The Count Of Monte Cristo

The Robert Donat Collection (The Count Of Monte Cristo / The 39 Steps / The Ghost Goes West) 1934 / 1935
$24.99
This version of the movie on VHS is not recommended for collectors. The movie is colorized, apparently by a kindergartener with crayons. Blotches of pink and orange for faces and a torch which burns with green, orange, and yellow flames are evidence that the colorizing process was done in a haphazard manner with no concern for the quality of the job. The movie itself is quite good although I personnaly prefer the Richard Chamberlain version. 2 stars for a really bad print of a good movie.

The Count of Monte Cristo (Signet Classics)
$6.95
This is the quintessential book about revenge!

Edmond Dantes has everything going for him - a promising career and the hand of the girl he loves. Yet things go disastrously wrong when he is set up - accused of being a Bonapartist he is sent to Chateau D'If...a prison on an island with no chance of release, and not even being told of what he is being charged.

At first first it seems he will go mad, yet he is befriended by the Abbe Faria, who is thought to be mad. The Abbe teaches Edmond about a myriad of subjects, and informing him of a secret treasure. When the Abbe dies (14 years after Edmond's arrival at the prison), Edmond siezes the opportunity to escape and, after locating the treasure, sets out on a patient, complex, course for revenge against those who had ruined his life.

Ever since I first read The Three Musketeers, I have been a fan of Alexandre Dumas, but never had a chance to read this book. I'm glad I finally had this opportunity as it's well worth the time, and I highly recommend reading The Count Of Monte Cristo.

The Count of Monte Cristo
$29.98
Overall a nice attempt to capture the scope and drama of the novel. For all its length I thought they trimmed too much of Edmond's time in prison both to establish his relationship with Faria and to establish his mindset. The ending turned out to be too soft and "Hollywoodish" for the story and misses the real insight of Dumas' work about the consequences of our actions. Depardieu makes some nice speaches but I never really felt him portraying the heart and agony of Edmond nor his madness. But, given all that it is better than most other attempts at the story.

On the technical side: who was the incompetent who picture framed the image in a 4:3 box when it was orginally filmed in wide screen? This was bad practice over a decade ago, let alone when this was transferred to DVD.

The Count of Monte Cristo (Barnes & Noble Classics)
$7.95
I stumbled through a couple of different translations and was only able to complete a seriously abridged version. This Barnes and Moble translation was a pleasure to read. I have recommended it to numerous students needing to actually read the book and they have all been pleased with the accuracy and readability of this translation.