Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
Victor Hugo - Les Miserables - Smithsonian Historical Performace
narrated By: Orson Welles
year: 1937
Synopsis:
Orson Welles adapted, produced, directed, narrated, and acted in this 1937 radio dramatization of Victor Hugo's book, recounting the saga of escaped convict Jean Valjean. Valjean, trying to forget his past and live an honest life, risks his freedom to take care of a motherless young girl during a period of political unrest in Paris.
Biography:
"If a writer wrote merely for his time, I would have to break my pen and throw it away," the larger-than-life Victor Hugo once confessed. Indeed, this 19th-century French master's works -- from the epic drama Les Misérables to the classic unrequited love story The Hunchback of Notre Dame -- have spanned the ages, their themes of morality and redemption ever applicable to our times.
Review:
Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre of the Air deliver a seat-riveting performance with Les Miserables. This audio drama, originally aired live, covers the majority of the Les Miserables story. There is no comparison between this rendition of the story and the two movies and Broadway show. First, it tells the story indepth, thus making the Broadway version easier to follow. Second, Welles completely captures the spirit of Jean Valjean. The scene at 2AM where Valjean commits his life to Christ after the Priest helps him escapes the gendarmes is powerful. Nothing in the play comes close to this power. The court room scene and emotional trauma Valjean goes through in deciding whether he should let a man go to prison who claims to be him is another spellbinding performance by Welles. The first time I heard this, I could barely move. It kept my attention for the entire performance. Though I've seen the play live, and have a video of it, it is this version by Welles that sticks with me. -- Peter Alexander
Acts 1-3 of 7
Replies
The Welles production is infinitely better than the BBC one – which added material and missed dramatic climaxes and introduced the current idea of numbers as in The Prisoner instead of the yellow id card (symbolizing former convict) of the original (and the failure to live up to revolutionary ideas of liberty fraternity and equality).
Acts 6-7 of 7
06 - The Barricade.mp3
07 - Conclusion.mp3
Acts 4-5 of 7
04 - Cosette.mp3
05 - The Grave.mp3