Les Misérables (2012)

Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012) is a well-executed, powerful film musical. The screenplay by William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, and Herbert Kretzmer, is based on the stage musical of the same name by Schönberg, Boublil, and Jean-Marc Natel, which in turn is based on the epic novel 'Les Misérables' (1862) by Victor Hugo. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three.


Taiwanese postcard by CoolCard, 2013. Photo: Ignition, Los Angeles / Working Title / Universal. Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012). Caption: Freedom is Mine. From the Academy Award-winning director of 'The King's Speech'. The Musical Phenomenon.


Taiwanese postcard by CoolCard, 2013. Photo: Ignition, Los Angeles / Working Title / Universal. Russell Crowe as Javert in Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012). Caption: I am the Law. From the Academy Award-winning director of 'The King's Speech'. The Musical Phenomenon.

A decision that changes their lives forever

In 1815, French prisoner 24601, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) was released from the Bagne of Toulon after a nineteen-year sentence for stealing bread to feed his sister's child. His paroled status prevents him from finding work or accommodation, but he is sheltered by the kindly Bishop of Digne.

Valjean attempts to steal his silverware and is captured, but the bishop, in radical grace, claims he gave him the silver and tells him to use it to begin an honest life. Moved, Valjean breaks his parole and assumes a new identity, intending to redeem others.

For decades he is hunted by the ruthless and persistent Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). Then the fugitive promises dying prostitute Fantine (Anne Hathaway) to take care of her little daughter, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried). The decision changes their lives forever.

Set in post-revolutionary France, the story resolves to the background of the June Rebellion of 1832. In his huge epic novel of 1500 pages, Victor Hugo's 'Les Misérables' featured many characters and covered many decades and several grand themes. It's impossible to cram this all into a 2.5-hour film. 'Les Mis' has been filmed several times and the latest BBC series from 2018 was a 6-hour in-depth version. But this 2012 adaptation is the first film version of the immensely popular Cameron Mackintosh musical which ran for 27 years and had a total audience of over 60 million.

'Les Mis' is not the most accessible of musicals. It is lengthy and the quite heavy story feels like an opera. Following the release of the stage musical, a film adaptation was mired in development hell for over ten years. The rights were passed on to several major studios, and various directors including Alan Parker and Bruce Beresford were considered. In 2011, Mackintosh finally sold the film rights to Eric Fellner, who financed the film with Tim Bevan and Debra Hayward through their production company Working Title Films. As the director, they wanted the Brit Tom Hooper, who had just made the acclaimed historical drama The King's Speech (2010).


Taiwanese postcard by CoolCard, 2013. Photo: Ignition, Los Angeles / Working Title / Universal. Anne Hathaway as Fantine in Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012). Caption: I dreamed a dream. From the Academy Award winning director of 'The King's Speech'. The musical phenomenon.


Taiwanese postcard by CoolCard, 2013. Photo: Ignition, Los Angeles / Working Title / Universal. Isabelle Allen as young Cosette in Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012). Caption: Fight Dream Hope Love. From the Academy Award-winning director of 'The King's Speech'.

A surrealistic, nightmarish Paris

For his Les Misérables (2012), Tom Hooper chose an incomplete rendering of the musical. He went for depth and context so one can truly appreciate the tragedy and the themes. His film is a bold and commendable attempt at converting the musical to a film format.

Even more daring was Hooper's insistence to make a film in which all the dialogue was sung live and the actors could sing as if they were acting. In several lines, Hugh Jackman almost speaks rather than truly sings, because he is trying to do the songs in a more realistic acting fashion. This works best in Anne Hathaway's song 'I Dreamed a Dream'. Her raw, emotional rendition works perfectly for her devastatingly human portrayal of Fantine. Hathaway won an Oscar for it.

