***Out In The 1950s B-Film Noir Night- William Berke’s Treasure Of Monte Christo 

         

DVD Review

 From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

 Treasure of Monte Christo, starring Glenn Langan, directed by William Berke, 1949       

 

Not all film noir is created equal and not down among the second string B-film noir either. Recently I reviewed another William Berke- directed noir, Roaring City, which had a passable, if slightly implausible, plot- line centered on framing on private detective Dennis O’Brien for half the murders committed in the city by the bay, Frisco town, in the early 1950s. The effort under review, Treasure of Monte Christo does not measure up to even that low-bar standard because from the start it is extremely hard to do what you have to do with all suspense films, good or bad, suspend disbelief. Here is why I couldn’t.     

  

The main character, Dante, as he later found out, was a descendant of the famed Count of Monte Christo and of his substantial fortune which was at that point in the late 1940s hidden somewhere, somewhere deep in Frisco town. Dante, a sea-faring man by trade, was set up as he went on R&R in that golden bridge town. The set-up was the old blonde honey trap with a twist. The blonde honey pretending to be under some duress from parties unknown but in pursuit, wrangled Dante into marrying her as protection against those unknown evil forces. Yes, it was either the blonde hair, the shape, or that sandalwood perfume but our boy bought into this scheme, bought in hook, line, and sinker.

As it turned out the whole scheme was being engineered by a crooked two-bit has-been lawyer, Brodie, a guy with an office down in some beaten down office building filled with repo-men, failed dentists, and other con men. He sees this treasure hunt as the way out of cheap street. The Brodie-inspired set-up is beautiful-he framed Dante for the murder of his lawyer partner (who had the knowledge about Dante and the treasure) and then “defended” Dante in court. Naturally that defense did not meet the minimum standard for zealous advocacy for a client and Dante was ready to walk for the big-step-off at the Q (San Quentin).

But see this Dante was truly a relative of that long ago swash-buckling count because he was not going to fry for something he did not do. He escaped while in custody on the way to Q, traced the frame-up back to Brodie and along with the forces of law and order who do not want to see yet another miscarriage of justice gave Brodie his just desserts. Oh, and that blond honey trap whom our man Dante was “married to.” Well she changed sides, provided information about the set-up, and the now- in- the- money Dante and she sailed off into the sunset. See what I mean about not all B-noirs being equal.