''Les Misérables'' is a 1925 French silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Henri Fescourt Henri Fescourt (23 November 1880 – 9 August 1966) was a French film director. He directed some 40 films in his career. Filmography * 1912 : ''Un vol a été commis'' * 1912 : ''Le Petit restaurant de l'impasse Canin'' * 1912 : ''Paris-Saint ...

, based on the 1862 novel of the same name by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

Plot summary

Production

Although Cinéromans wanted the adaptation to be a single

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

, Fescourt successfully argued for it to be released in four feature-length parts. Filming took place from 24th March until 24th December 1925 in

Digne Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte ...

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

, Montreuil, and the

Joinville Studios The Joinville Studios were a film studio in Paris which operated between 1910 and 1987. They were one of the leading French studios, with major companies such as Pathé and Gaumont Film Company, Gaumont making films there. A second studio was a ...

.de Pastre, Béatrice, Yves Reboul, and Philippe Ragel (12 December 2014).
Séminaire Cinéma, Adaptation, Restauration : " Les Misérables " d'Henri Fescourt (1925)
anel ''La Cinémathèque de Toulouse.'' Retrieved 20 July 2024. Cinéromans assigned a six million

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...

budget for the film. Funding was provided by the Westi Consortium, but in August 1925 it went bankrupt, meaning many scenes, such as the

barricades Barricade (from the French '' barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denote ...

, were shot in the studio.

Distribution and restoration

French release

It was released in France in four parts, released in weekly instalments on 25th December 1925, 31st December 1925, 8th January 1926, and 15th January 1926. Each part was precisely 2000 metres of film long. Even before the French

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

, it was reported in ''Universal Weekly'' that

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

had obtained the rights to reproduce the film.

British release

abridged An abridgement (or abridgment) is a condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone, capturing th ...

version running at around four hours had its British premiere on 9th April 1926 in a trade performance at the

London Hippodrome The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Cranbourn Street and Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survi ...

, beginning with a staged prologue featuring many of the actors from the film emerging from a large book and walking "across the stage before the sleeping figure of Victor Hugo". It was attended by Fescourt himself, as well as ambassadors and ministers from multiple countries. This performance was followed by a tour of trade performances in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

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Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

also had a private viewing of the film in his own home. In November 1926, it was released to the British public in cinemas around the country in two parts: 'The Soul of Humanity' and 'The Barricades'. Together these totalled 22 reels, coming to a running time of 280 minutes.

American release

The American premiere took place in the

Forrest Theatre The Forrest Theatre is a live theatre venue at 1114 Walnut Street in the Center City area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has a seating capacity of 1,851 and is managed by The Shubert Organization.

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to an invite-only audience on 24th June 1926, followed by a similar showing in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

the following day. An abridged version from

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

was released on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in August 1927 at the Central Theatre with music by

Hugo Riesenfeld Hugo Riesenfeld (January 26, 1879 – September 10, 1939) was an Austrian-American composer. As a film director, he began to write his own orchestral compositions for silent films in 1917, and co-created modern production techniques where film ...

. This followed a one-night-only showing of a longer, but still abridged to 15 reels, version at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

on 8th July 1926. It was reported that "At noon on Sunday, August 28th 927 the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

at the Central Theatre was forced to close while the police attempted to clear a passageway in front of the theatre" due to the film's popularity. People stood in the theatre to watch it, resulting in the Central Theatre showing to audiences of 15% over capacity in the first five days and ran "an impromptu special performance", as reported in ''Universal Weekly''. It was also shown in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

's new Montmartre Theatre simultaneously. It was then shown at other locations around the country. Rudmer Canjels writes that there were "two versions the exhibitor could eventually choose from in 1927: a 12-reel version ..and an eight-reel version that eliminated the character of Fantine." A 9.5mm abridged version was released in 1931 with English intertitles for home viewing.

