LES MISERABLES

SYNOPSIS

This acclaimed version of the classic Victor Hugo tale follows the life of Jean Valjean, a former convict who was imprisoned for stealing bread for his sister’s family. After years in jail, Valjean attempts to readjust to life as a free man, but he finds that many are not forgiving of his past, particularly the obsessive Inspector Javert. Perpetually on the run, Valjean finds comfort in the chaos by caring for the young peasant girl Cosette .

RYSZARD BOLESŁAWSKI

Born in 1889 in Dębowa Góra, Poland. Died in 1937 in Hollywood, USA. Theatre and film director, actor and teacher. He graduated from the Tver Cavalry Officers School. He trained as an actor at the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre under Konstantin Stanislavski and his assistant Leopold Sulerzhitsky. During World War I, Boleslawski fought as a cavalry lieutenant on the tsarist Russian side until the fall of the Russian Empire. He left Russia after the October Revolution of 1917 for his native Poland, where he directed his first movies. As his birth name (Bolesław Ryszard Srzednicki) was difficult to pronounce, he took the name Ryszard Bolesławski.

His “Miracle at the Vistula” was a semi-documentary about the miraculous victory of the Poles at the Vistula River over the superior Soviet Russian forces during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. In 1922, he acted in Die Gezeichneten, a German silent film directed by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. In the 1920s, he made his way to New York City, where, now known as “Richard Boleslavsky” (the English spelling of his name), he began to teach Stanislavski’s ‘system’ (which, in the US, developed into Method acting) with fellow émigré Maria Ouspenskaya. In 1923, he founded the American Laboratory Theatre in New York. Among his students were Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler and Harold Clurman, who were all founding members of the Group Theatre (1931–1940), the first American acting ensemble to utilize Stanislavski’s techniques.

Offered a contract to direct Hollywood films, Boleslavsky made several significant films with some of the major stars of the day, until his death a few weeks short of his 48th birthday, on January 17, 1937. He is interred in the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Boleslavsky has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

FILMOGRAPHY
1937    The Last of Mrs Cheyney (Koniec pani Cheyney)
1936    Three Godfathers
1936    Theodora Goes Wild (Teodora robi karierę)
1936    The Garden of Allah (Ogród Allaha)
1935    O’Shaughnessy’s Boy
1935    Metropolitan
1935    Les Miserables (Nędznicy)
1935    Clive of India (Clive z Indii)
1934    The Painted Veil (Malowana zasłona)
1934    Operator 13 (Szpieg nr 13)
1934    Men in White (Ludzie w bieli)
1934    Hollywood Party
1934    Fugitive Lovers (Uciekinierzy)
1933    Storm at Daybreak
1933    Beauty for Sale
1932    Rasputin and the Empress (Ostatnia cesarzowa)
1931    Woman Pursued
1931    The Gay Diplomat
1930    Treasure Girl
1930    The Last of the Lone Wolf
1929    The Grand Parade
1921    The Miracle at the Wistula (Cud nad Wisłą)
1920    Bohaterstwo polskiego skauta
1918    The Bread (Chleb)
1918    Tri Vstrechi (Tri Wstreczi)