The Son of Monte Cristo (1940)

As Good As It Gets

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Some surprisingly glorious scenery and set direction highlight "The Count of Monte Cristo". Louis Hayward cuts a fine Count (aka "The Torch"). Joan Bennett is the beautiful queen - attracting the attentions of both Mr. Hayward and a deliciously wicked George Sanders. They, and the supporting players work very well together, and keep the movie interesting.My favorite of the many nicely envisioned scenes is when Ms. Bennett, in a garden prison, releases a bird from its cage. Cleverly symbolic. I also like the "graveyard" hiding place - decorated with skeletons. The film's ending is terrific. With a tightening of its script and a little more budget, this might have attained classic status. It's a great example of a cast and crew making the absolute most of what they were given by a studio. ******* The Son of Monte Cristo (12/5/40) Rowland V. Lee ~ Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, George Sanders

I had watched this via a recording off local TV a few years ago and, though I subsequently erased it, I remember enjoying the film. As with director Lee's SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939), it's rather talky but never boring and emerges as an agreeable, though slightly overlong, swashbuckler (even if occasionally bordering on camp).The same director had previously made THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1934) and this sequel to it re-unites the stars (Joan Bennett, Louis Hayward) and writer (George Bruce) of the definitive screen version of yet another Alexandre Dumas classic, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1939) - directed, interestingly enough, by James Whale. Incidentally, these two - both, as is THE SON OF MONTE CRISTO itself, produced by independent Edward Small - are perhaps the classic adventure films I would most like to watch and I wonder which DVD company owns the rights to all three titles... Still, the film is equally influenced by THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1934) - in its hero's dual personality of fop/crusader - and THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937) - the Ruritanian setting - and, despite being a 'B' movie at heart, it's stylishly handled (with Oscar-nominated art direction/set decoration). It also makes the most of its fine cast: good leads, wonderful villainy from George Sanders, a nice role for Ian Wolfe (billed "MacWolfe"!), and including three actors from Universal's Frankenstein saga - Lionel Belmore (as a bartender), Michael Mark (hilariously made up as a bishop) and Dwight Frye (in a 10-second bit as an embassy official).

This swashbuckler is developed in Europe on the epoch of Napoleon III empire .The Balkanes,steeped in the ancient traditions of romance and chivalry, people hold unswerving loyalty to the throne on which now sits the young great Duchess Zona(Joan Bennett)of Lichtenburg(a country similar to the ¨Prisoner of Zenda¨).She rules under the sinister shadow of one despotic tyrant(George Sanders)general Gurko Lamen who tries to take over . The son of Edmond Dantes (Louis Hayward), the famous Count of Montecristo ,simulating to be a foppish count and masked is ¨the Torch¨ helping the Duchess. She flees to find herself with the emperor Napoleon III.The picture is a sequel to ¨The Count of Montecristo (1934)¨ also directed by Rowland V. Lee , though none connection exception of the father and son relationship. In the film there are action,adventures,melodrama,fencing duels, a love story,derring-do and is pretty entertaining and funny. Louis Hayward as masked avenger is very fine , his following films were a series of swashbucklers during fifteen years. Joan Bennett as the attractive duchess is enjoyable and enticing .Both played in 1939,¨The man in the iron mask¨, and again teamed up for this agreeable adventure.George Sanders as always plays a dastardly villain. Besides appear as secondaries actors,Clayton Moore(Lone Ranger),Montagu Love,Henry Brandon,Ralph Bird and Ian Wolfe. Direction by Rowland V. Lee is excellent, is famous in his films the extensive use of low angle shooting by means of a special device to heighten the impact of the scene . The movie was nominated to the best production design for Edward Boyle by its imposing sets though obtain none. The flick will appeal to swashbuckler enthusiastic and adventures cinema fans.

It was done on the cheap - see how the backdrops are so obvious in the first scenes where the Duchess and Cristo meet, see how the stunt 'doubles' are, well, hardly doubles - but it is very funny, very loveable, and wins you over. I will admit to a soft spot for little Louis, the very small hero of this, and Joan Bennett has that haughty beauty of so many B pic heroines. But it delivers, and that's what counts. It manages to be entertaining and move along quite well. Perhaps it could have been a bit better in quality but I'm certainly not complaining ...