on 5/5/02 9:49 pm, John Garcia at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > At 12:24 AM 5/4/2002 +0000, you wrote: >> I've just watched _The Count of Monte Cristo_. The movie >> is good _qua_ movie, even thought I have some doubts wrt >> the conversion book -> movie. Namely: >> >> (spoiler space) >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> . >> >> IIRC, in the book Mondego's son is really his son, and the Count >> refrains from going in his revenge through the end, saving the >> boy's life, and becoming a little more heroic than in the movie, >> where he only spares the boy _after_ knowing that he is >> _his_ son. >> >> Alberto Monteiro > > Nope. Mondego's son (Albert) *is* the son of Fernand and Mercedes Mondego > in the book. In the book, Dantes spares the Mondego boy because he realizes > he still has some feelings for Mercedes, and does not want to be the killer > of his lost love's son. > None of the movie adaptations of Dumas' book have truly done justice to the > source material. I do like the version produced in France with Gerard > Depardieu, but it also has a "happy" ending where the Count and Mercedes > are reunited.
And it has an entirely invented new character (some Parisian Widow) to act as a temporary love interest. Haydee is relegated to a plot device who appears at the trial. > I also like the 1930's version produced in Hollywood with > Robert Donat as the Count, but that's mainly because I like Robert Donat. > AFAIK, only the US produced (but filmed in Europe) made for TV version, > with Richard Chamberlan as the Count, does not end with the Count and > Mercedes back together. (Chamberlan is a pretty good Count, but Tony Curtis > is ridiculous as Mondego.) He surely was. > I've read the book many times, in both full and abridged versions. My > favorite part is when Dantes returns to Marseilles and rescues his former > patron, Morrel, from bankruptcy, disgrace and death. I originally read the anonymous 1846 translation which is inaccurate, bowdlerised and abridged. The 1996 translation by Robin Buss claims to be 'the first significant translation of the complete and unexpurgated text for nearly one hundred and fifty years' and is certainly *much* better. -- William T Goodall [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
