The Count of Monte Cristo is a film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas, père's novel of the same name, directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Robert Donat, Elissa Landi, and Louis Calhern. The film has two sequels, The Return of Monte Cristo and The Son of Monte Cristo , the latter also directed by Lee. In 1815, a French merchant ship stops at the island of Elba. A letter from the exiled Napoleon is given to the ship's captain to deliver to a man in Marseille. Before he dies of a sickness, the captain entrusts the task to his first officer, Edmond Dantès . However, the city... magistrate, Raymond de Villefort, Jr. , is tipped off by an informer, the second officer, Danglars , and has both men arrested after the exchange. Dantès' friend Fernand Mondego accompanies him to the jail. However, he, Danglars, and de Villefort all stand to gain from keeping Dantès imprisoned: Mondego is in love with Dantès' fiancée, Mercedes ; Danglars wants to be promoted captain in Dantès' place; and the man who accepted the letter turns out to be de Villefort's father .
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| Release date: | August 29, 1934 |
| Directed by: | Rowland V. Lee |
| Runtime: | 113 Minutes |
| Producer: | Edward Small |
| Music by: | Alfred Newman |
| Screenplay by: | Rowland V. Lee, Dan Totheroh, Philip Dunne |
| Adapted from: | The Count of Monte Cristo |
| Genre: | Thriller, Adventure |