The casting is mostly good. Jackman is an excellent Valjean, vulnerable and strong. He believes. He emotes. He is as big as the story itself. Jackson deservedly received an Oscar nomination for his performance. Russell Crowe is also fine as Javert, the obsessive and punitive policeman who mercilessly hounds Jean Valjean. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter give bravura performances as the hilarious Thénardier innkeepers. In an almost three-hour show, Hooper, writer Claude-Michel Schonberg and cinematographer Danny Cohen keep the action moving. Hooper skillfully created a surrealistic, nightmarish Paris for Fantine. The extremely heightened realism is on the verge of being surrealistic. The close-ups create a kind of intimacy which provides opportunities for the actors to do their work.

The result is personal and intense. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian: "It conquers its audience with weapons all its own: not passion so much as passionate sincerity, not power so much as overwhelming force. Every line, every note, every scene is belted out with diaphragm-quivering conviction and unbroken, unremitting intensity. The physical strength of this movie is impressive: an awe-inspiring and colossal effort, just like Valjean's as he lifts the flagpole at the beginning of the film. You can almost see the movie's muscles flexing and the veins standing out like whipcords on its forehead. At the end of 158 minutes, you have experienced something."

The film grossed over $442 million worldwide against a production budget of $61 million during its original theatrical run. In anticipation of the stage musical's forthcoming 40th anniversary in 2025, the film is digitally remixed and remastered in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Cameron Mackintosh, Tom Hooper, music producer Lee McCutcheon, music director Stephen Metcalfe and sound mixer Andy Nelson all supervised the Dolby Atmos remix for this 2024 version.


Taiwanese postcard by CoolCard, 2013. Photo: Ignition, Los Angeles / Working Title / Universal. Amanda Seyfried as Cosette in Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012). Caption: Heart full of love. From the Academy Award-winning director of 'The King's Speech'. The musical phenomenon.


Taiwanese postcard by CoolCard, 2013. Photo: Ignition, Los Angeles / Working Title / Universal. Amanda Seyfried as Cosette and Eddie Redmayne as Marius in Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012). Caption: Heart Full of Love. The Musical Phenomenon.

Sources: Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Axel Eliassons Konstförlag

During the 1910s and 1920s, the heydays of the Swedish film industry, film star postcards formed an important marketing tool. Besides Förlag Nordisk Konst, several other publishers in Sweden produced and distributed cards with film portraits or scenes. A major postcard publisher was Axel Eliassons Konstförlag in Stockholm. We selected 20 sepia film postcards from our collections which were published by this company which advertised itself as 'the biggest postcard company in the North'.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 247. Photo: Hofatelier Ferd. Flodin, 1914. Emma Meissner and Axel Ringvall in the operetta 'Die Kino-Königin' (1913) by Jean Gilbert, performed as 'Filmdrottningen in Sweden.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 308. Photo: Hofatelier Jaeger, Stockholm, 1914. Lars Hanson.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 353. Photo: Hofatelier Jaeger, Stockholm, 1915. Anders de Wahl in the stage play 'Äventyret aka Äfventyret' by Valentin Le Barroyer, performed at the Dramaten theatre in Stockholm in 1915, under the direction of Karl Hedberg.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 413, mailed in 1916. Photo: Uno Falkengren, Göteborg. Gösta Ekman.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 482. 'Gustav III' was a play by August Strindberg and this card refers to one of Lars Hanson's stage play performances, not a film. Hanson played the title role in 1915 (dir. Einar Fröberg) and again in 1928 (dir. Rune Carlsten).



Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 35. Photo: Hofatelier Jaeger, Stockholm, 1917. Tora Teje.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 94. Photo: Skandiafilm. Gösta Ekman and Carlo Keil-Möller in the Swedish silent romantic film Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 97. Photo: Skandia Film. Mary Johnson and Carlo Keil-Möller in the Swedish silent romantic film Mästerkatten i stövlar/Puss in boots (John W. Brunius, 1918).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 105. Photo: Skandiafilm, 1918. Karin Molander in Surrogatet (Einar Bruun, 1919).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 113. Photo: Hofatelier Jaeger. Tora Teje in the play 'Rödakorssystern' (Red Cross Sister) by Gustaf Collijn. The play premiered on 14 March 1919 at the Svenska Teatern. The director was Gunnar Klintberg and her co-star was Gösta Ekman.

