''The Countess of Monte Cristo '' is a 1948 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Fred de Cordova Frederick Timmins de Cordova (October 27, 1910 – September 15, 2001) was an American stage, motion picture and television director and producer. He is best known for his work on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life De Cordov ...

and starring

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

Olga San Juan Olga San Juan (March 16, 1927January 3, 2009) was an American actress and comedian. Born in Brooklyn, she began her brief film career with Paramount Pictures after being scouted at Copacabana. She performed in several Hollywood musicals in the ...

and

Dorothy Hart Dorothy Hart (April 4, 1922 – July 11, 2004) was an American actress, mostly in supporting roles. She portrayed Howard Duff's fiancée in the film '' The Naked City'' (1948). Early life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Hart was the daughter of insur ...

. The film was distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. It was Henie's last dramatic feature film.

Plot

Karen and Jenny,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

night club waitresses, get an offer for screen tests at film studios. The roles are for "Countess of Monte Cristo" and her maid. The test is a disaster, and the girls leave the studios in anger, taking one of the studio's cars as well as costumes. They drive to the luxurious Hotel Trollheimen, and use the costumes to lure the management into thinking they really are a countess and her maid – despite having no money. They encounter Paul Von Cram, who is captivated by Karen. But she mistakes him for a hotel bellboy. The girls discovers that they have been listed as thieves, and police are seeking them. But when the police arrive, it is not to arrest them, but to seek a known thief has stolen from other guests at the same hotel. The hotel manager also wants them to make a list of their belongings, to see if something is missing, and possibly replace it. Karen and Jenny fall in with the thief, 'Count Holgar', who knows their identity and smilingly blackmails them into claiming 'lost' items. Paul is still smitten by Karen, and dances with her on the hotel's ice-rink, giving the air to his other lady friend, Peg Manning. Karen and Paul are so good at skating together that they win a try-out to the big ice show next day. The police realise that Karen and Jenny are frauds, and inform the hotel manager, but he agrees to let them perform at the highly popular ice show. He has also realised what's happened, and to avoid a scandal, he goes along with their deception. Paul convinces the police that the whole set-up was a publicity stunt for the release of the studio's latest film. He offers to pay the bills the women have worked up. Paul then admits to Karen that he was on to her from the very beginning. He tells her that he loves her, and they finish the ice show, skating together.

Cast

as Karen Kirsten *

as Jenny Johnsen *

as Peg Manning * Michael Kirby as Lt. Paul Von Cram *

Arthur Treacher Arthur Veary Treacher, Jr. ( ; 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P. G. Wodehouse ...

as Hotel Managing Director * Hugh French as Count Holgar * Ransom M. Sherman as Mr. Hansen * Freddie Trenkler as Skating Specialty * John James as Freddie *

Arthur O'Connell Arthur Joseph O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage, film and television actor, who achieved prominence in character roles in the 1950s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both ''Picn ...

as Assistant Director Jensen *

Joseph Crehan Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Paci ...

as Joe *

Ray Teal Ray Elgin Teal (January 12, 1902The book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Teal's birth date as January 12, 1908. – April 2, 1976) was an American actor. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the televis ...

as Charlie * unbilled players include

Bess Flowers Bess Flowers (November 23, 1898 – July 28, 1984) was an American actress best known for her work as an extra in hundreds of films. She was known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras," appearing in more than 350 feature films and numerous ...

and

Gino Corrado Gino Corrado (born Gino Liserani; 9 February 1893 – 23 December 1982) was an Italian-born film actor."Obituaries." '' Variety'' (Archive: 1905–2000); Los Angeles. Vol. 309, Iss. 10, (5 January 1983): 78–79. He appeared in more than 400 ...

Production

In December 1943 Henie signed a deal with the newly formed International Pictures to make ''It's a Pleasure''. In November 1944, in between when ''It's a Pleasure'' was filmed and released, International announced they would make a second film with Henie, ''The Countess of Monte Cristo'', based on a story by Walter Reisch with a script by George Beck and Frank Tarloff. The same month International announced that Marie McDonald, who had been in ''It's a Pleasure'', had been signed to a one film a year contract for five years and would be in the film. In January 1945 Walter Thompson was announced producer. In March 1945 International announced that William Seiter would direct and Dennis O'Keefe would co star. The following month Frank Veloz signed to do dance direction. The project ended up being postponed. It was reactivated when International merged with Universal. In October 1947 Universal announced they would make the film. In November Andrew Stone was attached to direct. In December Universal said they would distribute the movie, which would be made by Westwood Productions, a new company formed by John Beck and Henie. Susanna Foster was going to co star with Henie and filming was to begin in March 1948. William Bowers did a rewrite on the script. In May filming shut down for a week as director Andrew Stone was replaced by Frederick de Cordova. The reason given was that Stone fell ill. The movie used background footage taken in Norway which had originally been shot for a film ''Song of Norway'' that was postponed.

Reception

The ''Los Angeles Times'' said "the choice of plot material is inappropriate." ''Filmink'' magazine called it "A surprising delight. Olga San Juan is terrific. Breezy, fun, silly."

References

External links