FAQ

The first half of the film is close enough (I guess) to the book. The main difference is the film oversimplifies a lot of things and adds some sequences in to make it more dramatic (such as the sword fight between Dantes and Fernand before Dantes is sent away to prison). Some of the more minor differences are:

• The book opens with the Pharaon arriving in Marseilles
• Dantes never talked to Napoleon in the novel
• The character Clarion was invented for the film (however was most definitely based on a character from the novel)
• In the novel Fernand did not work for Morrel and he and Dantes were never friends
• In the novel Fernand and Mercedes were cousins
• In the novel there was a fourth conspirator: Dantes neighbor Carderousse who did nothing to help Dantes after he was framed
• In the novel Villefort had Dantes spend the night in a jail cell before having him sent to Chateau d'if a few hours later, this means the entire sword fight between Dantes and Fernand did not happen in the novel
• The warden of Chateau d'if did not whip Dantes every year in the novel
• The character of Luigi Vampa in the film was based off the character of Jacapo in the novel, while Luigi Vampa was an Italian gangster in the novel.

After Dantes discovers the treasure the film is pretty much completely different from the novel aside from the Rome scene. Although there are some plot elements that still retain some similarities to the novel such as

• In both the novel and the film Mercedes recognized Dantes as the Count of Monte Cristo immediately
• In both the novel and the film Edmond and Albert are about to engage in a duel until Mercedes intervenes
• In both the novel and the film Edmond's revenge involves bankrupting the conspirators (although in the novel it was Danglars, in the film it was Fernand)
• In both the novel and the film Edmond's revenge involves exposing a conspiracy that the conspirators were involved in while he was in prison (in the novel he exposed Fernand betraying Ali Pasha during the war while in the film he exposed Villefort hiring Fernand to murder his father)

No absolutely not. There's no way he could have known, it's not like Villefort could just send him a text message saying "hey I'm sending you an innocent person to be thrown in the dungeon".

What seems to confuse many fans about this is he replies with "I know" after Dantes tells him he's innocent however it's beyond obvious that the warden is mocking him and is being sarcastic. He then goes on to say that if there was ever any question about Dantes' innocence there is no way they ever would have sent him to Chateau d'If as Chateau d'If is where France throws the prisoners "they are truly ashamed of".

Now whether the warden wouldn't have cared whether Dantes was innocent or not is irrelevant, the fact remains that the warden very much thought that Dantes was guilty.