To cut down a 1500-page epic of a novel into a less than two hour film is not an enviable task by any stretch of the imagination, but this American adaptation does it fairly well for the most part. Focusing more on the Valjean & Javert storyline provides a clear arc to base the film around, even if it means the larger themes of the novel as a whole a largely abandoned, dumbed down, or plainly neutered especially in regards to the revolutionary aspects. Fredric March plays Valjean very well, but some of the decisions on the adapter's part are very questionable and honestly out of character, particularly Valjean having romantic feelings towards his adoptive daughter Cosette. Charles Laughton is very damn good Javert however, and the film is worth watching purely based on him. Gregg Toland does the photography here and everything he touches is automatically worth seeing as well. I was surprised with how they changed bits of the story around to allow for the shortened runtime, some of them decent replacements, others just odd, but it made for interesting viewing as someone who has actually read the book. Raymond Bernard's 1934 version is still the best film adaptation to watch, but this streamlined American version is a curiosity to see how the story has been interpreted outside of France.
To cut down a 1500-page epic of a novel into a less than two hour film is not an enviable task by any stretch of the imagination, but this American adaptation does it fairly well for the most part. Focusing more on the Valjean & Javert storyline provides a clear arc to base the film around, even if it means the larger themes of the novel as a whole a largely abandoned, dumbed down, or plainly neutered especially in regards to the revolutionary aspects. Fredric March plays Valjean very well, but some of the decisions on the adapter's part are very questionable and honestly out of character, particularly Valjean having romantic feelings towards his adoptive daughter Cosette. Charles Laughton is very damn good Javert however, and the film is worth watching purely based on him. Gregg Toland does the photography here and everything he touches is automatically worth seeing as well. I was surprised with how they changed bits of the story around to allow for the shortened runtime, some of them decent replacements, others just odd, but it made for interesting viewing as someone who has actually read the book. Raymond Bernard's 1934 version is still the best film adaptation to watch, but this streamlined American version is a curiosity to see how the story has been interpreted outside of France.
