The Count of Monte-Cristo

Edmond Dantès is a young sailor on the verge of becoming a captain and marrying Mercédès when the envy of others brings him down. Falsely accused of treason, he is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in the island fortress of Château d'If. There he meets Abbé Faria, a fellow prisoner regarded by everyone else as mad, who teaches him and tells him of a treasure hidden on a small island. After years of confinement and a daring escape, Dantès recovers the fortune and returns under a new identity, using his wealth to take revenge on the men who ruined him.

This 1975 television adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel was directed by David Greene, the first of four films he directed, and written by Sidney Carroll for producer Norman Rosemont. Richard Chamberlain plays Dantès, with Trevor Howard as Faria and Kate Nelligan as Mercédès. Louis Jourdan, Donald Pleasence and Tony Curtis appear as the adversaries Villefort, Danglars and Fernand Mondego, among a credited cast of twenty. It was produced in the United Kingdom and Italy by ITC Entertainment and Norman Rosemont Productions, and runs just under two hours.

On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.9 from around 6,400 votes, and on TMDB 6.8 from roughly 200 votes, suggesting a generally favourable but not unanimous response that has remained fairly consistent across a large viewing base.