George Dolenz stars as Edmond Dantes, the hero of Alexandre Dumas' legendary adventure novel, in this rarely-seen television series. Dantes is a man falsely imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Escaping from jail, he creates the new identity of 'The Count of Monte Cristo' to track down the men who framed him. The Italian-born Dolenz (1908-1963) was discovered by famed produced Howard Hughes and signed to RKO in the 1940's, billed as the "European Leading Man". He is best remembered as the father of Monkees lead singer Micky Dolenz. Co-star Nick Cravat had a circus acrobat act with a pre-fame Burt Lancaster in the 1930s; they billed themselves as 'Lang and Cravat'. Lifelong friends, he would appear with Lancaster in nine of his films, including
The Flame and the Arrow (1950) and
The Crimson Pirate (1952).
FLIGHT TO CALAIS: Princess Anne of France is abducted on the eve of her wedding.
ALBANIA: A demagogue stages a coup of Albania...with the help of a man claiming to be the Count of Monte Cristo.
NAPLES: Dantes suspects a dead man's last will and testament was altered by his killer.
ACT OF TERROR: Masked men are terrorizing a seaport town by forcing sailors to pay tribute.