'Swedish-made' postcards

Axel Eliassons Konstförlag (AE) was founded in Stockholm in 1890. In the first half of the 20th century. AE with its premises on the famous street Drottninggatan, was Sweden's leading producer of postcards. Founder Axel Eliasson was born on 16 February 1868 in Stockholm. He was the son of the clothing merchant Meyer Eliasson and Ida Davidsson. In 1890 he founded the company Axel Eliasson (AE) in Stockholm. He got the idea for his postcard production in Berlin, where he studied at the Rakow Economic School. Initially, Eliasson himself was behind the camera, so he was able to market his products as 'Swedish-made'.

Eliasson's first postcards were sold in the middle of 1891. These showed Stockholm and Gothenburg and were advertised in the newspaper Aftonbladet. However, these first postcards, where the image only took up 1/3 of the front page, were not very successful. Only after Eliasson changed the layout and enlarged the size of the pictures in 1896, their popularity increased. Apart from topographical postcards, Eliasson decided to produce greetings postcards for his own company but also for other companies in Scandinavia. In an interesting article in the magazine Postcard Album, Arne Sandström writes that Eliasson never printed his postcards himself. He ordered most of them from different printers in Germany (including Rotophot) and some also from printers in Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S.A. In 1933, the company probably started to print its own cards.

In 1894 painter and illustrator Jenny Nyström was contracted to draw greeting postcards. Axel Eliasson Konstförlag had exclusive rights to postcards with her motifs of the 'jultomte' (goblins) on numerous Christmas cards, thus linking the Swedish version of Santa Claus to the gnomes of Scandinavian folklore. Her illustrated Christmas cards became one of Eliassons's main products. From 1895 the AE postcards were also published in colour lithography and in 1897 Anna Palm joined the company. She illustrated the 'official' postcards of the 1897 Stockholm Exhibition which were widely distributed. Till 1898, the AE cards were not numbered.

Axel Eliassons Konstförlag had the reproduction rights to the photographs of royalty and famous people by Atelier Jaeger, a photo studio founded in 1858 by Johannes Jaeger. Valentin Wolfenstein bought the studio in 1890, and Albin Roosval and Herman Sylwander acquired the company in 1905 and kept the name. The AE logo was introduced around 1920 and was designed by David Blomberg, who had previously designed the NK logo. In 1922, the name Konstförlag was added to the company name. Eventually, postcard motifs from all over Sweden, Denmark and Norway were published, some of which were hand-coloured. At the end of the 1930s, small booklets with ten motifs from the same city on loose photographs were available in 10x6 cm format.

Axel Eliasson died on 23 January 1932 in Stockholm. He was married to Ester Sterner (1880-1951), who after his death remarried in 1938 to Axel Widstrand, a naval doctor. After Axel Eliasson's death, his son Georg Eliasson became the managing director. The publishing house was transformed into a limited company. Axel Eliassons Konstförlag expanded until the 1920s, but its success stalled in the 1930s. In 1940 the company went bankrupt and closed. However, the liquidation was not finalised until 1941. By then the company had already been bought by Alrik Hedlund Förlag in Gothenburg, which created Nya Aktiebolaget Axel Eliassons Konstförlag. In 1943 the name was changed to Axel Eliassons Konstförlag Aktiebolag and in 1969 to Axel Eliasson Aktiebolag. When Sven-Göran Östh, previously CEO of Gerhard's Konstförlag, became CEO of the company in 1989, he decided to move the company to Sågmyra. The company still exists under the name of Axel Eliasson AB in Sågmyra. It is no longer active in the postcard business and mainly produces art publishing items such as Christmas cards and gifts.



Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 135. Photo: Skandia Film. Karin Molander and Ellen Dall in Synnöve Solbakken (John W. Brunius, 1919), adapted from Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's Norwegian homonymous novel (1857).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 154. Photo: Skandia Film. Ernst Rolf, Mary Gräber, and Erik Lindholm in the Swedish silent comedy Åh i morron kväll/Oh Tomorrow Night!, (John W. Brunius, 1919).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 255. Photo: Gösta Hard. Richard Lund.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 288. Photo: Skandia-Film. Pauline Brunius, Tore Svennberg, Renée Björling and Paul Seelig in the Swedish silent drama En vildfågel/Give Me My Son (John W. Brunius, 1921). Adapted from the play 'Skeppsbrott' (Shipwreck) by Samuel A. Duse. The title translates literally as 'The Wild Bird'. On 3 October 1921, En vildfågel premiered simultaneously in five cinemas in five Swedish cities.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 303. Photo: Skandia Film, Stockholm. Jenny Hasselqvist and Ivan Hedqvist in the Swedish silent film Vem dömer/Love's Crucible (Victor Sjöström, Skandia Film 1922). The film is a Renaissance drama where a young woman named Ursula (Jenny Hasselquist), who is in love with Bertram, the son (Gösta Ekman) of the mayor (Tore Svenberg), is accused of having poisoned her older husband, the sculptor Master Anton (Ivan Hedqvist). She has to prove her virginity through a fire test. The film's title reads: Who judges?


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstforlag, Stockholm, no. 305. Photo: Skandia Film, Stockholm. Jenny Hasselqvist, Ivan Hedqvist, Tore Svennberg and Gösta Ekman in the Swedish silent film Vem döme/ Love's Crucible, (Victor Sjöström, 1922). The film is a Renaissance drama where a young woman named Ursula (Hasselqvist), who is in love with Bertram, the son (Ekman) of the mayor (Svenberg), is accused of having poisoned her older husband, the sculptor Master Anton (Hedqvist). She has to prove her virginity through a fire test. The film's title reads: Who judges? NB Nils Asther had a small part in this film. He is the man just left of Hasselquist.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 310. Photo: Gösta Hard, Stockholm, 1927. On this postcard, Mary Johnson is indicated with the name of her second husband.


Swedish postcard by Ed. Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 336. Photo: Svensk Filminspelning. Victor Sjöström and Jenny Hasselquist in Eld ombord/Fire on board (Victor Sjöström, 1923).


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 379, 1924. Photo: Svenska-Film. Mona Mårtenson as Ebba Dohna in Gösta Berlings saga/The Atonement of Gosta Berling (Mauritz Stiller, 1924), based on the novel by Selma Lagerlöf.


Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 381. Lars Hanson is the title character in Gösta Berlings saga/The Saga of Gösta Berling (Mauritz Stiller 1924). The film was an adaptation of the famous novel by Selma Lagerlöf. The cinematography was by Julius Jaenzon and the art direction was by Vilhelm Bryde with Edgar Ulmer collaborating on the set design.


Small Swedish postcard by Axel Eliassons Konstförlag A.B., Stockholm. Illustration: Curt Nyström. Sent by mail in 1960. Curt Nyström was the son of Jenny Nyström who followed in her footsteps and became a popular postcard and poster artist, staying very close to his mother's artistic style.

Sources: Arne Sandström (The Postcard Album #39), Wikipedia (Swedish) and Jean Ritsema (Ross Postcards).

Lonny Kellner

Lonny Kellner (1930-2003) was a German Schlager singer and actress. She was married to comedian and radio and television personality Peter Frankenfeld.


Austrian postcard by Austriapost, Wien, no. 396. Photo: Arion Film-Verleih. Lonny Kellner is written on the postcard as Loni (sic) Kellner.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 678. Photo: Arthur Grimm / BBF-Nordfilm / Allianz. Lonny Kellner in Das ideale Brautpaar/The ideal bride and groom (Robert A. Stemmle, 1954).

Reaching the top ranks of the US charts

Lonny Kellner was born in 1930 in Remscheid, Germany. Lonny grew up in Remscheid, took acting lessons after her school education and began studying singing.

Her first roles followed at the Bonn Stadttheater and then at the Westfälisches Landestheater in classics such as 'Minna von Barnhelm' by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, 'Scampolo' by Dario Niccodemi and 'Die versunkene Glocke' (The Sunken Bell) by Gerhart Hauptmann.

