I'm not an expert - I haven't read the book and don't expect to - but I have seen several of the filmed versions, and this is by far my least favourite. Having said that, I loved Antony Perkins' Javert: his tightly buttoned implacability was perfect. And I liked Caroline Langrishe's rather underwritten Cosette.
But there was a lot I didn't like very much. The whole thing seemed terribly bright, colourful and clean and maybe, in those days, your life actually was bright colourful and clean - if you had money, that is. But the whole point of Hugo's writing was social commentary, and I didn't see very much of the disadvantaged underclass in this movie. I also didn't like Valjean meandering off at the end.
But most of all, I didn't like Valjean. I'm not a Richard Jordan fan at the best of times - I always got the feeling that he thought he was rather better than I thought he was. Notwithstanding his increasingly grey (but no less unconvincing) wigs and sticky-on beards as he got older, he was far too lightweight an actor to play a character like Valjean.
I was delighted and surprised to spot my late friend Michael Sheard in a small role.
But there was a lot I didn't like very much. The whole thing seemed terribly bright, colourful and clean and maybe, in those days, your life actually was bright colourful and clean - if you had money, that is. But the whole point of Hugo's writing was social commentary, and I didn't see very much of the disadvantaged underclass in this movie. I also didn't like Valjean meandering off at the end.
But most of all, I didn't like Valjean. I'm not a Richard Jordan fan at the best of times - I always got the feeling that he thought he was rather better than I thought he was. Notwithstanding his increasingly grey (but no less unconvincing) wigs and sticky-on beards as he got older, he was far too lightweight an actor to play a character like Valjean.
I was delighted and surprised to spot my late friend Michael Sheard in a small role.