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This French/Italian adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo began as a two-part film, the entire project running well over three hours. Only the second portion of the film was seen in America, and it is this half that currently carries the title of the Dumas original. Safely escaped from the Chateau D'If, the wronged Edmond Dantes (Jean Marais) returns to his old haunts, thirsting for revenge. In the guise of the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes manages to drive all his old persecutors to ruin, or death, or both. He finally relents when he realizes that his long-ago sweetheart Mercedes (or "Mercedes-is-it?") is still in love with him. Director Robert Vernay coadapted the screenplay with Georges Neveaux.