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The count of monte cristo bbc2/21/2023 The scriptwriters made a laudable effort to link the fictional Count's adventures to actual historic events of this time (such as the war for Texan independence in 1836), and the Count just occasionally crossed paths with actual historic figures (in one episode, a young Victor Hugo). This was especially noteworthy in the American episode 'First Train to Paris', which briefly featured an intriguing mock-up of an early railway engine. The production values were impressive for a 1950s series, making a creditable effort to reproduce southern Europe in the 1830s. The cast of guest stars never rose above the level of Ian Wolfe, John Hoyt, Finlay Currie or Patrick Troughton. The most interesting aspect of this series is that the first 12 episodes were filmed in California (at the Hal Roach studio), and the remaining 27 at Boreham Wood and other locations in England. Dolenz (a vaguely swarthy actor) was usually moustached in his film roles but in this series he was clean-shaven, possibly to emphasise that he was the hero. Cravat was a much more talented actor than Dolenz, and often upstaged him in their scenes together. (Possibly down to the later success of his son Mickey and granddaughter Amy.) In a recurring role as Dantes's ingenious sidekick Jacopo was Noel Cravat, playing the role as a crafty mute. The title character was played by George Dolenz, a slightly handsome and slightly talented actor who seems to have acquired a minor cult following in America. This series, taking place after the events in the Dumas novel, made a creditable attempt to remain faithful to Dumas's source material in depicting the further adventures of Edmond Dantes. I viewed some kinescoped episodes of this series in the late 1960s, when I was working for Lew Grade's production company. The 1956 TV series 'The Count of Monte Cristo', co-produced by Lew Grade, was intended for juvenile audiences, so the violence (mostly swordplay) was antiseptic, and the Count had an eye for the ladies but was always too chivalrous to go beyond mild flirtation.
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