This epic adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo was directed by Henri Fescourt, and stars Jean Angelo, Lil Dagover, Pierre Batcheff, the beautiful Marie Glory, and Bernhard Goetzke as the Abbé Faria.

This budget edition has been mastered from an extremely abridged English-language Pathéscope 9.5mm reduction print, which features several dialogue subtitles over the film’s action in addition to standard intertitles. Given the gauge of the source print, the full-frame, slightly faster than natural speed video transfer is reasonably good. While the print has a fair share of dust, speckling, scratches and emulsion wear, the slightly contrasty image is at times acceptably detailed and at others a bit soft. Highlight details are blasted out in places, but the print holds a reasonable range of middle graytones.

The film is accompanied by a serviceable cobbled-together orchestral score from film print sources.

Fans of Fescourt’s sweeping epic film won’t be happy with such a severely truncated presentation of the 18-reel production from a small-gauge print source, but for viewers unfamiliar with the film this edition offers an opportunity to whet their appetite for the recent French restoration’s inevitable release on high-quality home video. This edition is supplemented by a presentation of the hard-to-find Famous Players adaptation starring James O’Neill, The Count of Monte Cristo (1913).

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc is available directly from Grapevine Video.

Other silent era Count of Monte Cristo films available on home video:
The Count of Monte Cristo (1913)
Monte Cristo (1922)