Les Misérables

A glossy CinemaScope classic, a film for all the family which does Victor Hugo proud. Back in 1957, directors didn't count for much, and it relies on clumsily edited, sluggish shots of an all-star cast, headed by a superb Gabin as the ex-convict turned do-gooding businessman struggling to atone for his past. In 1958, Truffaut made his first film. Les Misérables is, in other words, one of the last of the dinosaurs. For dinosaur, read splendidly moralistic melodrama, guaranteed to kill those Sunday afternoon blues. Bet it makes you cry.