The movies
It has been said that Les Miserables has been filmed more often than any other book. An empty claim? Judge for yourself.
The best Les Miserables movies are the 1933 and 2000 versions, but only if you see them in the French originals (see the movie posters above). If you prefer an English language version, the 1988 version is OK, and very easy to find, but the 1958 version is better.
This is a list of the movies. It also includes TV mini-series and animations, since these are released on TV and video just like movies. These pages are based on the excellent material at Hugo Online, with some details added from other sources. For a detailed review of only the most important movies, visit Stuart Fernie's top ten Les Miserables films.
In the early days, film was expensive and reels had to be changed every ten minutes or so, and so the earliest movies tend to be short segments and not the entire book.
1907: On the barricades, released by Gaumont. this is a loose adaptation of one part of the novel (guess which part!) and is famous for being the first ever Les Miserables movie.
1907: Le Chimeneau, (the chimney sweep? A reference to Little Gervais?), released by Pathé. This one-reel production is generally regarded as the first ever Les Miserables movie, though the other 1907 movie also claims the title.
1909, Les Misérables, released by Vitagraph in the USA. This four reel movie contains much more of the plot than the previous one reel film. A reel was on average 12 minutes, though this could vary.
1909, The Bishop's Candlesticks, released by Edison in the USA. This contains the main events from the first half of the book.
1912 or 1913, Les Misérables, released by Pathé, directed by Albert Capellani. This 3 hour movie was the longest film ever released - at the time. And very successful. Sometimes it is dated as two movies, and given the dates 1911 and 1913.
1913, The Bishop's Candlesticks, released by IMP and Universal, another movie based on just part of the book.
1917 or 1918, Les Misérables, released by Fox, and directed by Frank Lloyd. This American version was ten reels long and played for 90 minutes.
1922, Tense Moments from Great Plays, directed by Edwin J. Collins and H.B. Parkinson. This "movie" contained short scenes from a number of different books and plays, not just Les Miserables.
1923, Aa Mujo ("no mercy"), released by Shochiku. This was the first Japanese movie version of Les Miserables, andt gave the book an ancient Chinese setting, as was fashionable at the time. The studio intended to film the book in four parts, but onlymade two due to budget pressures.
1925, Les Misérables, released by Les Films de France. This version was five hours long, and the closest of all versions to the book. It was a blockbuster by the standards of the day
1929, The Bishop's Candlesticks, released by Paramount. This was the first talkie, and the end of the silent movie era.
1929, Aa Mujo, ("no mercy") released by Nikkatsu. This was the second time that Les Miserables was filmed in Japan, but thie first time that the entire book was dramatized. It is relocated to the Samurai era. A samurai Les Mis! Sweet!
1931, Jean Valjean, released by Nikkatsu. The last movie must have beena hit in Japan because the same company quickly did another one, this time based in the late nineteenth century. This was the last silent film adaptation of the novel anywhere in the world.
1933 (some people say 1934), Les Misérables, released by Société nouvelle and Pathé. Many people say this five hour epic is the best Les Miserables movie ever. The scene where Cosette is sent at night to collect water was the inspiration for the scene in Walt Disney's Snow White (1937) where she runs terrified through the spooky forest.
1935, Les Misérables, released by 20th Century Fox. This American version did not show Fantine as a prostitute - it would have offended good taste. Which is ironic, given the purpose of the book to challenge such attitudes. This was nominated for four oscars.
1937, Gavrosh, directed by Tatyana Lukashevich. This was the first Russian movie to be based on Les Miserables, and is mainly about (you guessed it) Gavroche.
1938, Kyojinden ("The Life of a Giant"), released by Toho, the studio that later made Godzilla. This was the last movie by the classic Japanese director Mansaku Itami.
1943, Los Miserables, directed by Fernando A Rivero. This Mexican movie begins where Valjean leaves his job at the convent, and is only 103 minutes long but generally liked. Javert hams it up.
1944, El Boassa, directed by Kamal Salim. This is the first Egyptian adaptation of Les Miserables, and is highly praised as a very good movie.
1947, I Miserabili, directed by Ricardo Freda. The first Italian version is quite short (112 minutes) and makes some changes to the story. In particular, Valjean is not shown as sympathetically as in other movies. This is not necessarily a bad thing. To most people in the book, including Valjean, Valjean is not a good person. I haven't seen this version, but it would be interesting to see how it is handled. A slightly shortened version was released in America in 1952, to coincide with the publicity for Fox's new version.
