Le comte de Monte-Cristo

This is a nice introduction to the Dumas story. Chamberlain is very convincing count. The greatest strength are the scenes at the Château D'if and the relationship of Edmund Dantes with the old priest who saves him. This is really quite gut wrenching. I know it's not the responsibility of the writers to explain everything historically, but it would have been good to have a bit of the Bonapartist issues and the turmoil in France. Once Dantes finds the fortune and begins his quest for revenge, things get so short on detail, but that is the price of a two hour effort with commercials thrown in. Chamberlain makes a good swashbuckler. Louis Jordan and Tony Curtis do quite a bit of overacting, but that's OK. It's a big book and others have tried to put the story on screen, but this has always been fun for me.

When you convert a novel of 1100 pages to a film of about 100min, you're inevitably going to lose a lot of details - probably a few important ones. But under the circumstances, this film was about as good as it could get. I love the original novel, and was a fan of the 1973-74 films of "The Three Musketeers" (in which Richard Chamberlain played Aramis, incidentally), and so was interested to see this.

The most obvious change is that the first half of the film deals with about the first quarter of the book - making it a little unbalanced. But then, the book has so many subplots, it was probably necessary to let go of a lot of them.

The other obvious change is that in the novel, Danglars is the main villain, whom Dantes pardons at the end. In the film it is Mondego - which makes more sense from a film point of view, as Mondego took Dantes' bride. But apart from that, here, Dantes does not show any mercy - whereas in the book Danglars was pardoned, in the film he does not show any remorse until all four villains are either dead or locked up - and only then because Mercedes does not love this new version of himself. So that's a pity.

Still, changes aside, this film is about as good as it could be. Someone else said probably best for those who've not read the book. They're probably right. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it if you have read it. I'd give this 7/10.

This movie is excellent, especially compared to the new version with James cavaziel, which is much longer, and still does not touch on the depth and characters, this 75' version was somehow able to do. As well Chamberlain, was able to show through voice and appearance, changes of appearance from the young man of 19 to the man in he would be in his late 30's. If they didnt capture every subplot, they covered most of them, in more pared down fashion. Its a shame this was not made into a miniseries at the time on tv. It would likely have been excellent. You can tell from the cuts in the movie, that there was a longer one there, that couldnt be aired due to time constraints. Nevertheless, excellent, american production of the film, though not as good as the version with Gerard Depardieu, Chamberlain, himself, cuts a finer figure as the count, at least in is look. Chamberlain had assurance, picked a voice to use in the film, which I point out, because in the 2002 version, Cavaziel, had this very problem and never was able to be comfortable in how he delivered his lines or his appearance. Great Film catch it while you can.

This is a made-for-television version of "Le Comte de Monte Cristo" which I believe qualifies as a masterwork. The feature was directed by David Greene and written by Sidney Carroll. Its basis is the famous adventure novel by Alexandre Duimas, the father. The feel of the piece is clean, to my eyes, the lighting very bright, the colors intense. I found it to be modern without committing in any sense a violation of its own century. Even those unable to understand something being of another age but not 'dated' can probably still enjoy what I regard as a very superior production of this classic story. The cinematography by Aldo Tinti I find to be memorable, as is the lyrical score by Allyn Ferguson. The attractive and varied settings within the production design done by Walter Patriarca as well as the art direction by Andrew Patriarca with Walter Patriarca are very much above-average even for theatrical-release films. Also, Olga Lehmann's costumes help to establish period and mood admirably in my judgment; the French period illustrated with its Empire dresses and fitted gentlemen's clothing photographed very nicely. The story is actually a fairly simple one. Edmond Dantes, a gifted and honest young seafarer has taken command of a ship belonging to his company and brought it home safely after the death of his captain. Betrayed by enemies he never knew he had, he is accused of the captain's death and taken away from the woman he loves, his life, his world and imprisoned for fourteen years. He at first fears he will go mad; then he is found by the Abbe Feria, who was tunneling to escape the island prison where he too has languished, but ended up in Dantes' cell instead. The two become fellow conspirators, and the learned cleric teaches Dantes all that he has missed in life as they work together to regain their freedom. He tells Dantes of a fabulous treasure on the Island of Monte Cristo, that they will be able to share someday. But he dies suddenly, after they have worked three years more; and Dantes barely escapes before the jailers come, with the map to the treasure and their tools. He returns to the cell where the Abbe's body has been sewn into a bag for disposal into the sea. Substituting himself after shifting the Abbe to his own cell, he waits. Thrown into the sea, he uses a knife to escape and survives the fall and near-drowning in good condition. It is his bad fortune to have to swim for hours before he can find so much as a floating log. Then they rescue him and take him in among them, for his knowledge of seamanship and more. He becomes a valued man, and learns that his father has starved to death during his absence. He vows revenge and seizes the means to it--the treasure of Monte Cristo. Recruiting loyal friends among the smugglers, he finds the five-centuries-old treasure. "The world is mine!" he cries. And with that, he becomes "The Count of Monte Cristo," one of the richest men in the world, a man who can have the revenge Edmond Dantes was denied by those whose business should have been justice. Four men are his target, the men who have profited from their evil deed against him. His sweetheart Mercedes has married one of the four and has a son; but even she fails to recognize him when he turns up as the darling of Paris, the most-sought-after man in French society. One by one, ensnaring them through their weakness and their lust for his unearned wealth, he causes them to be ruined or find death or a prison cell. He has become, in Mercedes' words, an 'avenging angel', no longer a man. But he is passionless about his pursuit of justice; it is for the viewer as if the innocent young Dantes were a man who had been done to death and as if he, the Count of Monte Cristo, were his separate champion exacting punishment for the man who is no more. But when he finishes, Mercedes does not see Edmond Dantes in him, only the vengeance seeker. This film is not about the power of wealth, but rather the wealth that power brings; for with cooperation, men ready to invest in one's schemes, men who can be bought or men who follow an opportunity, there is very little one cannot do. The flaw lies in a French society whose power-holders can be bribed and corrupted, not in the man who makes them offers they should refuse. I believe this to be far the best of the story's many versions. The cast is exceptional too for any film. Richard Chamberlain as the young Dantes, the prisoner, the smuggler, the avenger, the man is award caliber; he became "king of the TV mini-series" largely on the strength of this timeless performance. Among the men he seeks are Donald Pleasance, Tony Curtis and Louis Jourdan. As Mercedes, Kate Nelligan is lovely and suffers as well as she always does; her emotional range is admirably suited to the task of both losing Dantes and grieving over her threatened son, long after she has ceased to love her gamecock husband, Curtis. Trevor Howard is powerful and affecting as the Abbe Feria, lacking only enough lines to deserve awards for his work. Among the conspirators, Jourdan is coldly interesting, Pleasance admirably nefarious and Curtis, despite his accent problems, is energetic and intelligent. This is a film that I never miss, and I invite viewers to discover it. It is hard as a diamond, yet passionate, fast-paced and I suggest intensely-interesting at every point in its logical progression.

A good TV effort for this timeless tale. Chamberlain's performance carries the story along. I recently picked up the video at a yard sale and was disappointed to find the "tableaux" scenes missing. Too bad, as the sequence of Dantes' confrontation with Mondego makes a lot more sense after the deleted scenes.