted Stone to cast Charlie in his next film Wall Street (1987) which became an instant hit. Sheen continued to establish himself as one of the top box office draws with a string of hits that included Young Guns (1988), Major League (1989), and Hot Shots! (1991). However, his good fortune both personally and professionally, soon came to an end. Sheen, who had already been to drug rehab, was beginning to develop a reputation as a hard-partying, womaniser. In 2000, Charlie was clean and sober again and replace Michael J. Fox on the hit sitcom Spin City (1996), followed by the sitcom Two and a Half Men (2003), another huge hit. However, after he was terminated from this series his career went downhill again.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

The Man in the Iron Mask - Alternative Movie Poster
Original illustration - posters, prints and many other products available at:
movieposterboy.redbubble.com

Les trois mousquetaires

Happy Teddy Bear Tuesday

I thought some historical content was in order for today. I think these three look very handsome in their outfits!

Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3453. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Van Heflin in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948).

Van Heflin (1908-1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts throughout his film career, but during the 1940s Heflin had a string of roles as a leading man. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Robert Taylor's doomed best friend in the Film Noir Johnny Eager (Mervyn LeRoy, 1942). This led to leading roles in such musicals as Seven Sweethearts (Frank Borzage, 1942), and Presenting Lily Mars (Norman Taurog, 1943), as Judy Garland's love interest. After the war, he appeared opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the Film Noir The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946), and opposite Joan Crawford in Possessed (Curtis Bernhardt, 1947). He also co-starred with Lana Turner in the historical drama Green Dolphin Street (Victor Saville, 1947), a big prestige film for MGM and their biggest hit of 1947.

Emmett Evan Heflin was born in 1908 in Oklahoma as the son of Fanny Bleecker (Shippey) and Emmett Evan Heflin, a dentist. He moved to his grandmother in California after his parents separated. Drawn to life on the sea, Heflin shipped out on a tramp steamer upon graduating from high school, returning after a year to attend the University of Oklahoma in pursuit of a law degree. Two years into his studies, Heflin was back on the ocean. Having entertained thoughts of a theatrical career since childhood, Heflin enrolled at the prestigious Yale School of Drama and made his Broadway bow credited as "Evan Heflin" in Channing Pollock's 'Mister Moneypenny' (1928). When the play folded after 61 performances, Heflin once more retreated to the sea, sailing up and down the Pacific for nearly three years. He revitalised his acting career in 1931, appearing in one short-lived production after another until landing a long-running assignment as a radical leftist at odds with the established elite in the S.N. Behrman comedy of manners Broadway play 'End of Summer' (1936). This led to his film bow in Katharine Hepburn's A Woman Rebels (Mark Sandrich, 1936), as well as a brief contract with RKO Radio. Katharine Hepburn requested Heflin's services once more for her Broadway play 'The Philadelphia Story', and while the 1940 MGM film version of that play cast James Stewart in Heflin's role, the studio thought enough of Heflin to sign him to a contract.

Van Heflin remained at MGM for eight years (1941-1949). During WWII he served in the US Army as a combat cameraman in the 9th Air Force in Europe. After serving in various Army film units, Heflin resumed his film career. He won the "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar for his third assignment at the studio, that of the alcoholic, Shakespeare-spouting best friend of Robert Taylor in Johnny Eager (Mervyn LeRoy, 1942). He was immediately cast in the leading role as a forensically-minded detective in Kid Glove Killer (1942), which marked the debut of Fred Zinnemann as a feature director. In between wartime service and two musicals, Presenting Lily Mars (Norman Taurog, 1943) and the Jerome Kern biopic Till the Clouds Roll By (Richard Whorf, Vincente Minnelli, George Sidney, 1946), Van appeared in the excellent Film Noir The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946) with Barbara Stanwyck as the inevitable femme fatale and Kirk Douglas. For a short while, he was heard on the radio as Raymond Chandler's philosophical private eye Philip Marlowe. He appeared as a jilted lover in the costume drama Green Dolphin Street (Victor Saville, 1947); he was Athos, one of The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948) and an ex-GI on the trail of a psychopathic prison camp informer in Fred Zinnemann's Act of Violence (1948). Heflin was poignant as the unloved Monsieur Bovary in Madame Bovary (Vincente Minnelli, 1949). He also played a cop whose affair with a married woman leads to a plot to kill her husband in The Prowler (Joseph Losey, 1951). Throughout the 1950s, the craggy-faced, dependable star character actor worked in both Hollywood and Europe. I.S. Mowis at IMDb: "He is best remembered in this decade for his portrayal of Western characters with integrity and singularity of purpose: as the struggling homesteader at the mercy of a ruthless cattle baron who befriends Shane (George Stevens, 1953); the desperate, single-minded rancher trying to get a captured outlaw on the 3:10 to Yuma (Delmer Daves, 1957); and the tough, uncompromisingly stern father forced to kill his errant son in Gunman's Walk (Phil Karlson, 1958)." In 1963, he was engaged to narrate the prestigious TV anthology The Great Adventure. He was forced to pull out of this assignment when cast as the Louis Nizer character in the Broadway play 'A Case of Libel'. He appeared in the calamitous flop The Greatest Story Ever Told (George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Negulesco, 1965) and the equally disastrous Stagecoach (Gordon Douglas, 1966) remake. One of his last performances was as the deranged bomber in Airport (George Seaton, Henry Hathaway, 1970). Heflin's final film appearance was in the made-for-TV speculative drama The Last Child (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1971). Van Heflin died in 1971 of a heart attack at the age of 61. He was married twice, first to silent film star Esther Ralston, then to RKO contract player Frances Neal who should not be confused with Heflin's actress sister, Frances Heflin.

