Original subtitles

The restoration of this film was made from a black and white negative

obtained by Pathe from CNC and a 1925 colour copy

belonging to Cinematheque de Tolosa.

A reel of intertitles has been found, completed thanks to the script

annotated by Henri Fescourt and preserved in the French National Library.

A typeface was created to match the that of the period.

The tinting and etchings

have been digitally reconstructed from Cinematique de Tolosa documents

Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo

Adaptation and direction by Henri Fescourt.

"Is there not, in every human soul, a first spark, a divine element

so that good can develop and radiate and evil can never completely extinguish? "

The role of Jean Valjean is interpreted by Mr Gabriel Gabrio

Fantine's role is interpreted by Sandra Milowanoff

Javert's role is interpreted by Jean Toulout

The small town of Digne in 1815

Msgr Myriel, Bishop of Digne (Paul Jorge)

The village hospital, upon the arrival of the bishop.

The bishop's palace.

"They give me a big house."

The accommodation for the sick is very cramped...

Shortly after.

The bishop is living in the hospital.

He divests himself for the poor. He goes to the mountains to visit the unfortunate.

He soothes rebellious souls.

He was their comforter...

It was just a humble soul, that loved.

Part One.

The evening after a day of walking.

"Yellow passport... released prisoner."

Jean Valjean, born in Faverolles. 19 years in prison

5 years for breaking, entering and stealing

14 years for 4 attempted escapes A very dangerous man.

Toulon, 1st of October 1815."

Jean Valjean. (Gabriel Gabrio)

Hunger and fatigue.

"You're not welcome here."

"I'm at the inn. I've walked 12 leagues...

"I'm hungry and I can to pay. I'm not leaving!"

"I don't serve convicts!"

"I'd like to have dinner, and sleep."

At the jail.

"A jail isn't an inn. You must be arrested to come in."

"I'm worse off than a dog!"

"You say you've knocked on every door?"

"Have you tried that one over there?"

Mrs Magloire, the bishop's housekeeper.

"Your lordship hasn't forgotten that it's dinner time?"

"My title doesn't help me reach that shelf."

Miss Baptistine, the bishop's sister.

"Oh, Monsignor! He's lurking about the streets...

Something bad will happen tonight and you don't like locks on the doors."

"Come in."

"You see, I'm a released convict. 19 years in jail...

I've walked 12 leagues. I'm hungry. No one wants anything to do with me."

"Mrs Magloire, set another place for dinner."

"Do you understand? I'm homeless!"

"I need a stable to sleep in."

"Madame Magloire, put sheets on the bed in the alcove."

"Are you an innkeeper?"

"Priest."

"A parish priest... humane!"

"We need a bit more light."

"Sir, priest of God... You are a good man...

You light candles for me, so I'll hide nothing from you."

"My door doesn't ask for your name, but for your pain...

Before you tell me, I already know your name."

"You know my name?"

"Your name is My Brother."

End of dinner.

"So, you'll put me up in your home, without taking precautions?

Who's to say that I'm not a murderer?"

In his youth, Jean Valjean pruned trees.

Father and mother dead. A widowed sister with 7 children.

Misery.

Hunger.

Breaking, entering and stealing from an inhabited house.

Assault of agents of the public police force.

A reputation as a poacher...

Five years in prison. No. 24,601

"A man of colossal strength. Dangerous!"

On release... dry-eyed, cold heart.

Old silverware. Solid. Worth 400 francs at least.

109 francs and 15 sous earned in 19 years.

At sunrise.

"Monsignor!"

"Monsignor, the man is gone. He has stolen the cutlery!"

"Monsignor..."

"Monsignor?! So he's not a parish priest...

"Tell me... I also gave you the candlesticks...

Why didn't you take them with the cutlery?"

Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good.

It's your soul that I'm buying. I'll give it to God!

What's your name?

Go away!

"I want my money... the 40 sous!"

Darkness.

"Petit-Gervais!"

"I'm a poor wretch!"

For the first time in 19 years, he weeps.

But out of a horrible shadow, he could see a peaceful birth.

A clarity...

But a few months prior, a major event had shaken the foundations of Europe.

The battlefield covered with dead.

"You've saved my life. Who are you?"

"Sergeant Thenardier."

"Thenardier... I'll not forget that name."

"Remember mine... Colonel Baron Pontmercy."

And then peace returns.

Fantine. Sandra Milowanoff.

She devoted herself to being a wife.

First love.

Fantine, abandoned and alone in París,

decides to return to her home town, to work.

As she went through Montfermeil...

Another mother. (Renee Carl)

The presence of angels announces paradise.

Fantine thinks she sees here the mysterious sign of Providence.

"Her name is Cosette."

"With a child, it is very hard to find work."

They could be sisters.

"Would you like to mind my child for me?"

"I'd give 6 francs per month."

"7 francs! And 6 months paid in advance!"

"6 times 7 is 42."

"...and 15 francs for initial expenses."

"Mr Thenardier, my husband."

"Does the little girl have some clothes?"

"Silk clothing, like a lady..."

"I'm going to earn a little money over there...

"I'll be back soon for my little Cosette."

