synopsis

Edmond Dantès, a 19-year-old sailor from Marseilles, is about to become a captain and marry the beautiful Mercédès.  But during a sea voyage, he honors his dying captain's request to pick up a letter from Napoleon, exiled in Elba, and this portends disaster for Edmond.  Two ruthless men know about it and betray Edmond:  Danglars because he jealously wants to replace Edmond as captain and Fernand because he covets Mercédès.  They send an anonymous letter to king's prosecutor Villefort accusing Edmond of being a conspirator in possession of a Napoleon letter.  It turns out that the letter has information that could ruin Villefort's career.  Villefort cruelly sends Edmond to the horrible prison of Château d'If.  After six years languishing in prison, Abbé Faria, an inmate trying to escape, tunnels his way into Edmond's cell.  They plan an escape digging through stone walls.  In the meanwhile, Abbé, an educated and religious man, transforms Edmond into a brilliant, scholarly man.  Years later, Abbé, ill and near death, tells Edmond about a vast treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo.  The Abbé dies and guards place him inside a sack for burial at sea.  Seeing his chance to escape, Edmond hides inside the sack in place of the Abbé.  The guards unknowingly toss him into the sea and he soon finds the treasure.  Wealthy, he heads to Paris incognito as the Count of Monte Cristo.  He finds out the conniving Danglars owns a bank, Fernand married Mercédès and is a powerful senator and general, and Villefort is the most feared prosecutor in France.  In a flurry of activity, Edmond (disguised as Monte Cristo) unravels their corrupt rise to power and brings them all to justice.