Sword of Venus

In Paris, in 1832, Robert Dantes, the son of the Count of Monte Cristo, drops by the notorious Black Cat cafe with the married Duchess Lillie de Villefort. After becoming embroiled in a raucous fight with dancer Suzette, the jealous Lillie storms off, and the next day, her husband demands a duel with Dantes. Dantes' father Edmund, who is the duke's best friend, rushes to stop the duel and arrives just as Dantes deliberately misses his shot. Though grateful to his son, the count collapses from nervous exhaustion, and later, his doctor admonishes Dantes to reform his ways. Dantes vows to leave Paris and live at the family's island estate, Monte Cristo. Unknown to him, three of his father's enemies--Baron Danglars and the aristocratic Fernand and Claire, whose ill-gotten family fortunes were ruined by the count years before--are plotting to kill him and take control of his wealth. To that end, Claire pretends to be stranded on the road to Monte Cristo, knowing that the playboy Dantes will stop to help her. Dantes' valet, Jean Goriot, is in league with Danglars, and encourages Dantes to take Claire to a nearby inn. There, Fernand, posing as Claire's jealous husband, bursts in and confronts Dantes at swordpoint. Claire slips Dantes his gun, with which Danglars has tampered, and Dantes shoots at Fernand. Although the shot misfires, Fernand pretends to be fatally wounded, and Claire urges Dantes to flee. Danglars then murders Goriot and plants phony papers on his body that identify him as Claire's supposed husband. Eventually, Dantes is captured and jailed, and Danglars, posing as a compassionate witness named Lorraine, offers his assistance in contacting Dantes' lawyer, the renowned Charlin. Instead, Danglars hires alcoholic lawyer Valmont to pretend to be Charlin's obscure colleague, claiming that Charlin's reputation will call attention to Dantes' troubles, which Dantes has kept secret from his father. Valmont assures Dantes that he can bribe the judge into acquitting him, then when Dantes refuses to defend himself and is found guilty, Valmont insists that the judge intends to commute his sentence. When Dantes is instead slated for execution, Danglars suddenly appears with Claire, who offers to marry him and plead for mercy. Claire and Dantes are married in his jail cell, but to the conspirators' dismay, the French government has decreed that all condemned prisoners must work in the rock quarries instead of being executed. Still determined to obtain Dantes' wealth, Danglars hires Hugo, a cohort of Parisian criminal Bouchet, to murder Dantes in prison. After failing twice, Hugo starts to fight with Dantes at the rock quarry and falls to his death when he is knocked out. Helped by fellow convict Mouse, Dantes then changes shirts with Hugo and escapes. In Paris, meanwhile, Danglars informs Claire and Fernand that the will of the recently deceased count stipulates that following Dantes' death, his cousin, not Claire, is to receive his fortune. To overcome this obstacle, Danglars arranges for Fernand to impersonate Dantes at his island estate, where unsuspecting English banker Sir Norman Brandish is to purchase all of the Monte Cristo holdings. Dantes, meanwhile, goes to Paris to confront Bouchet and discovers Lorraine's real name and mission. After learning that Charlin is on his way to Monte Cristo with papers supposedly requested by him, Dantes races to the island. There, Danglars, who has replaced all of the count's servants and imprisoned Charlin, orders the now-uncooperative Claire to greet Brandish as the countess. He has also arranged for Valmont to impersonate Charlin and for Fernand to feign injury and bandage his face. Before Fernand can don the bandage, however, he is surprised by Dantes. Dantes kills Fernand, then covers his face and presents himself to Brandish. As he is about to sign the sale documents, Dantes spills ink on the papers, forcing Danglars, Valmont and Brandish to withdraw to rewrite the documents. Once they are alone together, Claire informs "Fernand" that she is exposing him to Brandish as she is in love with Dantes. Overjoyed, Dantes removes the bandages and embraces the startled Claire. Danglars, meanwhile, discovers Fernand's body and rushes to confront Dantes. A fierce fight ensues, during which Dantes kills both Valmont and Danglars. With the family estate finally secure, Dantes and Claire happily unite.