The Lowdown

This is a made-for-TV film released in 1975 starring Richard Chamberlain as the Count. It's a pretty faithful adaptation, containing most of the characters and plot elements, but at under two hours they struggle to fit everything in meaningfully.

Some Observations

• Some big names in this one: Donald Pleasance is Danglars (interesting interpretation of the character) and Tony Curtis as Fernand. Of course, Tony Curtis is well known for being unwilling or unable to appropriately mask his New York accent in period pieces, and this film is no exception. You keep expecting him to shout "EYYYY I'M WALKIN' HERE BUDDY!!!!" whenever he is on screen.
• The guy who plays Villefort (Louis Jourdan) coincidentally also played Edmond Dantes in the 1961 adaptation The Story of Monte Cristo.
• Richard Chamberlain is one of the best Counts. He manages to appear both imperious and deadly, and he has that air of mystery and intrigue that they so often miss. And the white hair is a really nice touch. He's not so convincing as the young Edmond though; he plays it a little too harsh and doesn't have the naivety of Jim Caviezel.
• Many of the secondary characters make an appearance, but so briefly that it just seems like more of a nod. Caderousse has been changed to a sailor, but gets his comeuppance without much ceremony. Haydee is there, but she isn't named and seems more like a plot device than a character. Valentine is also present, but is a different character, more flirty (which I suppose is an improvement on her usual deathly-boring role) and doesn't do much.
• There's a good melancholy last scene about how you can never return to youthful love, which makes a nice change to many of the usual happy endings where Edmond and Mercedes are reunited.

The Verdict

There are lots of good things about this version, but in the end it's just not enough time to cover everything that they are trying to. Compare this with the 2002 version, which also featured a sword fight with Fernand as the big finale; in the 1975 film when we reach the final duel, we've only seen Fernand two or three times before, so we don't even know much about his character - you don't find yourself nearly as emotionally invested as in the corresponding duel with Guy Pearce, who has been a major character all through the 2002 version. It seemed more like they just felt they needed to bung a sword fight in at the end. Likewise, in the scene where Albert challenges Dantes to a duel, he seems upset that his idol has betrayed him, but we've only seen Albert in one scene before this. Compare this to Gankutsuo, where they took maybe 11 or 12 hours to convey that element of the story. No big complaints though - this is a solid adaptation and stands up well against most of the rest of the competition.

Characters and Plot Elements