Monte Cristo (1929 film)

{{Short description|1929 film}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Monte Cristo

| image = Monte Cristo (1929 film).png

| alt =

| caption =

| director = Henri Fescourt

| producer = Louis Nalpas

| screenplay = Henri Fescourt

| based_on = {{based on|The Count of Monte Cristo|Alexandre Dumas}}

| narrator =

| starring = {{Plainlist|

• Jean Angelo
• Lil Dagover
• Gaston Modot
• Jean Toulout
• Henri Debain
• Pierre Batcheff
• Robert Mérin
• Bernhard Goetzke

}}

| music = Marc-Olivier Dupin
(2006 Arte TV restoration)

| cinematography =

| editing =

| studio = Films Louis Nalpas

| distributor = Terra - United Artists

| released = {{Film date|1929|10|25|Part 1|1929|11|01|Part 2|df=y}}

| runtime = 218 minutes

| country = France

| language = Silent
(French intertitles)

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Monte Cristo (1929), also known as Le Comte de Monte-Cristo in France and The Count of Monte-Cristo in the US, is a French silent film directed by Henri Fescourt, and is a film adaptation of the 1844 novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, père.[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/M/MonteCristo1929.html SilentEra entry]

Long forgotten, the film underwent a restoration effort from 1999 to 2006 under the direction of Lenny Borger, with funding by the Arte channel.{{cite web|last1=Grady|first1=Pam|title=Lenny Borger, savior of the silent 'Monte-Cristo'|url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Lenny-Borger-savior-of-the-silent-6217850.php|website=San Francisco Chronicle|date=23 April 2015 |accessdate=7 May 2015}} A nearly complete reconstruction was assembled from four prints in Eastern European archives. The restored film received its North American premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival on 3 May 2015.{{cite web|last1=McNary|first1=Dave|title=San Francisco Film Festival to Host 12 Premieres|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/san-francisco-film-festival-12-premieres-1201463049/|website=Variety|date=31 March 2015 |accessdate=7 May 2015}}{{cite web|title=Mel Novikoff Award: Lenny Borger: Monte-Cristo|url=http://www.sffs.org/sfiff58/program/mel-novikoff-award-lenny-borger-monte-cristo|website=San Francisco Film Society|accessdate=7 May 2015}}

Fescourt used four cameramen to best capture movement, and often filmed in real locations mentioned in the novel, including the prison of Chateau d'If.{{cite book|last1=Dixon|first1=Bryony|title=100 Silent Films (BFI Screen Guides)|date=2011|publisher=British Film Institute|location=London|isbn=978-1844573080|pages=141}} The film has been critically praised as "an epic triumph of the silent cinema at its height," distinguished by its combination of commercial cinema dramatics and techniques used by French impressionist filmmakers (including micro-flashbacks, extreme close-ups, zip-pans, energetic moving camera, and extreme shifts in focus).{{cite web|last1=Cairns|first1=David|title=The Forgotten: "Monte Cristo" (1929)|url=https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/the-forgotten-monte-cristo-1929|website=Mubi Notebook|date=18 December 2014 |accessdate=8 May 2015}} The BFI's Silent Film Guide writes that "the elegance and orchestration of the film-making is extraordinary" and praises the lavish scenes at the Paris Opera and Monte Cristo's mansion as "staggeringly opulent."