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The silent film drama MONTE CRISTO, based upon the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas père, was released in 1922 by the Fox Film Corporation and stars John Gilbert in the lead role of Edmond Dantes. The image features a medium shot of a ragged-looking Edmond Dantes (John Gilbert), a prisoner in a dungeon, as he tries to break through the stone wall between his cell and that of his fellow prisoner Abbé Faria (Spottiswoode Aitken). Also features on this card are two different images of Gilbert: one of him as a young man before his imprisonment (lower left) and one of him as an older man as he triumphantly emerges from the waters onto the island of Monte Cristo after escaping from the dungeon he was held in for 20 years. It is unrestored in fine condition with three pinholes in the center of the top border; two pinholes in the center of the bottom border with one pinhole above them within the image area; a light 0.75 in. diagonal crease on the top right corner; light sides of foxing along portions of the left edge; and two tiny stains in the right side of the bottom border.
PLEASE NOTE: We believe the lobby cards from the set that we are selling were printed for the film's original 1922 theatrical release, as they do not mention John Gilbert's name on them. We have seen two other similar sets that state either "William Fox Presents John Gilbert in MONTE CRISTO" or "William Fox Presents MONTE CRISTO With John Gilbert" in the credits box on the scene cards. The cards mentioning his name indicate to us that they were printed at a later time after his star was on the rise, which makes the cards that we are offering much more desirable. Monte Cristo; Fox Film Corporation; 1922; dir: Emmett J. Flynn; cast: John Gilbert, Estelle Taylor, Robert McKim, William V. Mong, Virginia Brown Faire, George Siegmann, Spottiswoode Aitken, Ralph Cloniger, Albert Prisco, Al W. Filson, Harry Lonsdale, Francis McDonald, Jack Cosgrove, Maude George, Renée Adorée. |