Unfortunately this is another film version that fails to capture the spirit of the novel while rearranging and omitting significant chunks of plot. It doesn't re-write quite as much as the 1947 version; instead, it's more like Les Mis Lite.

While considerable attention is given to some sequences, such as the opening that shows us Jean Valjean's brutal life in prison, important scenes are left out completely. There are no Thénardiers (just mention of innkeepers looking after Cosette), there is no cart scene (though Valjean stops a rich man's runaway carriage when he first arrives in Montreuil-sur-Mer and ingratiates himself to the townspeople), nor is Fantine's story given any screen time. Her dismissal from the factory is explained in a few sentences as she blames the mayor for her arrest. Without Thénardiers, Valjean can make no journey to the inn; instead he arrives with Cosette, who looks about eleven and not at all as if she's been treated badly, and she and Fantine enjoy a tearful reunion.

Valjean's most serious responsibility, to care for Cosette in Fantine's stead, is not emphasized. Rather, with the French mini-series, this version makes the unfathomable decision to hint at Valjean's being in love with Cosette. One of the worst moments is a scene in which they recite lines from Romeo and Juliet. (The second-worst moment may be when, after giving his opinion that Fantine probably won't live, Valjean asks, "Does your mother know she's going to die, Cosette?") Valjean's greatest sacrifice, giving up Cosette to Marius, is made trivial and silly in this version, as Valjean is shamed into it when he intercepts a letter from Marius, urging Cosette not to be "prey" to Jean Valjean's selfishness.

As the lead, Michael Rennie does show some of Valjean's goodness, but as with other versions, this one fails to adequately show his struggle to become a good man and his ultimate hard-won success. Rennie is always just an okay guy, not remarkably good or generous; he just doesn't have the presence for the role. That Valjean has a friend named Robert who knows all along that he's an ex-con and who helps him throughout the story doesn't help. Further, Cosette knows that Valjean isn't her real father, and for Cosette to be aware of Valjean's past undermines both characters.

Debra Paget and Cameron Mitchell have a strange, lukewarm relationship as Marius and Cosette. They meet when Valjean helps Marius hide from the police in the convent, and Cosette tends Marius's wound. But Cosette is a reluctant lover, telling Marius that she can't leave her father, and when he runs into opposition from Valjean, who is planning to flee to England, and Cosette, who is determined to go with him, Marius seems to give up, telling Valjean, "Be careful of your next rival. You may not dispose of him so easily."

Javert (Robert Newton) is a revamped Charles Laughton who assigns blame to the law rather than to himself (a decision that I find extremely annoying) and comes off as more spiteful than duty-bound. He doesn't attempt to resign after denouncing the mayor. Instead of being a spy on the barricades, Javert follows Valjean there and is subsequently saved from execution after a bizarre exchange in which Valjean tells him, "You're sick. Your mind is sick," and he replies "You want me to see the nobility of your soul. I spit on your nobility." However, Javert does obligingly kill himself (after Robert tells him he's wrong about Valjean) so that Valjean, Cosette, Marius, and Robert—who may be the most important character in this version—can enjoy a happy ending.

Overall, gratuitous changes in the plot, apparently in an attempt to streamline events, and a lack of focus on Valjean's self-sacrifice or really any of the nobler emotions in any of the characters, make this version superficial and uninspired.