The Count of Monte Cristo 1934 with Robert Donat Elissa Landi directed by Rowland V Lee

The story begins in 1815, when a French merchant ship stops in Elba and the captain receives a letter from the exiled Napoleon to be delivered to his followers in Marseille. The captain falls ill and the first officer, Edmond Dantès, takes command. During a storm, the captain dies but before he does, he delivers the letter with instructions to Dantes, who does not know what it is about. In Marseille, the local magistrate Raymond de Villefort, Jr. is tipped off by a spy, the second officer Danglars, and Dantes and the recipient of the letter are arrested. Villefor, Danglars, and Dantes' friend Mondego team up to send the sailor to prison without trial