Trailer
Plot summary
Jean Valjean is sent to prison in Toulon, where he is mistreated under the gaze of Javert. He escapes while saving another convict, and, struggling to survive, is fed and sheltered by a bishop. Valjean steals the bishop's silver plates and is brought back by the police; the bishop says the silver was a gift, dismisses the police and adds two silver candlesticks. Valjean builds a business using a black-bead manufacturing method he learned in Toulon, and under the name Madeleine serves as mayor of his town. Javert arrives as chief of the local police and thinks he recognizes Madeleine. Madeleine rescues the beggar Fantine from Javert's punishment, and he also saves a man pinned beneath a cart.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Les Misérables (1978)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Producer Norman Rosemont spent two years raising the money for the film, after NBC turned it down out of fear that Americans would not understand the title; financing finally came from CBS and IBM.
- Lynne Frederick campaigned heavily for the role of Cosette and also read for Fantine at her audition, but was judged too old to play Cosette and too young to play Fantine.
