Really Surprised!

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

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.

This film is interesting because the two leads, Glenn Langan and Adele Jergens were married shortly after this film was made and they remained married for decades. Even more interesting is that in the film, Jergens meets Langan and marries him and then promptly destroys him! Nice, huh? It all begins when seaman Langan is approached by a lady (Jergens--who always looked a lot like Virginia Mayo and vice-versa). She claims to be an heiress who is on the run--unscrupulous people are trying to have her hospitalized in a sanitarium to keep her from getting her fortune. She feeds him a line that if he would marry her, then the shady family members would relent. Then, after this quickie marriage, they could quietly divorce. This is all pretty ridiculous and Langan is apparently quite stupid, as he falls for it. Pretty soon, he's set up on a murder rap and is headed to death row! So much for doing a lady a favor! Well, eventually Langan (naturally) is able to escape and he sticks around trying to unravel why all this occurred and who is behind it....and, oddly, how it all relates to the old "Count of Monte Cristo" tale! Overall, this is a good but not especially believable example of film noir. Too many improbabilities and plot problems prevent this from being anything more than a nice time passer for those who enjoy the genre.

The "Monte Cristo" theme is kinda left in the background as the film evolves. At the very beginning, a businessman drops a letter addressed to "Ed Dantes" into a mail slot of the building he's in. He then goes into an office and is immediately struck down by a shadowy figure.Then we meet the hero. He's a merchant seaman, with Second Mate papers. He's coming ashore, and as he gets his land legs, he sees a woman being chased by a couple of men. Being a gentleman, he rescues her. The two of them get away, and in time, she tells her story: she's an heiress who escaped from an asylum because she's being maneuvered into a situation where the people who've committed her would get her inheritance. If she reached a certain age (she's three months shy) or gets married, she gets the inheritance.Her story seems valid, and she proposes that she and Dantes take a quick trip to Reno to get married (:only technically") so that she can get rid of all the interference. Circumstances maneuver Dantes into going along with the deal. They get a quickie marriage/honeymoon at a hotel, and the following morning, when Dantes goes for cigarettes, she disappears, and leaves a message with the address of the asylum.Dantes returns to try to rescue her, and falls into a situation where someone gets killed. Dantes is arrested, and soon is convicted of the crime.spoiler alert: by the trial, it seems obvious that the attorney Dantes has hired is no help. The girl he married fell in love with him (I wonder what the honeymoon was really like), and she tries to help him. He also has "family" -- San Francisco folk who effectively adopted him as a boy also help him.More spoilers: One refreshing thing about the film is that unlike a lot of such movies, the police are not portrayed as being stupid.The story pieces fall tiger rather rapidly toward the end, but this is a good, entertaining film. It's even better if the viewer is familiar with the Dumas story.

One does not expect a whole lot from a Lippert feature but since noir enthusiasts are sifting through poverty row features to find new titles, they should check this one out. William Berke directed and Benjamin Kline lensed this competent,engaging crime actioner.Shot totally on location in San Francisco with plenty of night street scenes,the chase covers the Marina,the Filbert Street stairs on Telegraph Hill,the Embarcadero,downtown business area,the Tenderloin and Twin Peaks. Most Lippert films were produced in as little a five days,and rarely in over two weeks, This venture took eleven days but does not particularly look like a rush job. The stars Adele Jergens and Glenn Langan ,a very handsome couple indeed, allegedly met and married about the time of filming. Steve Brodie fans will love his portrayal of a sleazy lawyer. Michael Whalen,Michael Vallon and Dead End kid Bobby Jordan turn in good performances. Given an edgy title this film would be better known. It may not be in a class with the recently revived WOMAN ON THE RUN but it certainly should appeal to noir enthusiasts who crave a San Francisco locale.