Treasure of Monte Cristo

Hmmm! Maybe this looked better on the page but sadly this attempt to modernise (and Americanise) the Monte Cristo tale just fell a bit flat for me. The one-gear Glenn Langan picks up the role of modern-day sailor "Edmund Dantes". He arrives in San Francisco only to find himself the victim of some thugs as he rides to the rescue of damsel in distress "Jean" (Adele Jergens). Consoling her leads to a quickie marriage but is she all she seems? Might she be trying to get him to reveal the location of the legendary treasure of his distant ancestor (which somehow might have managed to cross the Atlantic and the continental USA!). If you are expecting any swash and buckle, or a tale of vengeance and betrayal then don't bother. This is neither - it is a cheap and cheerful film-noir that uses the Monte Cristo treasure as a template for a rather far-fetched and silly story peopled by actors who are mediocre at best and who deliver a rather sedentary script that, along with some basic production standards, left me feeling just a bit hoodwinked!

From seaman to seaman in five generations, that's how it has worked for the Dantes family. Glenn Langan plays the great great grandson of the fabled Count Of Monte Cristo who served up the coldest dish of revenge ever in literature. But Glenn hasn't got all those years to waste in the Château D'If like his ancestor. He's been scheduled to die in San Quentin for a murder he got framed for and for which his lawyer Steve Brodie had a big hand in framing.

Langan has no idea who he is nor that he is the heir to a fortune that's like the one Nicholas Cage found in National Treasure. But Brodie a bottom feeding shyster of an attorney has found out and means to get it for himself. In a truly complicated frame, with more plot that would usually characterize a Lippert Picture, Brodie ties a murder to Langan and then gets to represent him in court and throw the case to finish the job.

Figuring in all this is Adele Jergens playing her usual blond femme fatale who actually tricks Langan into marrying him. Kind of dumb, but Langan like a lot of us was letting his hormones talk for him.

This is a nicely done Lippert film much better than average with the obligatory appearance by Sid Melton. Try not to miss this one.

The unfortunate title suggests a costume drama with maybe Tyrone Power or Cornell Wilde. Instead the movie's a 1940's crime drama set in San Francisco. Edmund Dantes (Langan) works as ship's hand, having no idea of his famous forebearer, the Count of Monte Cristo. He may have no idea, but crooked attorney Jackson (Brodie) does, and concocts a scheme with blonde siren Jean (Jergens) to lay hands on what will be Dante's inheritance. Fortunately, the ship's hand has friends who stand by him, even when he's brought up on murder charges.

It's a better than average Lippert production. The Frisco locales add a lot of eye-appeal. And though there are elements of noir in the plot—spider woman, doomed man—these are not played up in the lighting or photography. It's narrative that's emphasized here, not moral shadings. Actors Langan and Jergens are okay in the leads, but it's really Brodie who injects spark. Too bad he never received the recognition he deserved. But then, like so many supporting actors, his job was to help carry the celebrity industry on his back, not on his name

Too bad Lippert couldn't resist their penchant for low humor. Here, it's one of their favorites, Sid Melton (Tyson) plus the unfortunate old guy playing the buffoonish ethnic. As expected, these do nothing for the overall effect. Anyway, things do get complicated toward the end, but all in all, it's a pretty good little crime drama for a rainy evening.

I have to agree with other posters - calling this film Treasure of Monte Cristo makes you think it is some period piece rather than a noir.

Handsome Glenn Langan stars as Edmund Dantes, who works on a ship that arrives in San Francisco. He meets a stunning blond, Jean (Adele Jergens) - she's an heiress that has to get married or turn 25 in order to get her inheritance.

In the meantime, certain factions are trying to make sure neither one ever happens. She talks Dantes into marrying her. (P.S. I don't know who talked who into what in real life, but this good-looking couple did get married and stayed married until Langan's death in 1991.)

Jean then disappears from their hotel room, leaving an address written in soap on a mirror. Thinking it's the sanitarium where she was put so someone could get power of attorney, he rushes there.

Dantes winds up framed for murder, and Jean can't be found. His lawyer isn't much help; he's found guilty and the chair awaits. Meanwhile, Dantes has no idea that he is actually an heir, as the descendant of the original Count of Monte Cristo, and it's not Jean's inheritance they want - it's his.

Langdon and Jergens are fine, but some of the other acting is horrendous, particularly from Dantes' adopted Italian family. Steve Brodie is a sleazy lawyer.

The San Francisco locations are great, making for an enjoyable experience.

Glenn Langan is Edmund Dantes, a merchant mariner on leave in his home town of San Francisco, He runs into Adele Jergens. She is an heiress whose guardian keeps sticking her into asylums so he can hold onto her money. She offers him $10,000 to marry her, so she can gain control. He does so, and the next day is framed for murder. Now the story she tells the police is different; Langan picked her up, they got drunk and married in Reno, and that's all she knows.

It's a cheap Lippert production with little in the way of star power, but it's a nicely tangled little mystery in which, alas, many of its secrets are revealed in the title. Nonetheless, B director William Berke gets some nice performances out of the actors, as well as some nice location shots around San Francisco.