Dinner with Dumas

You have a seat at the table with Alexandre Dumas to share his passion for food…friends, lovers, theater, writing, travel, adventure, and other muses.

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Richard Chamberlain (1934-2025): An Appreciation for Alexandre Dumas

I’ve wanted to write this post for some time because it’s important to everything Dumas I enjoy today. 

March 29, 2025, actor Richard Chamberlain died in his home in Waimanalo Hawaii, 2 days before his 91st birthday. Richard Chamberlain was born in Beverly Hills, CA and earned a BA in painting and art history while participating in a college acting group. The experience turned Chamberlain’s sites on acting by the time he graduated according to his obituary in “The New York Times.” 

Richard Chamberlain is primarily remembered as a television actor who, because of his good looks, wasn’t taken seriously until he reached middle age. I’ll always remember Richard Chamberlain as the conduit for my Alexandre Dumas fandom. And Dumas was my introduction to the actor himself. Richard Chamberlain provided the impetus for me to go deeper into the Dumas inventory, the books, the biography, the memoirs, the future film and television adaptations of Dumas’s novels, this blog, and a play, “Dinner with Dumas” that I will endeavor to complete this year.

THE ARAMIS YEARS 1973, 1974, 1989

Chamberlain portrayed Aramis in 3  Musketeer films inspired by Dumas’ d’Artagnon Romances serial that began publication in 1844. In The Three Musketeers released in 1973, and the sequel The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge released in 1974.

In the Chamberlain’s Musketeer films, Athos, Porthos and d’Artagnon are portrayed by Oliver Reed, Frank Findlay, and Michael York who is now the only living member of the fab 4 to date. Aramis was my favorite musketeer for a long time thanks to Richard Chamberlain. Over the years Athos has taken that spot as I’ve come to understand the lead musketeer’s melancholia and grief.

The fab 4 actors returned 15 years later and grayer in The Return of the Musketeers, released in 1989. The film is based on the 1845 serial “20 Years Later,” the sequel to “The Three Musketeers” by Dumas and (I should mention) his collaborator Auguste Maquet. I haven’t seen The Return of the Musketeers, but I read “20 Years Later.” After watching a trailer for the 1989 film, I noticed Kim Cattrall, best known as Samantha Jones in the HBO series Sex and the City. Cattrall portrays Justine, the vengeful daughter of the late Milady deWinter. In the book Milady’s adult child,  Mordaunt, is the vengeful son.

The 1970s adaptations of Dumas’s Musketeer novels took swashbuckling to a different level. Sword fighting didn’t look like men in tights fighting in time with a metronome. 1970s swashbuckling adds Bonnie and Clyde grit with panache. You knew everything, strengths and weaknesses, about Aramis, Athos, Porthos and d’Artagnon by the way they handled their épées. 

The films’ fight choreographer William Hobbs, himself a fencing master and stuntman, liked to keep it real. Hobbs appears in The Three Musketeers as one of the Cardinal’s hitmen sent to ambush the fab 4 on their way to deliver a message to the Duke of Buckingham. Hobbs returned to choreograph the fight scenes for the 1989 sequel where, based on the trailer, we finally see a woman with an épée.

William Hobbs, Fight Director on Swashbuckling Classics ‘The Duellists’ and ‘Rob Roy,’ Dies at 79

William Hobbs, the innovative fight director, fencing master and stuntman who choreographed action sequences for such films as 'The Three Mu

Richard Chamberlain would star in two television movie adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’s serials/books.

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1975)

The Count of Monte Cristo premiered in 1975,  Dumas published the novel published in serial form from 1844-1846, and in book form in 1846. Chamberlain portrays Edmond Dantés, the innocent young sailor who’s set up and sent to prison, makes a dramatic and fortuitous escape, and devises his revenge on his enemies under a new identity as a mysterious nobleman. It’s a delicious story. I’ve read the book and seen nearly every adaptation made since Chamberlain’s 1975 film. William Hobbs choreographed the fight scene in the 2002 film adaptation with Jim Caviezel as Dantés.

THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1977)

The Man in the Iron Mask is Richard Chamberlain’s final Dumas adaptation.  Chamberlain does double duty playing both King Louis XIV and his identical twin Philippe. Corrupt King Louis is the evil twin of the two. Philippe is the innocent victim whose only crime is having a face that’s identical to King Louis’s and the ongoing rumors that Philippe may be the true heir to the throne. Louis orders Philippe’s abduction and disappearance. Philippe’s entire head is sealed in an iron mask with only slots to eat, see, and breath. I still get chills thinking about it.  No one is to see Phillipe’s face, speak his name, or know of his existence. 

The Man in the Iron Mask is part of d’Artagon Romances. But d’Artagnon is the only musketeer from the fab 4 in the 1977 adaptation. D’Artagnon, portrayed by Louis Jordan, is both jailer and rescuer of the man who is the rightful heir to the throne. Jordan also appears as deputy crown prosecutor de Villafort opposite Richard Chamberlain in The Count of Monte Cristo. Jordan also portrayed Edmund Dantés in an earlier 1961 adaptation.

I co-host and produce a podcast with my real-life sister — “Historical Drama with the Boston Sisters,” which we’ve been recording since 2021. This year we featured a conversation with Jenny Agutter who portrays Sister Julienne on the popular British series Call the Midwife that has enjoyed 14 seasons and is about to go into its 15th. While looking back at Richard Chamberlain’s Dumas films, it hit me that Jenny Agutter was his co-star in The Man in the Iron Mask portraying King Louis XIV’s mistress Louise de la Valliere. We didn’t get to talk about The Man in the Iron Mask with Jenny Agutter for the podcast since the topic was Call the Midwife. But, if curious, you can listen to that conversation on this link.

Ep. 70 - CALL THE MIDWIFE - Behind-the-Scenes with Sister Julienne — Michon Boston Group Ltd

Episode 70 goes behind the scenes of CALL THE MIDWIFE with Jenny Agutter who portrays Sister Julienne in the series. Jenny Agutter has bee

Unfortunately, Richard Chamberlain’s Dumas portfolio didn’t give him the boost he needed to become a household name, that is until 1983 when he starred in the television mini series, The Thorn Birds, based on the novel by Australian author Colleen McCullough.

Chamberlain, nearly 50, portrayed the tortured handsome Catholic priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart, emotionally and physically torn between his love for a woman (and her desire for his love), and his love for the church, maybe God. Something tells me that would not have been a problem for Aramis, who was making plans to take his priestly vows after his service as a king’s musketeer. All were divine.

Richard Chamberlain’s had a big TV role as John Blackthorne in Shōgun, based on the novel by James Clavell. The mini-series was released in 1980, 3 years before The Thorn Birds. Like his Dumas roles, Shōgun gave Chamberlain more swords to brandish in a story set at the end of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573-1615). But The Thorn Birds generated the big buzz and water-cooler chatter for Chamberlain. The Thorn Birds was the 2nd most watched mini series of its time after Roots (1977), attracting 110 million-140 million viewers according to the Television Academy aka Emmys.

If not for Richard Chamberlain, Dumas for me may have been nothing more than the Three Musketeers, an iconic 4-some symbolic of unflinching friendship and collaboration. An ongoing cliche of “One for all and all for one.” And a candy bar that I learned was originally 3 mini bars in the three Neapolitan flavors (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) when it was introduced in 1932. World War II rationing reduced the candy to one chocolate bar. As of this writing, only Michael York (d’Artagnon) is the only living actor of the original 4 actors from the musketeer films spotlighted in this post.

Thank you Richard Chamberlain for bringing me joy in the stories of Alexandre Dumas. In the words of Aramis from Dumas’s “The Man in the Iron Mask“: “That which is actually good never alters.”

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CHEVALIER is here! The feature film biopic about violin virtuoso, composer, master fencer, Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint George written by Stefani Robinson and directed by Stephen Williams. CHEVALIER had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival Sunday, September 11.

