From Lewis Wallace (who said that "Ben Hur" used Dumas's blueprint) to Stephen King ("the shawshank redemption ",in which Morgan Freeman plays more or less the role of l' Abbé Faria) ,how many writers were inspired by "le comte de Monte Cristo"?
This one is not bad and smartly blends melodrama ( the hero's family's past) with pure film noir (the framed hero, lured by a femme fatale) and a good red herring ( who's actually got the fortune? ). The first part is the best (pay attention to the very first sequence ) , imitating Dumas's set-up ( although his hero did not get a death sentence, but an imprisonment in le château d'If de Marseille , without a trial at that!;and he escaped without a little help of his adoptive family).
But as the action takes place in late forties San Francisco , it was necessary to modify the plot accordingly ; things degenerate in the last third,and the love affair is not convincing at all (no chemistry between the actors) and conventional (in the book , Dantès does not marry his fiancée Mercédès who anyway is totally innocent)
Note that "treasure" was inspired by a novel from the nineteenth century itself inspired by a true story, reportedly that of a certain Pierre Picaud .
This one is not bad and smartly blends melodrama ( the hero's family's past) with pure film noir (the framed hero, lured by a femme fatale) and a good red herring ( who's actually got the fortune? ). The first part is the best (pay attention to the very first sequence ) , imitating Dumas's set-up ( although his hero did not get a death sentence, but an imprisonment in le château d'If de Marseille , without a trial at that!;and he escaped without a little help of his adoptive family).
But as the action takes place in late forties San Francisco , it was necessary to modify the plot accordingly ; things degenerate in the last third,and the love affair is not convincing at all (no chemistry between the actors) and conventional (in the book , Dantès does not marry his fiancée Mercédès who anyway is totally innocent)
Note that "treasure" was inspired by a novel from the nineteenth century itself inspired by a true story, reportedly that of a certain Pierre Picaud .