When they mentioned a hurricane coming up in the Med I knew this was bound to go pear-shaped. So it did, but not as soon as I had expected. Much of this film is actually a reasonably competent adaptation of Dumas' novel. Young Edmond Dantes (Robert Donat) is framed by three men as a member of a Bonapartist conspiracy; he is jailed without trial in a fortress prison off the coast near Marseilles where a fellow prisoner tells him about a fabulous treasure. Eventually Dantes escapes, finds the hoard and re-appears in France as the wealthy and mysterious Count of Monte Cristo. The sets look good and fit the period; the acting is not outstanding but perfectly acceptable. However, over time the film re-interprets Dantes in a way that works less and less. While in the novel he wants vengeance (he is a much more ambiguous character) here he is interested in justice. There is no doubt about that he takes the moral high ground - always. The consequence is that the ending is changed beyond recognition. There is a strange trial where Monte Cristo is accused but turns the tables on the state prosecutor Villefort (Louis Calhern), who is one of the three villains. The film does not only handle this trial poorly, it also tacks on the unification of Dantes with his former bride (Elissa Landi), and everything descends into happiness and harmony. In short, director Rawland V. Lee gives us a straightforward adventure story, throwing away the chance to make a much better, more complex and more interesting film.
Review of The Count of Monte Cristo
