The Lowdown

This is an hour-long radio version by the Lux Radio Theatre, first broadcast in 1939. It stars Robert Montgomery as Dantes.

Some Observations

• The obvious comparison with this version is the Orson Welles Mercury Theater production, which was broadcast only a year previously, also on the radio in the USA.
• Of the two versions, both are under an hour. While Welles's version leaves out too much of the story, this version goes too far in the other direction, and tries to cram too much in, giving the usual feel of rushing over the story that the hour-long versions often have.
• The Lux Radio Theatre was a long-standing American radio anthology series which ran between 1934 and 1955. It featured many famous star of screen and stage including James Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra. This episode, as with many others, is introduced by director Cecil B. DeMille.

The Verdict

As usual, trying to do the story in under an hour proves a largely meritless exercise. Though there is a little more balance between imprisonment and revenge than in the Orson Welles version, we still get nowhere near the depth the story needs to be to make sense.

Characters and Plot Elements