General Gurko Lanen (George Sanders) controls Lichtenburg with an iron fist, holding the Grand Duchess Zona (Joan Bennett) as his prisonser. Edmund Dantes Jr. (Louis Hayward), son of the famous Count of Monte Cristo, masquerading as a foppish banker, comes to free the beautiful Zona and lead a revolution.
A second tier Swashbuckler, The Son of Monte Cristo is a fun, action romp, low on sense but high on heroics. Owing nothing to its excellent predecessor, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Son follows the basic story of The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Mark of Zorro. Thereâs lot of gags as Dantes flounces about, pretending to be a fool and coward, and an equal number of sword duels, plus all the leaping and fast talking that mark Swashbucklers. That none of it lives up to the heights of The Adventures of Robin Hood should not be held against it. This is a smaller scale production, with no large sets and a cast that is a bit meager to represent the population of even a tiny country.
Director Rowland V. Lee had a fine Swashbuckling pedigree, having previously made The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), and The Three Musketeers (1935). His two leads had appeared together in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) and had sufficient chemistry for the love-at-first-sight plot. Hayward had mixed success in his multiple sword epics, but is charming here. Bennett is even better, even if her roll is the generic damsel in distress.
George Sanders makes an excellent villain, and his Gen Lanen is a surprisingly sympathetic one. Heâs a commoner, with pride in his past and a desire to be more. Heâs smart, strong, and shows a real affection for Zona. Itâs not at all clear that he wouldnât have made as good a ruler as a hereditary queen. But he has enough of a vicious streak to make him the bad guy, and we are in white hat/black hat moral territory.
The bit parts are filled by solid old Hollywood players, including Montagu Love (The Prisoner of Zenda, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Sea Hawk, The Mark of Zorro), Ian Wolfe (You Canât Take it With You, The Invisible Manâs Revenge, Witness for the Prosecution), and the Lone Ranger himself, Clayton Moore.
This is Saturday afternoon fair, with no more meaning than âbravery is goodâ and âfight for what is right.â Take it for what it is, and I canât imagine you wonât have a good time. Iâve seen it easily ten times and it never gets old.
Haywood also appeared in the Swashbucklers The Man in the Iron Mask, The Return of Monte Cristo, The Black Arrow, The Masked Pirate, Fortunes of Captain Blood, Lady in the Iron Mask, and Captain Pirate.