Although no literary source is stated in the credits, some critics feel that this eye-catching Technicolor swashbuckler was based on The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I disagree. If the movie has a literary source at all, it's The Mark of Zorro that deserves the credit. Although Anthony Quinn is okay as the heavy, he's nowhere in the Basil Rathbone league. Arnold Moss, however, makes such a fine sub-villain, it's a shame he gets killed two-thirds of the way through. The other leads, John Derek and Jody Lawrance, are no more than adequate. Miss Lawrance, in fact, is occasionally less than competent. Phil Karlson's direction is also a bit slack, although he was obviously hamstrung by a tight budget and the need to pad the movie out to "A"-feature length. However, he does employ some effective running inserts at the finale. I also liked the idea of the hero backing into a horse during the duel and losing his sword as the animal rears, causing our heroine to take over briefly. Now that's certainly an innovation – if an unlikely one! And for all the script's jingoistic platitudes about "freedom", the film is nothing more than pure escapist nonsense – but most agreeably dressed up with attractive costumes and sets!

It's mid 19th century Italy and Anthony Quinn pulls something of a palace coup by framing provincial governor Wilton Graff of the very treason that Quinn is perpetrating. He kills Graff in the process and sets up shop in his palace.And for some very weak plot reasons when Quinn has a chance to let the mob dispose of the 'traitor's' son John Derek he chooses to save him and keep him in the palace. Derek pretends to be more seriously wounded than he is and soon learns of Quinn's double dealing. At that point Derek dons the Mask Of The Avenger and starts to right some wrongs in the style of that other Dumas hero Edmund Dantes whose statue is in the town square.Phil Karlson who was two years from directing one of the great noir films of all time, Kansas City Confidential, seemed to lose his muse doing this one. Though the film is based on a Dumas novel and mentions his famous hero The Count Of Monte Cristo, it bares more resemblance to a weak remake of The Mark Of Zorro.Somehow I'm willing to bet that some obvious plot flaws that are in this film aren't present in the Dumas novel. Derek looks good with sword in hand, Anthony Quinn hams it up good as the villain. Jody Laurence is fetching as the dueling countess who Derek and Quinn both want to make some time with.Still Mask Of The Avenger is ultimately unsatisfying, Dumas has been better served cinematically speaking elsewhere.

Mid-twentieth-century historical dramas are worth a look for the sumptuous sets and costumes Hollywood studios might provide, plus their big casts might draw in accomplished character actors. Columbia Pictures' low-budget style unfortunately leaves Mask of the Avenger wanting in both areas. The best sets are brief backdrops of Austrian sailing ships approaching the Italian coastal towns, but most of the action takes place on familiar California riding trails or in formulaic European-looking interiors.The cast is disappointingly small and stereotypical, with one grand exception: Anthony Quinn as the corrupt military governor LaRocca. He makes a stock villain painfully comprehensible and overshadows the film's wan protagonist, Captain Dimorna played by John Derek. Their final sword fight looks like a total mismatch in LaRocca / Quinn's favor until he obligingly steps into Dimorna's blade. (In partial defense of Derek, I appreciated poster William Giesen's sympathetic review of Derek as a miscast character actor.) The only other attraction derives from the story's origin in a Dumas novel I haven't read. The town has a statue of "The Count of Monte Cristo" with the late Count's sword in a glass case in the statue's plinth, which DiMorna brandishes in an effort to convince the townspeople that he has resumed the Count's battle on their behalf. Beyond that, the film may be interesting as a late specimen of the swashbuckling genre, threatened with extinction by the rise of television and the decay of the studio system.

At one time actor John Derek appeared to have a very promising career in films after appearing in various supporting roles in such quality films as "Knock On Any Door" (1949) and "All The Kings Men" (1949). These films afforded him the opportunity to portray character roles that focused on a range of expressions, emotions and flaws of the character he was playing. It wasn't too long after these initial successes that he soon became a "star/leading man" in films like "Rogues of Sherwood Forrest"(1950) and "Mask of the Avenger" (1951). Obviously, the studios were trying to cash in on Derek's good looks, and were trying to make him the next Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power. Unfortunately for Derek, films like "Mask of the Avenger" paled in comparison to films such as "Mark of Zorro" and "Adventures of Robin Hood". Even the talented Anthony Quinn, who had just returned from a long successful run on Broadway as Stanley Kowalski in "Streetcar Named Desire" could not save this Saturday matinée turkey. It would be unfair to blame John Derek for this film's failings. Personally, I blame the people who adapted the Alexander Dumas novel (Ralph Gilbert Bettison, George Bruce,Jesse Lasky, Phillip MacDonald). Perhaps it was a case of "too many cooks spoil the broth." The writers not only seemed to have difficulty with the films wooden and lifeless dialog, but also in deciding who the real hero was. In fact, when Derek (Capt. Renato Dimorna)is fighting Quinn (Viovanni Larocca) he loses his sword and is temporarily relieved by his girlfriend Jody Lawrence (Maria d'Orsini)in a manner similar to a low budget tag team wrestling match. Consequently, it was films like this that eventually drove Derek out of Hollywood, and relegated him to the real life role of husband and photographer of some of the screens most beautiful women.... Ursula Andress, Linda Evans, and Bo Derek. To this day, I believe John Derek had the talent to be a leading actor but because of his "pretty face" he became a stereotype to "B" swashbucklers to which he was not suited.