His work should have always been considered "standard studio classic" in reportoire, but it absolutely has not. The postwar French public was not even able to properly see LES MIS until beyond the late 70's, when the director, frail and nearly sightless, got his chance to replace all that excised footage before he died (I'd make that my mission too if I made that film and was near the grave).It's hard to think of an artist who better exemplifies the ebb and flow of film history better than R. Bernard. Once a director equally admired by critics, fellow artists, audiences, and studio heads, Bernard is now, even among film scholars, and French cinema junkies, nearly forgotten.
Standard studio classic means just that-- an unquestioned classic that gets hauled out each year in all markets because of its global fanbase and it's reliability in generating revenue on the circuit. That doesn't mean "made by a studio, prints do get struck, screenings do get held, even if only after a restoration or a new print struck,". (almost every title that's played in arthouse qualifies in that category.
As mentioned, standard studio classics would be, say, the films in the JANUS AT 50 box if on the eclectic route, or AMC/TCM golden oldies from WB/MGM.
