Monte Cristo (1929 film)

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Monte Cristo
Monte Cristo (1929 film).png
Directed byHenri Fescourt
Written byAlexandre Dumas, père (novel)
Henri Fescourt (screenplay)
Produced byLouis Nalpas
StarringJean Angelo, Lil Dagover, Gaston Modot, Jean Toulout, Henri Debain, Pierre Batcheff, , Bernhard Goetzke
Music by
(2006 Arte TV restoration)
Production
company
Films Louis Nalpas
Distributed byTerra - United Artists
Release date
  • 25 October 1929 (1929-10-25) (Part 1)
  • 1 November 1020 (1020-11-01) (Part 2)
Running time
218 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguagesSilent
(French intertitles)

Monte Cristo (1929) 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.[1]

Long forgotten, the film underwent a restoration effort from 1999 to 2006 under the direction of , with funding by the Arte channel.[2] 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.[3][4]

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.[5] 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).[6] 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."[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ SilentEra entry
  2. ^ Grady, Pam. "Lenny Borger, savior of the silent 'Monte-Cristo'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  3. ^ McNary, Dave. "San Francisco Film Festival to Host 12 Premieres". Variety. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Mel Novikoff Award: Lenny Borger: Monte-Cristo". San Francisco Film Society. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Dixon, Bryony (2011). 100 Silent Films (BFI Screen Guides). London: British Film Institute. p. 141. ISBN 978-1844573080.
  6. ^ Cairns, David. "The Forgotten: "Monte Cristo" (1929)". Mubi Notebook. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

External links[]


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