The dashing son of the Count of Monte Cristo finds adventure in the kingdom of Lichtenburg where the Grand Duchess of Zona (a total babe) rightfully rules over the territory, or would if she weren’t in a power struggle with the evil Gen. Gurko conspiring to steal the country right out from under her.  

The last time the Alexandre Dumas’ classic was made into a film adaptation was in 1940, and we think the time is ripe for it to be remade with Jeremy Iron, Gerard Butler and Keira Knightley. Still, Hollywood wouldn’t touch a scene that happens at the 9:03 mark in the clip below (which is actually the whole movie, if you have the time) even though it is historically accurate that Great Danes hunted wild boar. In fact, Great Danes were known by English hunters as the German Boarhound. It is a fact that because many dogs suffered shredded ears from the razor sharp tusks of the wild Boar, cropped ears were a necessity.  Some maintain that when the English Kennel Club banned cropping, English breeders concentrated on breeding smaller ears which would hang neatly instead of the having the original large ear. As always, we defer to breed experts on this point. 

Only the best and biggest Danes were kept on the estates of German noblemen. These lucky dogs who lived the high life in their velvet lined collars were called “Kammerhunde,” or Chamber Dogs, because they got to sleep in The Bedroom.

“Duke The Great Dane” by Nancy Spielman
www.nancyspielman.com
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