Les Miserables

Victor Hugo's epic novel Les Miserables is brought to the silver screen in this pair of classic Fox productions presented on a flipper-disc. The 1935 version, starring Fredric March as petty-thief-turned-solid-citizen Jean Valjean, Charles Laughton as the relentless Inspector Javert who hounds Valjean, and Rochelle Hudson as the enchanting Cosette (with whom Valjean flees to revolutionary Paris), is handsomely mounted and stylishly directed by Richard Boleslawski. Aside from the necessary telescoping of the original sprawling story, the only real flaw here is the perhaps inevitable Hollywoodizing of Monsieur Hugo. The 1952 version, with Michael Rennie (then just coming off his triumph in The Day the Earth Stood Still) as Valjean, Robert Newton as Javert, and Debra Paget as Cosette, is even glossier, although a tad less affecting, notwithstanding fine performances and the measured direction of Lewis Milestone. The 1935 edition has a slight edge, but both are well worth watching. DVD extras include a featurette on the historical figure Eugène François Vidocq (Hugo's possible inspiration), a restoration comparison, and a stills gallery. (E. Hulse)