Two versions of ‘Les Miserables,’ and four Nelsons

VICTOR HUGO’S novel “Les Miserables” is best known these days as a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical.

But the tale of redemption and love set during early 19th century France has been adapted numerous times for celluloid. Fox is releasing a two-disc “Les Miserables” set that features the 1935 and 1952 productions.

Nominated for four Oscars, including best picture, the 1935 version stars Fredric March as Frenchman Jean Valjean, who had been sent to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving sister and her children. After escaping from prison, he is doggedly pursued by the maniacal and ruthless Inspector Javert (Charles Laughton). The film also stars Rochelle Hudson, Frances Drake and Florence Eldridge.

According to a review of the film from 1935, more than 200 men from the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles were paid $10 a day to play prisoners; and the costumes cost a then-staggering $1 million to make. But the two stars, who were Oscar winners, made only $100,000 apiece for the film.

Despite a good cast -- Michael Rennie as Valjean and Robert Newton as Javert -- the 1952 adaptation isn’t quite up to snuff. Lewis Milestone directed the period piece, which also stars Sylvia Sidney, Debra Paget and Elsa Lanchester (who was married to Laughton).

Before the casting of Rennie and Newton, Jeff Chandler and James Mason were considered for the leads. But Mason refused to play Javert. And at one point, producer Darryl F. Zanuck bandied about the idea of Orson Welles as the villain.

Ozzie and Harriet, Oscar and Felix

Couch Potato: It’s manna from heaven for sitcom fans this week as several classic comedies arrive Tuesday on DVD, including one of the longest-running family series in small-screen history: “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”

Shout Factory is releasing “The Best of the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” a four-disc set featuring more than 20 episodes from the ABC sitcom that aired from Oct. 3, 1952, to Sept. 3, 1966.

The series starred the real-life Nelson family -- Ozzie, Harriet, David and Ricky. Ozzie Nelson came to fame as a bandleader; Harriet was the vocalist.

“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” began as a radio show in 1944 with professional actors playing their sons. But in 1949, the real David and Ricky got to step in front of the microphone. And the quartet easily made the transition to television.

By the late 1950s, teenage Ricky became a heartthrob and popular recording artist who would perform his latest tunes at the ends of episodes. As the series continued, David and Ricky’s own wives played their reel-life wives.

“The Odd Couple,” which aired on ABC from Sept. 24, 1970 to March 7, 1975, was the antithesis of “Ozzie and Harriet.”

Based on Neil Simon’s hit play and movie, the series revolved around two divorced men living together while coping with being single and entering the dating pool after many years. Just as Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were perfectly cast in the 1968 film version, the series found the perfect “Odd Couple” in Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Randall played the fastidious, germaphobic photographer Felix Unger and Klugman was the uber-slob sportswriter Oscar Madison. Klugman won the Emmy twice; Randall picked up his Emmy in the final season.

The same year “The Odd Couple” left the airwaves, CBS introduced “One Day at a Time” as a midseason replacement.

Created by Whitney Blake -- who starred on “Hazel” and was the mother of Meredith Baxter -- and her husband, Allan Manings, the comedy starred Broadway musical comedy performer Bonnie Franklin as Ann Romano, a recently divorced woman living with her teenage daughters, Julie (Mackenzie Phillips) and Barbara (Valerie Bertinelli), in an apartment in her hometown of Indianapolis.

Pat Harrington Jr. played the building’s randy super, Dwayne Schneider, who was sort of a fortysomething Fonzie. In the first season, Richard Masur played Ann’s love interest, David Kane. By the time the series returned for its first full season in fall 1976, Kane had been written out of the series. The series continued through May 28, 1984. Harrington picked up an Emmy for his performance.

Another popular CBS comedy, “WKRP in Cincinnati,” was a clever ensemble sitcom created by Hugh Wilson that ran from Sept. 18, 1978, through April 21, 1982. It revolved around a small radio station that had been losing money for years because of its Muzak-type programming.

Gary Sandy played program director Andy Travis, determined to turn WKRP into a Top 40 hit station.

Travis was the straight man to the cast of crazies at WKRP, including the bumbling general manager, Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump); the pompous newsman, Les Nessman (Richard Sanders); the spaced-out disc jockey, Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman); and the jive-talking DJ Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid). And quite literally rounding out the cast was the sexy, efficient receptionist Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson).

susan.king@latimes.com