The Count of Monte Cristo (1961 film)

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The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo (1961 film).jpg
Directed by Claude Autant-Lara
Written by Jean Halain
(adaptation et dialogue)
Based on Alexandre Dumas
(d'apres le roman d')
(as Alexandre Dumas Père)
Produced byRené Modiano
Jean Jacques Vital
Alain Poiré
Starring Louis Jourdan
Yvonne Furneaux
Pierre Mondy
Franco Silva
Cinematography Jean Isnard
Jacques Natteau
Edited by Madeleine Gug
Music by René Cloërec
Production
companies
Cineriz
Les Films J.J. Vital
Les Productions Rene Modiano
Royal
Société Nouvelle des Établissements Gaumont
Seven Arts Productions
Distributed by Gaumont Distribution
Release date
  • 6 December 1961 (1961-12-06)
Running time
188 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$33.6 million [1]

The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le comte de Monte Cristo, US: The Story of the Count of Monte Cristo) is a 1961 French adventure film version of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel directed by Claude Autant-Lara and starring Louis Jourdan, Yvonne Furneaux, Pierre Mondy and Franco Silva.

Contents

Plot

Edmund Dantes is falsely accused by those jealous of his good fortune, and is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in the notorious island prison, Chateau d'if. There, a prisoner tells Edmund of a fantastic treasure hidden away on a tiny island.

Cast

Reception

The film was the seventh most popular film at the French box office in 1961. The sixth most popular was a version of The Three Musketeers . [2]

The film was made with some finance from Seven Arts Productions and was released by Warner Bros. [3] [4]

Variety wrote the producers "have spared little expense in mounting a pictorially rich and dramatically expansive reproduction of the story...But one vital miscaiculation strips their effort-of sufficient appeal for the bulk of the: modern audience. In adhering rigidiy to the plodding, stilted and weighty melodramatic style reasonably fashionable in less suphisticated by gone times, the creators of this version have failed to sense, or refused to reckon with, the realistic requirements of modern screen." [5]

Related Research Articles

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The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (père) serialized from 1844 to 1846. It is one of the author's most popular works, along with The Three Musketeers. Like many of his novels, it was expanded from plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Château d'If</span> Fortress and prison near Marseille, France

The Château d'If is a fortress located on the Île d'If, the smallest island in the Frioul archipelago, situated about 1.5 kilometres offshore from Marseille in southeastern France. Built in the 16th century, it later served as a prison until the end of the 19th century. The fortress was demilitarized and opened to the public in 1890. It is famous for being one of the settings of Alexandre Dumas's adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo. It is one of the most visited sites in the city of Marseille.

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The Count of Monte Cristo is a 1975 television film produced by ITC Entertainment and based upon the 1844 novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It was directed by David Greene and starred Richard Chamberlain as Edmond Dantès, Kate Nelligan as Mercedes, Tony Curtis as Fernand Mondego, Louis Jourdan as De Villefort, Donald Pleasence as Danglars, Trevor Howard as Abbé Faria, and Isabelle de Valvert as Haydee. ITC had previously produced a 39-part TV series based on the same source material, in 1956.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques Natteau</span>

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<i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i> (1943 film) 1943 film by Robert Vernay

The Count of Monte Cristo is a 1943 French-Italian historical drama film directed by Robert Vernay with Ferruccio Cerio as the supervising director. Based on the classic 1844 novel Le Comte de Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père, this two-part film stars Pierre Richard-Willm in the title role. It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome and the Cité Elgé in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director René Renoux.

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The Wife of Monte Cristo is a 1946 American historical adventure film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring John Loder, Lenore Aubert and Fritz Kortner. The film is yet another spiritual epic inspired by the novel The Count of Monte Cristo and features its protagonist Edmond Dantès. It was made and distributed by Producers Releasing Corporation, on a higher budget than was usual for the studio which focused on cheap second features. It was successful at the box office.

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References

  1. "Le Comte de Monte Cristo (1961) (1961) - JPBox-Office".
  2. French box office for 1961 at Box Office Story
  3. "7 Arts developing muscle". Variety. 18 July 1962. p. 5, 15.
  4. "Kroftts puppets move to Hollywood". The Los Angeles Times. 16 March 1962. p. 15 Part 4.
  5. "The Story of the Count of Monte Cristo". Variety. 13 June 1962. p. 7.