The Return of Monte Cristo (1946)

Louis Hayward star of 1940s Son of Monte Cristo returns to Alexandre Dumas territory in Columbias Return of Monte Cristo This time Hayward plays the grandson of his namesake Edmond Dantes who it will be recalled was cheated out of his fortune and falsely imprisoned only to escape and wreak vengeance on his betrayers by assuming the guise of the Count of Monte Cristo Just like grandpa the younger Dantes is framed by a trio of connivers and shipped off to Devils Island Escaping with a fellow convict political radical Bombelles Steven Geray Dantes adopts the bearded guise of an elderly man in order to destroy his enemies and reclaim his birthright One of his principal antagonists at least during the first half of the film is haughty aristocrat Angele Picard Barbara Britton who because she wasnt a part of the original conspiracy genuinely believes that Dantes is a criminal