Les misérables

Jean-Paul Le Chanois,as anyone past infancy knows ,at least in France ,was the "Bête Noire" of the Nouvelle Vague .More than any other director,Godard and his clique were ruthless when they used to speak of him.Unlike Carné ,Duvivier,Clouzot and Grémillon- other victims of the Young Turks who were better than their persecutors anyway- ,he was never restored to favor even by the contemporary critics.Jean Tulard writes in the "Dictionnaire des Réalisateurs" ::" He represents the mediocrity of the fifties cinema (...)He made the worst of all "les Miserables" versions(..) " Objections to Le Chanois's version remained: the pictures are too clean,the characters (particularly Danielle Delorme's Fantine) seem well-fed .Bourvil is miscast as Thenardier:he is too gentle ,too nice to portray him successfully.Cosette is forgettable as a girlie,she is totally bland as Marius's love.How can a director be wrong with the famous scene of the doll,which every French schoolboy and every schoolgirl in my country know by heart? Such is the case here.Waterloo battle and the scenes on the barricades are not really exciting .(But Hossein's slow motions in the 1982 version starring Lino Ventura were not really an improvement on it.

On the plus side,Gabin is a good Valjean -he does not equal Harry Baur in the Raymond Bernard version though- and Bernard Blier is the best Javert I've ever seen.The Valjean/Javert relationship would inspire lots and lots of screenplays,"the fugitive" for instance.Also worthwhile is Silvia Montfort's portrayal of Thenardier's daughter:she easily outclasses Beatrice Altariba's Cosette.

People complain because there are scenes in the novel that were not filmed.Let's not forget that it's a mammoth novel:only a miniseries could do Hugo justice.And anyway it's better than the Liam Neeson version and its happy end.

NB:When the movie was released in France it was divided into two parts (called "epoques" (=eras)) which was the word they used at the time and the audience was invited to come back and thus pay twice to see the whole.

Classic French rendition with atmospheric production design, evocative cinematography in Technicolor Techniscope and awesome cast giving nice acting throughout. Set in 19th Century during Revolution of the Thirties , throwing over King Louis XVIII and taking over power Louis Felipe Orleans in 1830 and subsequent revolutionary fights for the French Republic . After facing poverty and a long time in prison for stealing bread for his starving relatives , convict Jean Valjean : Jean Gavin is freed . Later on , paroled Jean robs precious objects, and is detained but is reedemed for the kindness a bishop. After that , he carries out a prosperous life and is eventually appointed as a Mayor . But Police Inspector Javert : Bernard Blier finds out his true identity as he recognizes him and wants to bring him down . Along the way Valjean cares for an unfortunate prostitute named Fantine and adopts her daughter Cosette : Beatrice Altarriba taking her to París as his own child , and she subsequently falling for a student called Marius : Exposito, who has revolutionary ideas and joins the Revolution led by obstinate leader Enjoiras : Serge Reggiani . The pursuit consumes both men's lives and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolution of June 1832 bursting after General Lamarque's death. The legend comes to life .

This known story Is nicely detailed , well paced , with a lot of incidents fitting to Victor Hugo's novel. As the plot follows faithfully the ordinary canon , as the ex-criminal relentlessly chased by the stubborn Javert , playing a cat and mouse game. Main and support cast deliver top-drawer performances . Jean Gavin is extraordinary as an ex-convicted who was imprisioned of a minor crime and spends the rest of his life mercilessly chased. While Bernard Blier is magnificent as the unrelenting and implacable policeman who pursues Valjean here and there . The ordinary comedian Bourvil here plays the extremely nasty and ambicious Thenardier . Beatriz Altarriba and Exposito perform the two lovers Cosette and Marius who are usually cared by Jean Valjean.

Other versions are the following ones : the classic Hollywood rendition Les Miserables 1935 by Richard Boleslawski with Fredric March, Charles Laughton , Rochelle Hudson, Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Les Miserables 1952 by Lewis Milestone with Michael Rennie , Robert Newton, Debra Paget. Italian version Les Miserables 1952 by Riccardo Freda with Gino Cervi, Valentine Cortese . Les Miserables 1982 by Robert Hossein with Lino Ventura, Jean Carmet, Michael Bouquet . Les Miserables 1995 by Claude Lelouch with Jean Paul Belmondo , Alexandra Martínez, Annie Girardot , Rufus, Jean Marais , Philippe Leotard . Les Miserables 2008 by Billie August with Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush , Uma Thurman, Claire Danes, Hans Matheson , Peter Vaughn . The lavish musical 2012 Les Miserables by Tom Hooper with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried , Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen. And TV series Les Miserables 1978 by Glenn Jordan with Richard Jordan, Anthony Perkins , John Gielgud , Cryl Cusack, Flora Robson . And Les Miserables TV series 2018 with Dominic West, David Oyelowe, David Bradley, Olivia Colman , Lynn Collins , among others.

the best version of a book like Les Miserable is an impossible mission. because this is the fate of a great novel. this adaptation has the gift to be correct. and memorable. and impressive. and each of this are more than precious virtues. because it is Les Miserable of Jean Gabin, Bourvil and Bernarb Blivier. because the atmosphere, the music and the respect for novel are admirable. because the spirit of one of the French literature masterpiece is preserved and presented in inspired manner. and this does the film more useful for the readers of the book of Victor Hugo because Jean Gabin gives a magnificent Jean Valjean. not only at the level of image but as wise exploration of the gestures, fundamental change and generosity. and Bourvil is Thenardier more than you imagine. a film who use the lines of text as impeccable clothes. so, not ignore it !

In the middle 1950s two film versions of Hugo's best remembered novels appeared and disappeared very quickly in movie houses. This French version of "Les Miserables" was one. The other was a French/Italian version of "Notre-Dame De Paris/The Hunchback of Notre-Dame". That one starred Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo and Gina Lollabrigida as Esmarelda. Both films were actually quite good, and were the best straight versions of the novels to try to get most of the stories onto the screen. However, both were too long for most audiences, especially this version of Les Miserables. This ran over three hours. As pointed out in the other review that I wrote about the 1935 version of Les Miserables, that film version is the best normal screen length film version. But the performance of Jean Gabin as Jean Valjean in this film is superior to the performance of Fredric March in the same role. I would also note that the performance of Bourvil as Thenardier is the best I've seen (even better than Ian Holm's in the 1978 version). Thenardier is an even slimier villain than Javert is, but Javert's single minded pursuit of Valjean in the novel makes the antics of Thenardier look secondary, and they are usually dismissed in the filmed versions (though not in the musical version). Check out the scene where Thenardier and his goons kidnap Valjean for ransom, and the latter demonstrates how tough he is effectively thwarting the plan. It does not appear in the 1935 version.

The worst of the four versions I have seen. Gabin is dull, uninspired--and look at the director, Le Chanois, no more than a journeyman when an artist is required for one of the great classic novels. Bourvil is excellent as the supreme hypocrite Thenardier, while Delorme has some touching moments as the unlucky Fantine. You can pass this one up, watch Fredric March and Charles Laughton instead; Laughton gives another of his superb performances as Javert.