The unfortunate title suggests a costume drama with maybe Tyrone Power or Cornell Wilde. Instead the movie's a 1940's crime drama set in San Francisco. Edmund Dantes (Langan) works as ship's hand, having no idea of his famous forebearer, the Count of Monte Cristo. He may have no idea, but crooked attorney Jackson (Brodie) does, and concocts a scheme with blonde siren Jean (Jergens) to lay hands on what will be Dante's inheritance. Fortunately, the ship's hand has friends who stand by him, even when he's brought up on murder charges. It's a better than average Lippert production. The Frisco locales add a lot of eye-appeal. And though there are elements of noir in the plot—spider woman, doomed man—these are not played up in the lighting or photography. It's narrative that's emphasized here, not moral shadings. Actors Langan and Jergens are okay in the leads, but it's really Brodie who injects spark. Too bad he never received the recognition he deserved. But then, like so many supporting actors, his job was to help carry the celebrity industry on his back, not on his name Too bad Lippert couldn't resist their penchant for low humor. Here, it's one of their favorites, Sid Melton (Tyson) plus the unfortunate old guy playing the buffoonish ethnic. As expected, these do nothing for the overall effect. Anyway, things do get complicated toward the end, but all in all, it's a pretty good little crime drama for a rainy evening.

Treasure of Monte Cristo - 1949A Lippert Films low renter that is better than I was expecting. It blends the old Count of Monte Cristo story in with a crime tale and is all set in modern (1949) San Francisco.Glenn Langan is a sailor just off a ship who gets mixed up with a blonde babe, Adele Jergens, and a crooked lawyer, Steve Brodie. Inside of 48 hours he ends up married in Reno and charged with murder in San Fran. Do the Police believe it is all a frame job? Of course not.Langan gets a bum defence from his lawyer and gets sentenced to the gas chamber. Needless to say he escapes and gets the goods on the nasty types who are setting him up for the long fall. The villains get theirs and Langan ends up with the blonde. (Future real wife, Adele Jergens)The film overcomes several story logjams with a fairly quick last 30 minutes. The entire production was shot on location and is the better for it. Always like to see cityscapes from the 1940's and 50's. The director was by veteran B-helmsman, William Berke. During the 1940's Berke was cranking out 6 to 10 low renters a year. His best film is probably 1957's FOUR BOYS AND A GUN. The cinematographer here is another b- film vet, Benjamin Kline. Kline worked on over 350 different films and television series. He is best known for lensing the film noir, DETOUR. If you are a fan of b crime films, then this one is worth a look.

You wouldn't guess it from the title, but this is a film noir about an elaborate frame-up job. A seaman gets off his ship, rescues a damsel in distress, and finds himself on the hook for murder. The plot is fairly predictable but still engaging enough for a good time. However, don't go looking for classic noir. Bland characters, including an annoying ethnic stereotype. Glenn Langan is okay but rather generic, and a lot more could have been done with the Adele Jurgens character. Only Steve Brodie stands out as the sleazy attorney. Except for a terrific POV shot at the climax, the photography is serviceable but nothing special. The film clips along at a reasonable pace and is mildly entertaining -- nothing more.

This little gem is by far the best of the batch in the Forgotten Noir Vol. 4 DVD Collection. I had trouble believing this was a Lipperts Films Production, but now I realize that William Berke was the reason as the best films in this set were directed by him. At first, after a prologue regarding the treasure of Monte Cristo, I wondered after 20 minutes, what does this have to do with Monte Cristo as it was going in a complete different direction and then at one point about 30 mins. in...there it was! It's loosely based on Dumas' story. Everything including writing, direction, cinematography, pacing was topnotch unlike others in this series. Glenn Langan, whose dubious claim to fame is the title role in "The Amazing Colossal Man", shows that he's a decent actor and can carry a film, Adele Jergens and the rest of the cast are very good. San Francisco is also a star in this film. It has all the elements of the best noir films! I can recommend this one with confidence.