The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923/I)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Wallace Worsley

Writers:

Victor Hugo (novel)
Perley Poore Sheehan (adaptation)

Release Date:

6 September 1923 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

Clopin bought Esmeralda from the gypsies when she was young. Dancing in the square at the festival, Esmeralda is spotted by Jehan...

Plot Keywords:

Gypsy | Rescue | Public Domain | Frame Up | Melodrama

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lon Chaney	...	Quasimodo
Patsy Ruth Miller	...	Esmeralda
Norman Kerry	...	Phoebus de Chateaupers
Kate Lester	...	Madame de Condelaurier
Winifred Bryson	...	Fleur de Lys
Nigel De Brulier	...	Don Claudio (as Nigel de Brulier)
Brandon Hurst	...	Jehan
Ernest Torrence	...	Clopin
Tully Marshall	...	El Rey Luis XI
Harry von Meter	...	Mons. Neufchatel (as Harry Van Meter)
Raymond Hatton	...	Gringoire
Nick De Ruiz	...	Mons. le Torteru (as Nick de Ruiz)
Eulalie Jensen	...	Marie
Roy Laidlaw	...	Charmolu
Ray Myers	...	Charmolu's assistant (as W. Ray Meyers)

Also Known As:

Der Bucklige von Notre Dame (Austria) [de]
Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (Germany) [de]
Dzwonnik z Notre Dame (Poland) [pl]
El jorobado de Notre Dame (Spain) [es]
El jorobado de nuestra señora de París (Spain) [es]
I Panagia ton Parision (Greece) (TV title) [el]
Il gobbo di Notre Dame (Italy) [it]
Nossa Senhora de Paris (Portugal) [pt]
Notre Damen kellonsoittaja (Finland) [fi]
Notre-Dame de Paris (France) [fr]
O Corcunda de Notre Dame (Brazil) [pt]
Ringaren i Notre Dame (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

Canada:95 min (Ontario) | USA:98 min (TCM Print) | USA:117 min (2006 alternate version) | 133 min (24 fps)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White | Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Canada:G (Ontario) | Spain:T | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

European Village set, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Over 750 technicians worked on this film, including 105 electricians. Carpenters and masons constructed the cathedral set, which remained standing until destroyed by fire in 1967.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Esmeralda have given Quasimodo water (he's still chained down), the nose putty on Quasimodo's left cheek is coming loose -- there's a noticeable gap between Lon Chaney's face and the nose putty used to make the fake cheek.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Muppet Babies: The House That Muppets Built (#4.16)" (1988)

evocative Hugo adaptation

This superior silent movie (even when viewed in a substandard print as the one I saw) blossoms as one of the finest literary adaptations to appear on the screen.

Quasimodo, the repulsive deaf hunchback who rings the bells for Notre Dame Cathedral, is played by the multi-faceted Lon Chaney, and he puts the different aspects of the character across very well - fear, hatred, betrayal, longing, kindness. This is a misunderstood 'freak' who has much of the human spirit intact within him despite the betrayals of those who should protect him.

Patsy Ruth Miller is an effective Esmeralda, pretty and compelling whether in her gypsy dance or at the finale where she watches the battle between the turrets of the Cathedral and the square below as her people try to battle their way into Sanctuary.

Also of note are Nigel de Brulier as Claudio, Ernest Torrence as gypsy king and Esmeralda's foster father Clopin, Tully Marshall as a bored Louis XI, Norman Kerry as a posturing Phoebus, Brandon Hurst as a cunning Jehan, and Raymond Hatton as a twittery Gringoire.

There are nice touches in the staging, too - as Esmeralda and Phoebus lunch at an inn, a spider sucks a fly into her web; while the gypsy band at the steps of Notre Dame get showered with a rain of molten lead as Esmeralda hides in safety in the cathedral tower.

The version I saw used music and sound effects to accompany the pictures and titles, which was done very well. The film may seem a little long, and could spend more time on Chaney and less on Miss Miller, but it is a good piece of work.