Kelvin Harrison Jr.plays Joseph Bologne. Bologne led the Légion Saint-Georges, the first all-black regiment in Europe. Thomas Alexandre Dumas (Alexandre Dumas’s father) was a member of this regiment.

Can’t wait for CHEVALIER’s full theatrical release!

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Soupe joumou, a symbol of freedom and hope, is a New Year’s Day tradition for Haitians everywhere

A soup that's hearty and filling, and symbolizes freedom and hope.

I wonder if Dumas ever enjoyed a bowl of Soupe Joumou. Is this a real deal recipe? Remembering the people of 🇭🇹 when comfort and caring are needed more than ever.

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Alexandre Dumas at George Sand's dining table - Maison de George Sand (Nohant-Vic/FR) by Richard Poppelaars Via Flickr: Alexandre Dumas at George Sand's dining table, ione of her famous guests who enjoyed every meal in company of the others. The kitchen is equiped with a huge "Au Bain Marie", it is told to be one of the first in France. --- Details Maison de George Sand à Nohant - monument and museum. The House of George Sand, a writer's house at Nohant, in the Indre department of France. George Sand (born as Aurore Dupin; 1804–1876) was a French author and it was where she wrote many of her books and hosted some of the most important artists and writers of her time, including Chopin, Liszt, Balzac, Dumas, Turgenev, and Delacroix, The house including the interior are preserved including the english garden. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_George_Sand --- About Pixels - #famouspeople - #museum #Nohant #FR

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D’Artagnan Enters the Farm Business

Alix Daguin, the daughter of a founder of the meat purveyor, runs All for One One for All Farm in Goshen, N.Y.

“As if she didn’t have enough to do, running D’Artagnan — the meat, poultry, charcuterie (and now also seafood) company that sells to restaurants, stores and consumers — Ariane Daguin, a founder and owner of the company, now has a farm, All for One One for All, in the Hudson Valley. “

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“How shall I pose for this photo?”

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Violinist Reginald D. Patterson showed up on my Facebook feed. He shares our musings around the music of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Joseph Bologne de Saint-George), General Alex Dumas’ mentor. Performance of Saint-Georges’s Sonata in A Major, Allegro and Andantino. Bravo Reginald!

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What’s the status of The Black Count, the adaptation of Tom Reiss’s biography of Alexandre Dumas father, the great general Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie? What’s the casting potential now for the lead role as the general? Lots of buzz lately around Regé-Jean Page who’s featured in the Shondaland period drama adaptation of Julia Quinn’s historical romance books Bridgerton for Netflix. Author favorite Idris Elba recently displayed his urban horsemanship in the feature film Concrete Cowboys though admitted to having to overcome an allergy to the animals in a “Hollywood Reporter” interview during the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). We miss BBC’s The Musketeers. That means Howard Charles who played Porthos is ready for any upcoming Dumas project.

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Look what showed up in “Lovecraft Country.” @lovecraftcountry

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Google honors Alexandre Dumas & The Count of Monte Cristo - 9to5Google

Today's Google Doodle honors Alexandre Dumas, the French author responsible for The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.

Google doodles Alexandre Dumas and the first publication (serialization) of The Count of Monte Cristo.

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Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the Real Black Mozart, is Adapted into a Motion Picture

If you haven't heard of Chevalier de Saint-Georges, now is the time to get started on doing a history 101 lesson on the French Caribbean composer.

Alex Dumas’ mentor. “The Black Count” story can’t be far behind.

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In 1832, Paris was devastated by a cholera pandemic. Though the bourgeoisie thought the pandemic was confined to the poor. thousands died including a popular general Jean Maximilien LaMarque who was known to be critical of the monarchy of Louis-Philippe. Riots touched off after his funeral.

Paris was an unsanitary jigsaw puzzle with an ancient sewage system that emptied into the middle of the streets. In addition France was experiencing food shortages, high cost of living, increased concentrated poverty — in combination created the perfect storm for a plague and the rebellions that peppered the city before, during and after.