1950, Re mizeraburu: kami to akuma (Les Miserables: Gods and demons), directed by Daisuke Itô Masahiro Makino. This starred Sessue Hayakawa, famous for The Bridge over the River Kwai, Godzilla, and a host of other movies. The movie was released in two parts, the second being Re mizeraburu: kami to jiyu no hata (God and the flag of freedom).
1950, Ezai Padum Pado, released by Pakshiraja Studios. This was probably the first Indian movie version of Les Miserables. Javert was played by Seetharaman, and he was so popular that in his later movies he was known as "Jaavar Seetharaman."
1952, Les Miserables, released by 20th Century Fox. Some people love this version, some people hate it. It is notable for completely missing out the Thenardiers.
1955, Kundan, released by Minerva Movietone. In this Indian version, Valjean's name is changed to Kundan (hence the title), and Javert becomes Sher Singh. The revolutionaries are Indians trying to get the British out of India. Apart from the change of location, this version is faithful to the spirit and the main events of the book, and is highly rated by those who have seen it.
1958, Les Misérables, directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois. For most people this is the definitive version of the movie. This is possibly influenced by the fact that more people have seen it than the also praised 1933 version, and being more recent it is probably easier to get into. A classic.
1967, Sefiler. This is the first Turkish version of Les Miserables. I can't find any more information about this movie. Sorry.
1967, Os Miseráveis. The same goes for this Brazilian TV adaptation. Nobody seems to know anything more about it.
1967, Les Misérables. A short series of ten five minute films made in Britain. Yet again, nobody seems to know anything about this. 1967 seems to have been the year that time forgot.
1972, Les Misérables, directed by Marcel Bluwal. The first ever French TV adaptation of Les Miserables.
1973, Los Miserables, released by Canal 13. A Mexican adaptation that is very faithful to the original. At twenty hours it is probably the longest and most complete of any version, and the cast members look and act exactly as Victor Hugo described them. Top marks!
1977, Cosette, released by Kino Studio. A Soviet animation, but I don't know any more about it than that.
1978, Al Bo'asa. An Egyptian movie adaptation about which very little is known.
1978, Les Miserables, released by ITC/Lord Lew Grade. This British TV version is available on video. People who have seen this rate it very highly, as one of the best English language versions. Warning: the original was 150 minutes, but the DVD version has been butchered down to 120 minutes.
1979, Les Misérables, released by Toei Animation. A Japanese anime version of the story. This cartoon was used as the basis for for a comic book version released in France.
1982, Les Misérables, directed by Robert Hossein. This is a slightly better than expected French TV version. One reviewer sums it up, "we see [Valjean's] pain and the result in his determination to redeem himself, but the reasoning behind the change is left to the audience to devine. That said, Lino Ventura is an excellent Valjean and is surely the main reason for the success of the film." This was re-edited into a Fench TV series in 1985.
1987, Les Mierables, a short animated film by Mara Mattuschka - and she provides all the voices. Experimental .
1988, Les Misérables, a carton for kids released by Emerald City. A good enough 60 minute animation from Britain.
1995, Les Misérables, released by Les Films. This is a French movie inspired by the book and with similar characters and events, but set in the period 1900-1945.
1998, Les Misérables, released by Mandalay Pictures. This is the best known recent version. If you search the Net at random for "Les Miserables movie" or you look for movie pictures, this is the version you are most likely to find. It was commissioned aat the time when the musical was just becoming famous, and studios couold see there was money in another remake, and most critics don't like it. But Liam Neeson is very good (as he always is) and the scenery is lovely. I preferred it to the 2000 Gerard Depardieu version, but that is probably because I only saw the English version of the 2000 movie.
2000, Les Misérables, directed by Josée Dayan, and starring Gerard Depardieu. This was a made for TV movie - actually two movies shot at the same time, a long one in French and a short one in English. I saw the English version and didn't think much of it. Right from the start when Depardieu looks like Uncle Fster in the Addams family (they must feed you extremely well in those jails!), to the inevitable changes in the plot, to John Malkovich's sleepwalkign performance, it just did not grab me at all. However, I am assured that the longer French version is much better, and Hugo Online says the French version is the best version ever, and they should know. So go and see it. The French version, that is.
2004 Portrait De Petit Cossette, a Japanese animation that seems to have little in common with Les Miserables except for a little girl in Cosette costume.
This pretty much brings us up to date. the most recent version Les Miserables is a 52 episode animated version by Fuji Television Network in partnership with Chinese CCTV. This is the 24th in a series of "World Masterpiece Theater" cartoons, although it has been several years since the last one. It is worth noting that, when this cartoon is shown in China, this single production will probably be seen by more people that the 54 million who have seen the musical. Just to put the movies in context! But that could all change if the rumored movie version of the musical ever becomes a reality.