The Hour of Retribution (1940)

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Movie
German title The hour of retribution
Original title The Son of Monte Cristo
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1940
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Rowland V. Lee
script George Bruce
production Edward Small
for United Artists
music Edward Ward
camera George Robinson
cut Arthur E. Roberts
occupation

The Hour of Retribution (original title The Son of Monte Cristo ), also The Son of Monte Christo , is an American adventure film from 1940, directed by Rowland V. Lee . The film is based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas the Elder. Ä. The Count of Monte Christo , published in Paris in 1844/1845 .

action

Grand Duchess Zona, the ruler of Lichtenburg, located on a secret trip to France to Napoleon to ask for help. The despotic general Gurko Lanen has occupied their land and is in control of it. Lanen, who must have somehow learned of Zona's departure, arrests her ally, Prime Minister Baron von Neuhoff, and orders his soldiers to bring the Grand Duchess back. When the captors are already hot on her heels, the young woman receives unexpected help from a stranger who takes her to a small village and first of all to safety. However, the persecutors manage to find her there and bring her back to Lichtenburg. The stranger, who was impressed by Zona from the start, follows them unnoticed. The Grand Duchess has no idea that he is the son of the Count of Monte Christo.

Lanen is already waiting for the count, from whom he expects 25 million dollars to equip his army . Before the count made contact with the dictator , he noticed the dissatisfaction of the oppressed citizens while strolling through the city and secretly joined a resistance movement called “The Torch”. When he later speaks to Lanen, he pretends to go along with his plans. Late in the evening the count has a conversation with the Grand Duchess and during the night, as a member of the “torch”, frees a political prisoner who is important for the organization from the dungeon.

The next day, the count, as a wealthy financier, attends a pact of Lanens with the Russian ambassador, Prince Pavlov, which states that the small country will fall to Russia as soon as Lanen has been installed as an independent ruler in Lichtenburg. Disguised as a member of the "torch", the count can, however, steal this document from the prince. This is how Lanen tracked him down, as only four people knew about this treatise, namely himself, the Russian ambassador, his loyal subordinate Zimmermann and of course the count. He ends up in the dungeon with the officer Fritz Dorner.

Since Lanen is sure that no one can stop him, he forces the Grand Duchess to agree to marry him. She believes that her consent can dissuade him from taking revenge on the Count of Monte Christo. When she stands in front of him, already dressed as a bride, he only rejects her request with a scornful remark. In the meantime, however, Neuhoff and other members of the “Fackel” have succeeded in freeing the Count and Dorner. Neuhoff's advice to flee to France, however, ignores the count and has another idea. Armed followers of the “torch” smuggle themselves under the wedding guests unnoticed and of course the Count of Monte Christo is among them. Shortly before the word of consent is to be given, there is a life and death fight between Lanen and the Count, arguably the best fencer in France. After a well-planned push, the dictator falls over the parapet and into his doom.

In front of the altar two people who really love each other say yes.

Production and Background

Filming began in June 1940, and the film premiered in New York on December 5, 1940 . On January 10, 1941, it was generally shown in cinemas in the United States. In the Federal Republic of Germany , the film was first released on August 11, 1950 with a length of 100 minutes. Reference or alternative title: The son of Monte Christo .

According to a 1936 message in Examiner magazine , producer Edward Small, who starred in 1934 with Rowland V. Lee and actor Robert Donat in the lead role in The Count of Monte Christo , was ready in 1936 to this further film to produce the Count, again with Robert Donat. But all of this dragged on and filming didn't start until 1940.

Joan Bennett and Louis Hayward had already made a film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas the Elder in 1939. Ä. worked together, namely in the film adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask , which had received an Oscar nomination for best original film music.

criticism

The lexicon of international films confirmed the film: A swiftly filmed coat and sword adventure with suggested parallels to the fight against the dictatorship of the Nazi state.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times compared this film version to the one in 1934, in which the father of the young Earl of Monte Christ acted, and found that the younger Mr. Dantes was nowhere near as impressive as his old man. The son of Monte Christo is just a routine retold story of a conventional coat and sword film. Louis Hayward is inconspicuous in the role of Haudegens and Joan Bennett is lackluster . George Sander's performance is grainy , after all . Crowthers conclusion was then: "The old count would turn around in the grave."

Awards

John DuCasse Schulze and Edward G. Boyle were nominated for an Oscar in the category “Best Production Design in a Black and White Film ” at the 1942 Academy Awards. The trophy, however, went to Richard Day , Nathan Juran, and Thomas Little for the film drama Striking Weather .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Son of Monte Cristo Screenplay Info at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English).
  2. ↑ The Son of Monte Cristo Original Print Information at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English).
  3. ↑ a b The Hour of Retribution. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film Service , accessed January 8, 2014 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ The Son of Monte Cristo Notes at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English).
  5. ↑ The Son of Monte Cristo Articles at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English).
  6. ↑ Bosley Crowther: 'The Son of Monte Cristo', a Juvenile Romance In: The New York Times, December 5, 1940. Retrieved December 8, 2014.