Dumas himself became ill from cholera. Miraculously he recovered after drinking ether. In a New York Times interview published September 24, 1852, Dumas credits his housekeeper for administering the cure with sugar. Ether, became very popular in Ireland in the 1840s when the British government imposed a “prohibition” on the making of distilled spirits.. Non-medical ether was produced for industrial purposes and sold in shops for public consumption. This ether gave drinkers the same kick and effect as alcohol only faster with no hangovers — a highly addictive liquid narcotic. Dumas describes how after drinking the “disholical liquid” he lost “consciousness almost immediately.”  

In France ether was often mixed with cognac. Straight ether had an unpleasant smell, taste, and created a burning sensation when swallowed. In addition ether emitted highly flammable vapors in burps and farts. Fortunately for Dumas (and all) he was in bed and not cooking.

Two years before the cholera outbreak, Dumas was putting the finishing touches on his play “Christine.” Mademoiselle Georges, a star of the Paris stage, held rehearsals for the play in her house. If there was a part for a boy, her nephew Tom, would be cast though he was not a fan of the theatre. Tom had a brother named Paul. Dumas did not consider Paul for any part in his play but appears to admire the boy’s appreciation for fine food. Being a man who never wanted anyone to be forgotten, Dumas writes a tender portrait of Paul in his memoirs and a snapshot of Paris during the 1832 cholera pandemic. Dumas mention of the “glass of eau sucrée” foreshadows Paul’s fate.

...Paul, who was called "le petit Popol," was by far the funniest looking object that was ever seen: he had a charming head, with fine dark eyes and long chestnut hair, but his body was too small to carry the head. This disproportion gave the child a very grotesque appearance: he was immensely clever, a gourmand like Grimod de la Reynière, and the very opposite of Tom in that he would have stuck to the stage all his life, if he could only have managed to get plenty to eat thereby.

At the time when I first became acquainted with him, he was only a little monkey of six or seven years of age, and already he had devised a way of establishing a credit account at the café at the corner of the rue de Vaugirard and the rue de Molière, by means of all sorts of ingenious excuses. One fine day it was found out that little Popol's account amounted to a hundred crowns! In three months he had run through three hundred francs' worth of all kinds of confectionery and drinks, which he had asked for in his mother's name, or in that of his aunt, and which he had eaten or drunk on staircases, in corridors or behind doorways. He it was who, in Richard Darlington, was placed in such a manner as to make him appear the height of an ordinary man, representing the Speaker of the House of Commons. In this capacity he had a bell at his right hand and a glass of eau sucrée* at his left; he rang the bell with the gravity of M. Dupin, and drank the glass of eau sucrée with the dignity of M. Barrot. The little beggar never would learn his prayers, and this gave the Voltairian Harel immense delight; however, all at once (it was during an epidemic of cholera), they found out that little Popol said a prayer, morning and evening, which he had, no doubt, improvised to suit the occasion.

They were curious to know what this prayer was and, hiding themselves to listen, overheard the following:—

"O Lord God! take my Aunt Georges; take my Uncle Harel; take my brother Tom; take mamma Bébelle; take my friend Provost, but leave little Popol and the cook!"

But the prayer did not bring the poor little fellow the luck he fervently wished: cholera took him, and carried him off, with fifteen hundred others in the same day.

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Les Misérables on MASTERPIECE

Dominic West, David Oyewolo, Lily Collins and Olivia Colman star in an epic adaption of Les Misérables, premiering Sunday, April 14, 9/8c on MASTERPIECE.

I’m not sure I can binge watch such a sad story masterfully told by Dumas’s friend and sometimes frenemy Victor Hugo. But this. miniseries adaptation of “Les Misérables” on PBS “Masterpiece Theatre” (adapted by Andrew Davies) is definitely worth watching. After Hugo’s big success with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the poet released his epic novel while in political exile in Brussels. Dumas supported Hugo during this period and visited often (escaping his own debts), until Hugo signed on to accusations of Dumas’s plagiarism for The Three Musketeers.