2014 restoration

It was restored in 2014 by a collaboration between the

Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée The Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (; CNC; ) is an agency of the French Ministry of Culture, and is responsible for the production and promotion of cinematic and audiovisual arts in France. The CNC is a publicly owned establis ...

(CNC), the Cinémathèque de Toulouse,

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

, and the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation. They restored the film from negatives at the CNC and the Cinémathèque de Toulouse, and also used a reel of intertitles and scripts containing Fescourt's annotations. The restoration effort began in March and finished in November 2014, and involved editing 12,000 metres of film down to 8490 metres. Music by Roch Havet was added from a recording at the May 2016 Festival d'Anères.

Cast

* Gabriel Gabrio as

Jean Valjean Jean Valjean () is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his ...

* Paul Jorge as Monseigneur Myriel * Sandra Milovanoff as

Fantine Fantine (French pronunciation: ) is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. She is a young ''Grisette (person), grisette'' in Paris who is impregnated by a rich student. After he abandons her, she is forced to look ...

and

Cosette Cosette () is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo and in the many adaptations of the story for stage, film, and television. Her birth name, Euphrasie, is only mentioned briefly. As the orphaned child of an ...

* Andrée Rolane as Cosette (child) *

Jean Toulout Jean Toulout (28 September 1887 – 23 October 1962) was a French film actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1911 and 1959. Selected filmography * '' La Digue'' (1911) * '' The Mask of Horror'' (1912) * '' The Tenth Symphony'' ...

Javert Javert (), no first name given in the source novel, is a fictional character and a main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables.'' He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a police i ...

François Rozet François Rozet, (25 March 1899 – 8 April 1994) was a French-born Canadian actor. Rozet was born March 25, 1899, in Villars-les-Dombes, Ain, Rhône-Alpes, France and died in Montréal, Québec, Canada. In 1971, he was made an Officer of ...

as Marius *

Paul Guidé Paul Guidé (March 18, 1884 – October 16, 1940) was a French film actor of the silent era. Guidé appeared in more than sixty films before 1930 including '' La dame de Monsoreau'' (1913) in which he played Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; ...

Enjolras Enjolras () is a fictional character who acts as the charismatic leader of the Friends of the ABC in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo. In both the novel and the musical that it inspired, Enjolras is a revolutionary who fights f ...

* Charles Badiole as

Gavroche Gavroche () is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo. He is a boy who lives on the streets of Paris. His name has become a synonym for an urchin or Street children, street child. Gavroche plays a short yet si ...

* Maillard as Gillenormand * Clara Darcey-Roche as Mlle Baptistine *

Georges Saillard Georges Augustin Eugène Saillard (; 5 July 1877 – 11 September 1967) was a French film actor. He starred in some 52 films between French films of the 1910s, 1909 and French films of 1950, 1950. Saillard was married to actress . He died on 11 ...

as Thénardier * Suzanne Nivette as

Éponine Éponine Thénardier (; ), also referred to as "Ponine", the "Jondrette girl" and the "young working-man", is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo. The character is introduced as a spoiled and pampered child, ...

(as Nivette Saillard) *

Renée Carl Renée Carl (10 June 1875 – 31 July 1954) was a French actress of the silent era. She was born in Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée, France, and died in Paris, France. Between 1907 and 1937, she appeared in 186 films. A favorite of film director ...

as La Thénardier * Émilien Richard as Bamatabois (as Émilien Richaud) * Marcelle Barry as Mme Victorine (uncredited) * Gilbert Dacheux as Le domestique (uncredited) * Luc Dartagnan as Pontmercy (uncredited) * Sylviane de Castillo as Soeur Simplice (uncredited) * Victor Dujeu as Fauchelevent (uncredited) * Jeanne Marie-Laurent as Mme Magloire (uncredited) * Jeanne Méa as Mlle Gillenormand (uncredited)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miserables (1925 film) 1925 films French silent feature films French black-and-white films Films based on Les Misérables Films directed by Henri Fescourt Pathé films 1920s French films