Source: I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Unknown artist, 1996, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, relief.

"""They insisted that I take a group photo of them.......so I did.
Real friends they are, like the three musketeers......supporting each other through thick and thin. All from one nest or folding hand ;-))"""

“All for one and one for all.”
Quote ― Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

Have a nice Tuesday !!


From the left to the right:
_ Model: origami Napping Cat
Design: Yoshihisa Kimura
Diagrams in the Tanteidan 12th Convention Book
I folded it with a 10x10cm orange tant paper.
Final size: height 2,5cm; length about 7 cm; width 4cm

_ Model: origami Tubby Cat
Design: Yoshihisa Kimura
Diagrams in the Tanteidan 12th Convention Book
I used a 24x24cm orange tant paper.
Final size: height 6,5cm, length 8,5cm, width 4cm

_ Model: origami Sitting Cat
Design: Yoshihisa Kimura
Diagrams in the Tanteidan 12th Convention Book
I folded it with a 15x15cm orange tant paper.
Final size: height 7,5cm; length (with the tail) 4,5cm; width 4cm

Waited three weeks to capture this moment and this is as good as it gets. Oh well its only a 5 minute drive down the road.

Belgian postcard by Victoria Biscuits Chocolats, no. 16. Photo: M.G.M. Gene Kelly as D'Artagnan and Vincent Price as Richelieu in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948) is a classic Swashbuckler, starring Gene Kelly as D’Artagnan and Lana Turner as Milady De Winter. Other stars in the cast include Van Heflin, June Allyson, Gig Young, Angela Lansbury, and Vincent Price. It is one of the many, adaptations of the famous French book ‘Les trois mousquetaires’ by Alexandre Dumas père, and possibly the liveliest one, full of acrobatics, galloping horses, flapping cloaks, and sword fights with almost operatic intensity. Dumas’s story is followed quite faithfully, but the creative fantasy is in the theatrical way of depicting it.