Thenardier.

The painting celebrates his exploits..

Montreuil-sur-Mer, a small town on the Straits of Dover.

A brave man...

...came 3 years prior...

...and his bravery stood out from the evening of his arrival.

"My babies!"

"What's your name? Your name?"

"I'm old Madeleine."

The children saved were those of the captain of the gendarmerie...

who didn't think to demand old Madeleine's passport.

This Mr Madeleine, that no one knew anything about...

devised ways to perfect the town's specialty... glassware.

And now...

yielding to official pressure Mr Madeleine

ended up accepting the office of mayor.

One man remained opposed to the unanimous veneration...

Police Inspector Javert, a former prison official in the South.

(Jean Toulout)

He was totally devoted to duty.

He would have arrested his mother if the order had been given.

Jean Valjean, ex-convict.

Recidivist. Wanted for armed assault and robbery...

of a young Savoyard called Petit-Gervais.

An enemy of Mr Madeleine: old Fauchelevent.

It annoyed him to see a worker prosper, while he, a master, was broke. (Victor Dujeu)

"It's necessary to slide under the cart and lift it..."

"I've only ever known one man capable of doing that... a convict!"

Suspicion.

Madeleine employed as many people as he could at his factory.

The public writer.

You have asked me several times to increase what is paid to mind Cosette.

You must realise that I only earn 20 sous a day.

But the important thing is that she is well cared for.

I agree therefore to pay the sum of 15 francs per month. Fantine.

There's nothing like spying on people's actions

than with those who pretend not to look.

Such a one was Mrs Victurnien. (Marcelle Barry)

You didn't tell us that you had a child!

"This a respectable factory . We cannot keep you here."

15 sous a day for making shirts for prisoners.

Without daring to go see the mayor, whom she blamed for her dismissal...

she started to hate him.

"Cosette has nothing to wear.

We need 15 francs right away or she'll go naked. Mr Thenardier.

"And your rent?"

"Work stops for three months!"

"When are going to pay me, you strumpet?!"

Fantine's hair.

At that time, beautiful hair was seen as a precious ornament in a woman.

"I'll give you ten francs for it."

My child will not go cold. I'll dress her with my hair.

A dark foreboding gripped her heart.

"There's one who'll come to a bad end!"

News of Cosette.

You owe us 100 francs.

If you don't pay, Cosette goes out the door.

We are fed up with waiting. Mr Chenardier

She lost her shame.

A provincial cafe, frequented by the smart set of the day.

Mr Bamatabois. (Emilien Richaud)

Pathetic, yet available...

"Don't you want to cover yourself? You're really quite ugly!"

She recognized Javert.

This class of woman is subject to the law at the discretion of the police.

Javert judges.

He has just seen a prominent member of society

insulted and attacked by a creature from beyond the pale.

"I'm giving you 6 months!"

"Six months in prison! What about Cosette?"

"Six months in jail! What will become of Cosette?"

"I owe more than 100 francs!"

"The snow gave me a chill in the spine!"

"That Thenardier does not listen to reason..."

"They'll throw the poor child into the street in mid-winter."

"I only became what I am because I'm destitute!"

"I that all that you have to say?"

"I'm sorry, Mayor."

"Oh, it's you, Mr Mayor, who had me thrown out of the factory...

and who's made me what I am!"

"Set this woman free!"

"Set her free? Is it you my dear Javert, who said that?"

"This can't be that monster of a mayor.

Sacking a young girl who works honestly.

I have my little Cosette... I was forced to...

"Listen, he said I should be released, so goodbye!"

"She has outraged a mayor! Justice demands..."

"The first arbiter of justice is one's conscience!"

"It's my order!"

"I knew nothing. I'll care for you and your daughter."

"If everything is as you say...

you've always been virtuous in God's eyes."

"Prostitute... convict... they go together!"

Words from a dream...

"While things were very bad for me, I'd have not wanted Cosette with me."

"I shall feel it's God's blessing, when my daughter is here."

Cosette is an angel.

At her age, she still has her wings."

"You'll see Cosette soon. I just wrote..."

That same evening...

"A culpable act has been committed..."

"A lower-ranking officer has shown grave disrespect to a magistrate."

It's about me, Inspector Javert, and you, Mr Mayor."

"I've come to ask you to have me dismissed."

"Six weeks ago, after that episode with Fantine...

I denounced you to the prefecture

as an ex-convict and usurper of public office."

Mr Madeleine, mayor of Montreuil-sur-mer, cannot be Jean Valjean.

This individual will be tried on the 24th October in Arras,

under the false name of Champmathieu...

Champmathieu, for robbery, breaking and entering, etc.

He has been identified by three fellow-inmates at Toulon jail.

"Summoned by the judge, I've recognised him myself."

"The case is tried tomorrow. I will go to testify."

"I'll return to relinquish my authority, for I must be punished."

"A mayor doesn't offer to help an informer."

"From the moment I tried to misuse my authority, out of revenge...

...I've been no more than an informer who must be dismissed."

If I'm not so severe with myself, as I've been with others, in my life...

...everything I thought just, will have been unjust."

End of the first part.