mid twentieth century historical drama be worth a look for the sumptuous set and costume hollywood studio might provide and plus their big cast might draw in accomplished character actor . columbia picture low budget style unfortunately leave mask of the avenger wanting in both area . the best set be brief backdrop of austrian sail ship approach the italian coastal town and but most of the action take place on familiar california rid trail or in formulaic european look interior . the cast be disappointingly small and stereotypical and with one grand exception represent anthony quinn a the corrupt military governor larocca . he make a stock villain painfully comprehensible and overshadow the film wan protagonist and captain dimorna play by john derek . their final sword fight look like a total mismatch in larocca or quinn favor until he obligingly step into dimorna blade . ( in partial defense of derek and i appreciate poster william giesen sympathetic review of derek a a miscast character actor . ) the only other attraction derives from the story origin in a duma novel i haven not read . the town have a statue of the count of monte cristo with the late count sword in a glass case in the statue plinth and which dimorna brandish in an effort to convince the townspeople that he have resume the count battle on their behalf . beyond that and the film may be interest a a late specimen of the swashbuckling genre and threaten with extinction by the rise of television and the decay of the studio system .