Treasure of Monte Cristo ** (1949, Glenn Langan, Adele Jergens, Steve Brodie) Classic Movie Review 10,997

Director William A Berke’s minor but enjoyable 1949 little black and white Lippert Pictures film noir crime drama Treasure of Monte Cristo stars Glenn Langan as a modern-day descendant of Edmund Dantes, who works on a ship that docks in San Francisco, in this fanciful extension of the myth of the famous Count of Monte Cristo.

The Count’s fortune is passed down to San Francisco shipmate (Glenn Langan), making him the subject of the greedy attentions of bent attorney Earl Jackson (Steve Brodie) and wicked gold-digger Jean Turner (Adele Jergens). Dantes ends up framed for murder and Jean disappears.

Treasure of Monte Cristo is a cheap and cheerful mystery thriller, putting an interesting contemporary spin plus a San Francisco setting on the Count of Monte Cristo, with a second-level cast at least looking as if they are enjoying themselves, and the three stars on good form. The film was primarily shot on location in San Francisco and the San Francisco locations add allure to the otherwise studio production at Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California.

The original story and screenplay are by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen.

Also in the cast are Robert Jordan, Michael Whalen, George Davis, Sid Melton, Larry Barton, Robert Boon, Johnny Castino, Margia Dean, Curtis Jarrett, Don Junior, Jeritza Novak, Brian O’Hara, Jimmy O’Neil, Jack Powers, Charles Regan [Charles Reagan], Charles Schaeffer [Rube Schaeffer], Larry Barton, Don Junior. Jameson Shade, Kan Tang and Michael Vallon.

Adele Jergens (November 26, 1917 – November 22, 2002).

While filming Treasure of Monte Cristo in 1949, Adele Jergens (November 26, 1917 – November 22, 2002) met and married her co-star Glenn Langan. They remained married until his death from lymphoma on 26 January 1991, aged 73. Adele was named Miss World’s Fairest at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, worked as a Rockette and was named the number-one showgirl in New York City, landing a film contract with Columbia Pictures in 1944.

Treasure of Monte Cristo is directed by William A Berke, runs 76 minutes, is made by Lippert Pictures, is released by Lippert Pictures (1949) (US) and Exclusive Films (1949) (UK), is written by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen (story and screenplay), is shot in black and white by Benjamin H Kline, is produced by Robert L Lippert, Leonard S Picker, Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, and scored by Albert Glasser.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,997

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