The Count of Monte Cristo (1943 film)

{{short description|1943 film by Robert Vernay}}

{{more citations needed|date=April 2019}}

{{Infobox film

| name = The Count of Monte Cristo

| image = File:The Count of Monte Cristo (1943 film).jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| native_name =

| director = Robert Vernay

| producer = Arys Nissotti
Pierre O'Connell

| writer = Charles Spaak

| screenplay =

| story =

| based_on = {{Based on|Le Comte de Monte-Cristo|Alexandre Dumas père}}

| starring = Pierre Richard-Willm
Michèle Alfa
Aimé Clariond

| narrator =

| music = Roger Desormière

| cinematography = Victor Arménise

| editing = Jean Feyte

| studio = Regina Films
Excelsa Film

| distributor = Variety Distribution

| released = {{Film date|df=y|1943|1|21|France}}

| runtime = 183 minutes

| country = France
Italy

| language = French
Italian

| budget =

| gross =

}}

The Count of Monte Cristo ({{langx|fr|Le comte de 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.

Plot

Edmond Dantès, first mate of a merchant ship returning from the Orient, having taken command of his ship after the death of the captain, docks at Elba to deliver a letter to Napoleon. As a result of this imprudence, committed to respect the will of his predecessor, he falls victim to a plot hatched by the sailor Caderousse, by the officer Fernand Mondego (later Count de Morcerf), in love with Mercédès, Dantès's fiancée, and by the magistrate Gérard de Villefort (who fears to be compromised by the ultra-Bonapartist activities of his father, General Noirtier). Dantes is then taken in secret to the depths of a castle off the coast of Marseille

Cast