In 1948, through the recommendation of colleagues, she performed a few Schlager songs at the NWDR radio station in Cologne. She made her debut with the songs 'Wenn ich dich seh', dann fange ich zu träumen an' and 'Gib mir einen Kuss durchs Telefon'. Cabaret shows, radio plays and orchestral recordings for many radio stations soon followed.

She sang her first big hits 'Im Hafen von Adano' and 'La-Le-Lu' as a duet with René Carol. In 1952 Kellner made her first film appearance as a pop singer with the song 'Manhattan-Boogie' in the West German musical drama Königin der Arena/Queen of the Arena (Rolf Meyer, 1952) starring Maria Litto. This was followed by the films Tanzende Sterne/Dancing Stars (Géza von Cziffra, 1952) starring Germaine Damar, Die Blume von Hawaii/The Flower of Hawaii (Géza von Cziffra, 1953), Geld aus der Luft/Money from the Air (Géza von Cziffra, 1954) starring Josef Meinrad.

She co-starred in Keine Angst vor Schwiegermüttern/Don't Worry About Your Mother-in-Law (Erich Engels, 1954) with Grethe Weiser as her mother, Das ideale Brautpaar/The Perfect Couple (Robert A. Stemmle, 1954), and Auf Wiedersehen am Bodensee/I'll See You at Lake Constance (Hans Albin, 1956). She achieved great success with such film songs as 'So ein Tag, so wunderschön wie heute' and 'Du, du, lass mein kleines Herz in Ruh'. She even managed to reach the top ranks of the US charts.


German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 1127. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Fono / Deutsche London. Lonny Kellner and Claus Biederstaedt in Keine Angst vor Schwiegermüttern/No fear of mothers-in-law (Erich Engels, 1954).


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 1300. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Fono / Deutsche London. Lonny Kellner and Claus Biederstaedt in Keine Angst vor Schwiegermüttern/No fear of mothers-in-law (Erich Engels, 1954).

Peter Frankenfeld

In 1956, Lonny Kellner turned down a career in the United States to marry entertainer Peter Frankenfeld, whom she had met on a joint tour. Max Schmeling and his wife Anny Ondra were witnesses at the wedding. The violinist Helmut Zacharias played 'Lullaby of Birdland'.

Frankenfeld adopted her son Thomas, born in 1951, from a previous relationship. After their marriage, Lonny Kellner-Frankenfeld and Peter Frankenfeld stood together more often in front of cameras and microphones and did shows and tours together.

The couple set up a recording studio in their house in Wedel, Holstein, where they produced sketches for radio and TV programmes such as the duets 'Bum-Budi-Bum' and 'Ich bin der Herr im Haus'. She completed an apprenticeship so that she could also work for Frankenfeld as a quasi-secretary.

After Frankenfeld's unexpected death in 1979, Kellner-Frankenfeld worked as an actress again. She appeared in 39 episodes of the family series Unsere Hagenbecks/Our Hagenbecks (1991-1994) and made guest appearances in the ZDF series Das Traumschiff/The Dream Ship (1983-1987). She also played leading roles in Ein unvergessliches Wochenende/An unforgettable weekend, an episode of the TV series Großstadtrevier/Big city district (2001) and in two episodes of Heimatgeschichten/Home stories (1998-2003).

Her last film role was in the romantic comedy Otto - Der Liebesfilm/Otto - The love film (Otto Waalkes, Bernd Eilert, 1992) starring Otto Waalkes. In memory of Frankenfeld, she endowed the Peter Frankenfeld Award for artistic versatility and humanitarian commitment in 2000. Lonny Kellner died of bone cancer in 2003 in Hamburg, Germany, at 72. Her first husband was Werner Labriga.


German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 793. Photo: Arthur Grimm / BBF-Nordfilm / Allianz. Lonny Kellner in Das ideale Brautpaar/The ideal bride and groom (Robert A. Stemmle, 1954).

Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.