Dumas’s assessment of Hugo’s novel (per Nina Martyris’ 2017 article in The Paris Review) may reflect his resentments: 

Alexandre Dumas, inspired no doubt by Jean Valjean’s sojourn through the sewers, sneered that reading the novel was akin to “wading through mud.” 

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Here is a recipe for Raisin and Apricot Hot Crossed Buns (Brioches de carême aux raisins et aux abricots) from Café Ricardo in Quebec City. I chose the apricot recipe since that’s the fruit that makes an appearance in Dumas’ memoir and memories of his father, and 20 Years Laterin the moment when the King and Queen of France arrive at Notre Dame Cathedral.

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The Bells of Easter

In the second tower there were six other bells, and, finally, six smaller ones inhabited the belfry over the crossing, with the wooden bell which rang only between after dinner on Good Friday and the morning of the day before Easter. So Quasimodo had fifteen bells in his seraglio; but big Marie was his favorite.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

For Alexandre Dumas and his musketeers (20 Years Later), Notre Dame de Paris served its function – a cathedral church – where royals and the faithful worshipped or at least made their dutiful appearance out of respect for The Church.  For Dumas’ friend and professional rival Victor Hugo, Notre Dame Cathedral was something entirely different.

As the setting for his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hugo weaves a narrative of love, loss,  social and political commentary. It also served as a crowdfunding campaign. Hugo wrote the novel in 1831 to raise funds for the restoration of Our Lady of Paris. It turned out to be a huge success on both fronts.

During this Holy Week as news poured in from Paris about the fire that engulfed the roof and wooden spire of the great cathedral, Hugo’s novel is news once again and is topping sales in France on Amazon.com according to NPR. The posting of personal memories also contribute to what will most likely be a 21stcentury narrative for Notre Dame ‘s resurrection with, no doubt, a combination of secular and sacred sensibilities.

If there is any reason why the outpouring of donations have come quickly, it may be due to Victor Hugo, and Notre Dame’s position as a place marker and maker for residents, and a steady traffic of millions of tourists over the years.  There’s the appearance in paintings, photos, films, and its historical significance in western art, architecture, religion, war, and power.

Even after the devastating fire that gutted out Notre Dame’s wooden interior, the bell towers still stand. Many of the major artworks and artifacts were rescued including the crown of thorns. There is enough of the old for future generations to study and technology to bring more depth to their research.

Like Dumas, I’ll remember Notre Dame for more practical purposes -- the church where I lit a candle for my safe travels home, and being so close to Shakespeare and Company bookstore. To be honest the bookstore was my ultimate destination of my pilgrimage to the isle.

Bells will not ring on Good Friday per tradition. Brioche du Carême or what we know as Hot Crossed Buns are already in the bakeries.  Traditions continue but this Easter Sunday will be the start of another new day for Our Lady.

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It Is [Un]Finished

Benny Differ writes in Haaretz...

"’Isaac Lequedem’ - does it hint at the name Isaacs, the surname of the Jewish woman Dumas loved? - was serialized in Dumas' newspaper during the late 1860s. This final novel is the only one in which Dumas touched upon a ‘Jewish’ subject. The extract presented here tells of the situation in which Lequedem, the Wandering Jew, was condemned to embark on his eternal journey. The time: the eve of Passover. Outside, at Golgotha, the sky darkens and the order of Creation is overturned as Jesus is nailed to the cross and cries ‘Elohi! Elohi! Lema sabakhtanny? (’My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?’). Meanwhile, at Isaac's home, Passover is being celebrated as if nothing had happened - until suddenly, a loud knock is heard at the door.” 

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Provençal Haroseth for Passover Recipe

This is a 13th-century haroseth recipe from Provence, using the Mediterranean fruits and nuts that are still available in the region Back then, Jewish families would have saved chestnuts from the fall harvest and roasted or boiled them for this springtime Passover recipe — and then laboriously peeled them by hand — but now you can buy cooked, pre-peeled chestnuts any time.