Jean Valjean (Welles), sentenced for life to labor in a galley, is believed drowned. He has in reality escaped and returned to France to find eight-year-old Cosette, thus fulfilling a promise he made to Cosette's dying mother, Fantine. Valjean adopts the child, who has been mistreated by the innkeepers her mother left her with years ago, and brings her to Paris. Later they are forced to flee their home when the persistent police inspector, Javert, discovers their whereabouts.
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All eighteen surviving broadcasts from the Mercury Theatre on the Air, free to listen to and download.
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Welles's interpretation of Hugo's epic tale, which inspired CBS to commission the Mercury Theatre.
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"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."
Orson Welles
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