Les Misérables
Scen.: Henri Fescourt, Dal Romanzo Omonimo Di Victor Hugo; Op.: Raoul Aubourdier, Karénine Mérobian, Georges Laffont; M.: Henri Fescourt, Jean-Louis Bouquet; Scgf.: Georges Quénu; Cost.: M.Me Paul Castiaux; Int.: Gabriel Gabrio (Jean Valjean), Sandra Milowanoff (Fantine/Cosette), Renée Carl (La Thénardier), Suzanne Nivette (M.Me Magloire), Clara Darcey-Roche (M.Lle Baptistine), Sylviane De Castillo (Sœur Simplice), Marcelle Barry (M.Me Victorine), Jeanne Méa (M.Lle Gillenormand), Darcy (Azelma), Jean Toulout (Javert), Georges Saillard (Thénardier), François Rozet (Marius), Charles Badiole (Gavroche), Paul Jorge (Myriel), Maillard (Gillenormand) Paul Guidé (Enjolras), Victor Dujeu (Fauchelevent), Luc Dartagnan (Pontmercy), Emilien Richaud (Bamatabois), Gilbert Dacheux (Domestica), Joaquin Carrasco, Jean Demerçay; Prod.: Films De France; 35mm. L.: 6744 M. D.: 328’ A 18 F/S. Bn.
1°Ep.: L.: 1974 M. D.: 96’; 2° Ep.: L.: 1665 M. D.: 81’; 3° Ep.: L.: 1665 M. D.: 81’; 4° Ep.: L.: 1440 M. D.: 70’
Film Notes
Les Misérables is not only Fescourt’s masterpiece but also one of the highlights of French silent cinema and a worldwide hit of the period. Up until then the director had alternated between the ciné-roman, certainly not a lesser genre but one slightly exaggerated by the penchants of the period, and more intimate films with psychological pretensions. Victor Hugo’s work allowed him to perfectly reconcile these two tendencies by dealing with a vast social fresco in which the characters also have psychological depth. […] Fescourt decided to closely follow Hugo’s narrative construction, maintaining the digressions, cutting with bravura from the specific to the general and remaining as faithful as possible to the author’s sense of pacing. Les Misérables perfectly illustrates the poet’s idea that: “Le monde est composé de radieux et de ténébreux”.
Claude Beyle, Francis Lacassin, “Anthologie du Cinéma”, 3, 1968