As in the book: the story of The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948) is set in 1625 in France. The young and inexperienced D'Artagnan (Gene Kelly) leaves his home village in Gascony to become a musketeer in Paris in the service of His Majesty King Louis XIII (Frank Morgan). In his pocket, he has the letter of recommendation from his father (silent film star Robert Warwick), a former musketeer and friend of the current captain of the musketeers, Treville (Reginald Owen). His father has taught him the art of fencing masterfully and gives him the good advice never to let himself be compromised with impunity. He is only too happy to follow this advice. Very soon, before he has even reached Paris, D'Artagnan gets into a confrontation with Rochefort (Ian Keith), Cardinal Richelieu's (Vincent Price) confidant, and his companion, the mysterious Lady de Winter (Lana Turner). At this first opportunity to preserve his honour in battle, he is unceremoniously struck down and robbed by Rochefort's henchmen, and his credentials are also taken from him. Once in Paris, he not only meets his new friends and comrades-in-arms Athos (Van Heflin), Porthos (Gig Young), and Aramis (Robert Coote), but also his landlord's niece, Constance Bonacieux (June Allyson), and falls in love. Many adventures and entanglements lie ahead and in the path of the brave hero D'Artagnan. Driven by his desire to become the king's musketeer and to prove himself in battle, he falls into the clutches of both the queen (Angela and the cardinal, experiences numerous dangerous situations and sometimes needs his new friends to get away at all. Nevertheless, he sets out to travel to England for the Queen's honour, to retrieve a jewellery box given away by the Queen's secret lover, Lord Buckingham (John Sutton), and to prevent Richelieu from plotting. To assist him, he is accompanied by Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, as well as his dull but loyal servant Planchet (Keenan Wynn). Shortly after D'Artagnan's return from England, Constance is kidnapped at the behest of Cardinal Richelieu. D'Artagnan makes a pass at Milady de Winter, discovers a delicate secret, and only just manages to save himself. Constance is freed and taken to safety in England, shortly after which war breaks out, and our four friends are drawn into it. They overhear a conspiratorial meeting between the Cardinal and Lady de Winter in an inn. The latter is to travel to England and kill Buckingham. Planchet also travels to England at D'Artagnan's behest to warn Buckingham. Lady de Winter is convicted and is to be executed. Constance is appointed her guardian. Milady de Winter, after a lengthy psychological duel, manages to take out Constance as well as a guard and Buckingham and then escapes. Athos and D'Artagnan, who wanted to help Constance, arrive too late; after Constance dies in D'Artagnan's arms, they themselves also have only escaped. Back in Paris, the four friends track down Lady de Winter, pronounce the death sentence on her, and have the prisoner executed. During their subsequent escape towards Spain, they are overpowered and arrested. Their fate seems to be sealed, but young D'Artagnan still has one trump card: the Countess's passport, personally sealed and signed by Cardinal Richelieu, with the note that everything the bearer of this letter undertakes will serve the good of the state. The king is not allowed to know the background of this letter - so Richelieu has to give in. Aramis receives permission to take up a clerical office. Porthos is allowed to marry richly, Athos gets his property back and D'Artagnan is to negotiate a peace offer with the enemy England on behalf of France.

This splashy 1948 MGM adaptation of The Three Musketeers was the third sound version and was also the first version in Technicolor. In 1947, a representative of the National Catholic Legion of Decency, an organisation that monitored the interests of the Church in motion pictures, objected to the characterisation of Cardinal Richelieu in the planned MGM adaptation of Dumas' story. In a letter to MGM producer Pandro S. Berman, the organisation stated its objection to the cardinal being portrayed as a "worldly and unscrupulous man" and urged the studio to remove the character from the film. Berman refused to remove the character from the film but promised he would use great caution in all sensitive matters pertaining to the story and in the film, Richelieu is never referred to as Cardinal Richelieu. Berman also indicated that Constance, the married mistress of D'Artagnan in the novel, would be unmarried in the film version. While early sound versions of Three Musketeers eliminated the deaths of Constance and Milady, this adaptation telescopes the novel's events to allow for these tragedies. According to AFI, screenwriter Robert Ardry was displeased with Sidney's irreverent approach to the Dumas story and objected to the spoof elements that were added to the film. A biography of Kelly noted that Belgian fencing champion Jean Heremans, who appears in the film as the cardinal's guard, taught Kelly how to fence. Kelly's biography also noted that during the filming of a bedroom scene, Kelly flung Turner onto a bed with such force that she fell to the ground and suffered a broken elbow. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “True to form, MGM saw to it that Lana Turner, as Milady, was dressed to the nines and heavily bejeweled for her beheading sequence. Portions of the 1948 Three Musketeers, in black and white, showed up in the silent film-within-a-film in 1952's Singin' in the Rain, which of course also starred Gene Kelly.” The Three Musketeers opened to mostly favourable reviews, with several reviewers commenting on the film's unusual tongue-in-cheek approach. New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther noted that "more glittering swordplay, more dazzling costumes, more colors or more of Miss Turner's chest have never been seen in a picture than are shown in this one." And added: “Completely fantastic, however, is Miss Turner as the villainess, the ambitious Lady de Winter who does the boudoir business for the boss. Loaded with blond hair and jewels, with twelve-gallon hats and ostrich plumes, and poured into her satin dresses with a good bit of Turner to spare, she walks through the palaces and salons with the air of a company-mannered Mae West.” In 1948, there was an Oscar nomination for Robert Planck in the category Best Cinematography/Colour. Hans J. Wollstein at AllMovie: “The Three Musketeers remains an outrageously entertaining yarn, the Southern California locales perfectly standing in for 17th Century France and England.” And finally, Yvette Banek at her blog In so many words: “Lana Turner is really quite superb in her evilness. So evil that she is even photographed without make-up. Well, as 'without make-up' as MGM got, at any rate. Even then, she is exquisitely beautiful - especially when praying.”

Sources: Bosley Crowther (New York Times), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Yvette Banek (In so many words), AFI, Wikipedia (Dutch, German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.