Raymond Bernard's version of this oft-filmed novel is one of the most highly regarded, but has been little seen in the U.S. since its original release here in the Thirties. "The triumph of Raymond Bernard's powerful and moving version is the precise, detailed, almost miniaturized depiction of a rigidly stratified society; the drama and adventure of the plot are portrayed with bold mastery, but the poetry, the poignancy, the conviction we feel throughout Valjean's odyssey come from the care and weight Bernard lavishes on the intimate level of the characters' individual lives, their griefs and joys, their resentments and virtues, the clothes they wear, the things they eat, and the places they live and fight in. For the task of bringing a panorama of French society to vivid life, Bernard assembled a magnificent cast of the finest character actors of the period." --Alicia Springer (Museum of Modern Art)