Les Misérables ***** (1934, Harry Baur, Charles Vanel, Odette Florelle, Josseline Gaël, Charles Dullin, Marguerite Moreno, Jean Servais, Orane Demazis) – Classic Movie Review 3152

Thrilling performances by Harry Baur, as bitter criminal Jean Valjean, and Charles Vanel, as the incredibly dogged policeman Inspector Javert obsessively hunting him down for two decades, light up co-writer/director Raymond Bernard’s esteemed vintage 1934 French version of the much-filmed Victor Hugo classic.

Lovingly staged by Bernard, it is extremely long, dense and convincing, as well as brilliantly acted by an iconic cast. High among its many virtues is that it manages to get very close to the spirit of the book, being, for the most part, faithful to it. Though it has strong competition from the 1935 American version of Les Misérables, it is sometimes judged the greatest adaptation of the novel, because of its in-depth development of the themes and characters.

It also stars Odette Florelle as Fantine, Josseline Gaël as Cosette, Charles Dullin as Thénardier, Marguerite Moreno as Madame Thénardier, Jean Servais as Marius Pontmercy, Orane Demazis as Eponine, Paul Azaïs as Grantaire, Max Dearly as M Gillenormand and Henri Krauss as the Bishop, Monseigneur Myriel.

Originally made to show in three parts, it is a mammoth near-five-hour epic, running 300 minutes, though the current restored DVD version runs 280 minutes, minus some scenes that could not be recovered. It was released as three films that premiered over a period of three weeks: Part One: Une tempête sous un crâne (Tempest in a Skull); Part Two: Les Thénardiers (The Thenardiers); and Part Three: Liberté, liberté chérie (Freedom, dear Freedom).

Actor-director Charles Vanel, born on August 21 1892, was known for The Wages of Fear (1953), Les Diaboliques (1955) and To Catch a Thief (1955). He died on April 15 1989, aged 96.

Orane Demazis (1894–1991) is famous for playing Fanny in the Marcel Pagnol trilogy: Marius, Fanny and César.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 3152

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