Les Miserables (1935 & 1952 Two-Disc Set)

Les Miserables (1935 & 1952 Two-Disc Set)

Les Miserables (1935 & 1952 Two-Disc Set)
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Category: DVD
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DVD details

Actor: Charles Laughton, Fredric March
Brand: Unknown
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Restored, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 216 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-04-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox

DVD Reviews of Les Miserables (1935 & 1952 Two-Disc Set)

DVD Review: "I give to you, so you can give to others."
Summary: 5 Stars


In France in the early 1800's. The poor are hungry. Petty-crimes are punished harshly and unjustly. Those released from prison are blacklisted making it difficult or impossible to get a job. An ex-prisoner, who has served his time for a petty-crime, jumps parole, because it is the only way he can get a job, though the penalty if caught is life pulling an oar on a ship as a galley-prisoner. A petty, policeman hunts the now-wanted man.

The 1935-version is best because it leaves you with something, with a moral. The 1952-version changes the story enough throughout the movie that it is interesting even if you have just watched the other. Each version does some things better than the other. However, only the 1935-version leaves you with uplifting thoughts. Both versions portray injustice that continues today.



DVD Review: I'm miserables
Summary: 1 Stars

I feel duped! Purchased the video an demand version expecting to see my favorite, Charles Laughton. Got some other guy instead! Very disingenuous!

DVD Review: Les Miserables
Summary: 4 Stars

DVD was received in a prompt and timely manner and was received in excellent condition.

I prefer the 1952 edition, but it's great to see them both and compare.

DVD Review: Enjoyed the item, but not worth the double charge I received...
Summary: 5 Stars

I ordered this item, along with several more, and did receive them. The next day I received a duplicate shipment of the same items, and was indeed charged a second time. As per instructions, I returned the duplicate shipment, but despite an email assuring me I had been credited for the double charge, I have yet to see it. The claimed credit was said to have been done 30 days ago, ample time for it to have shown up. Bottom line, I liked the item I ordered, but not the service of the supplier. I have used Amazon for many years, but will put any further orders on hold until this is cleared up.

DVD Review: I Would Recommend It!
Summary: 5 Stars

Les Miserables must be very hard to adapt to the screen, however these 2 films have pulled it off well.

1935 VERSION
The story itself is much grander and told much better than any other film adaption I have seen. Sir Cedric Hardwicke stands out as the Bishop. The film flows from each part of his life very well. Frederic March stars as Valjean and is very moving. The plot is very involved from the day Valjean is imprisoned to the day he is supposedly 'going to England'

All in all, an impressive array of many talents collaborate in a fantastic film that tells a great story.

1952 VERSION
This version is perhaps a bit more mainstream, with more hints put in as if it were made for a slightly less intelligent audience than the 1935 version. It stars Michael Rennie as Valjean and is slightly unconvincing. It also stars many more stars like Sylvia Sidney, Robert Newton and Edmund Gwenn. This version lacks the style the previous version had.

All in all, a slightly duller film then it's predecessor and with a lot less plot.

Description of Les Miserables (1935 & 1952 Two-Disc Set)

Ex-convict Jean Valjean tries to rebuild his life to be a respectable citizen but police inspector Javert relentlessly hounds him and won't let him escape his past.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 24-APR-2007
Media Type: DVD
Victor Hugo's massive novel Les Miserables has spawned many adaptations in many forms over the years, and Twentieth Century Fox can count two respectable versions from its studio heyday. Both are included on this single-disc release. The superior version is the lavish 1935 take, for which producer Darryl F. Zanuck marshaled the studio's resources. While evocatively staged by director Richard Boleslawski and smartly condensed into punchy, vivid scenes, the movie is remembered for its indelible central performances: Fredric March as the hunted Jean Valjean and especially Charles Laughton as his letter-of-the-law pursuer, Inspector Javert. March, a sometimes stagey actor, is at his committed best, notably in the sequence where (in a single-scene second role) he plays the simpleton mistaken for the fugitive Valjean. But Laughton is completely fascinating: cruel and unforgiving, yet neurotic and weak; and Laughton brings out a tortured sexual undercurrent to Javert's pursuit. (Laughton didn't get an Oscar nomination for his performance, but he bagged one the same year for Mutiny on the Bounty; the film itself was nominated in four categories, including nods for Best Picture and Gregg Toland's cinematography.)

The 1952 production is similarly handsome, and director Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) an even more talented filmmaker than Boleslawski. But it misses classic status because of the elusive alchemy of casting. The story may be told serviceably, but Michael Rennie's Christlike Valjean and Robert Newton's steadfast Javert don't catch the magic, giving the result a sort of "Classics Illustrated" quality. But Laughton will haunt your dreams. --Robert Horton

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