The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)

Director:

Rowland V. Lee

Writers:

Alexandre Dumas père (novel)
Philip Dunne (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 September 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The screen's monumental achievement of 1934!

Plot:

After greedy men have Edmound Dantes unjustly imprisoned for 20 years for innocently delivering a letter entrusted to him, he escapes to revenge himself on them.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Escape | Napoleon | Prison | Fortune

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Donat	...	Edmond Dantes
Elissa Landi	...	Mercedes
Louis Calhern	...	De Villefort Jr.
Sidney Blackmer	...	Mondego
Raymond Walburn	...	Danglars
O.P. Heggie	...	Abbe Faria
Irene Hervey	...	Valentine
Georgia Caine	...	Mme. De Rosas
Walter Walker	...	Morrel
Lawrence Grant	...	De Villefort Sr.
Luis Alberni	...	Jacopo
Douglas Walton	...	Albert
Juliette Compton	...	Clothilde
Clarence Wilson	...	Fouquet
Eleanor Phelps	...	Haydee
Ferdinand Munier	...	Louis XVIII
Holmes Herbert	...	Judge
Paul Irving	...	Napoleon
Mitchell Lewis	...	Vampa
Clarence Muse	...	Ali
Lionel Belmore	...	Prison Governor
William Farnum	...	Captain Leclere
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wally Albright	...	Albert, Age 8 (uncredited)
Leon Ames	...	Beauchamp (uncredited)
Symona Boniface	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Fred Cavens	...	Fencing Master (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Jailer (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Officer in Courtroom (uncredited)
Paul Fix	...	Angry Citizen (uncredited)
Clarence Geldart	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Edward Hearn	...	Signalman (uncredited)
Sydney Jarvis	...	Ali Pasha (uncredited)
Edward Keane	...	Bertrand (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas	...	Detective (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack	...	Message Dispatcher (uncredited)
John Marsden	...	Pellerin (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Batistino - Dantes' Butler (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Mondego's Butler (uncredited)
Russ Powell	...	Manouse (uncredited)
Tom Ricketts	...	Cockeye (uncredited)
Desmond Roberts	...	Blacas (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Pirate Guard (uncredited)
William Wagner	...	Messenger (uncredited)
Niles Welch	...	De Villefort's Agent (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Dantes' Servant (uncredited)
Joan Woodbury	...	Dancing Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Rowland V. Lee

Writing credits
Alexandre Dumas père		(novel "Le comte de Monte-Cristo") (as Alexandre Dumas)
Philip Dunne		(screenplay) &
Dan Totheroh		(screenplay) and
Rowland V. Lee		(screenplay)
Philip Dunne		(dialogue) &
Dan Totheroh		(dialogue) and
Rowland V. Lee		(dialogue)

Produced by
Edward Small	....	producer

Original Music by
Alfred Newman		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
J. Peverell Marley		(photography) (as Peverell J. Marley)

Film Editing by
Grant Whytock

Art Direction by
John DuCasse Schulze		(as John Ducasse Schulze)

Costume Design by
Gwen Wakeling		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nate Watt	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Vinton Vernon	....	sound

Stunts
Fred Cavens	....	fencing stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lee Crawford	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Buzz Gibson	....	grip (uncredited)
Louis Johnson	....	chief electrician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Alfred Newman	....	musical director

Other crew
Edward P. Lambert	....	technical director
Edward Small	....	produced under the personal supervision of
Louis Van der Ecker	....	technical director (as Louis Van Den Ecker)

Production Companies

• Edward Small Productions (as Reliance Pictures)

Distributors

• United Artists (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• Loet C. Barnstijn's Standaard Films (1934) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• United Artists Corporation (1934) (UK) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1934) (France) (theatrical) (as Les Artistes Associés S. A.)
• Eagle-Lion Films (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (1981) (USA) (VHS) (For Alan Entrprises)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (1984) (USA) (VHS) (For Media Home Entertainment)
• Video Treasures (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Netherlands:AL (original rating) (1935) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Edward Small Productions

Trivia:

Robert Donat made his only trip to Hollywood during the production of this film. Due mainly to his poor health, he was unable to travel to Hollywood again to film any of his other roles.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the fencing duel between Dantes and Mondego, in one brief shot near the end Sidney Blackmer holds his sword in his left hand instead of his right, which he does in the rest of the scene.

Quotes:

Edmond Dantes:[referring to the now-insane Danglars] A mental suicide, doctor.
Doctor:Mental suicide?
Edmond Dantes:Yes. He destroyed his mind with an overdose of two deadly poisons.
Doctor:Poisons!
Edmond Dantes:Avarice and Greed

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Leave It to Beaver: Beaver Finds a Wallet (#3.30)" (1960)

Soundtrack:

The World is Mine

Edmund Dantes's Code of Street Justice

As a story The Count of Monte Cristo still has great power. Case in point, the movie Sleepers where four young men from Hell's Kitchen were sexually abused in a reform school they were sentenced to. They found in the Alexandre Dumas novel a man they could understand very easily given their street code. Edmund Dantes code of street justice translates very easily to just about every culture in the world, be it the mean streets of New York or the post Napoleonic Era in France.

Robert Donat is Edmund Dantes an ordinary seaman who carries a letter from Elba about Napoleon Bonaparte's imminent return to France in 1815. Now he doesn't know he's carrying the letter, it was given to him by his dying captain. Three men who have their own reasons not to see the truth come out imprison Donat without trial in an island prison off Marseilles.

After years there Donat effects his escape and plans to wreak vengeance on them, but not just to kill them, to expose them because all three have risen to importance in France. He's the Count of Monte Cristo now, having been bequeathed a hidden treasure by another inmate.

The kids from Sleepers as well millions of others have learned what Dumas tried to convey, that hot blooded revenge killing won't do. If you have to take vengeance make sure it is an extremely calculated series of moves.

Monte Cristo is the perfect kind of role for the cerebral Robert Donat. Donat makes us believe his transformation from the young and hopeful Edmund Dantes to the calculating Monte Cristo. If it were not for the Oscar Donat received for Goodbye Mr. Chips this one would have been the signature role of his career.

Also look for some good acting by Elissa Landi, Louis Calhern and especially Raymond Walburn in their parts. Walburn especially. He's usually the jovial gladhanding type, often a knave, but never a villain as he is here. Not a Walburn you're used to.