| DVD: www.amazon.com thefilmarchive.org The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo and Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda, and is directed by Wallace Worsley. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel, following the critically acclaimed, much reissued 1939 masterpiece by RKO. The tale was almost unrecognizable in the freely adapted 1996 Disney cartoon version. The film was Universal's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film, grossing over $3 million. The film is most notable for the grand sets that recall 15th century Paris as well as Lon Chaney's performance and spectacular make-up as the tortured bell-ringer of Notre Dame. The film elevated Chaney, already a well-known character actor, to full star status in Hollywood. It also helped set a standard for many later horror films, including Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera in 1925. Today, the film is in the public domain. The story is set in Paris ten years before Columbus discovered America. Quasimodo is a deformed (deaf and half-blind) bell-ringer of the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Jehan Frollo, the evil brother of the saintly archdeacon Claude Frollo, prevails upon him to kidnap the fair Esmeralda, the adopted daughter of Clopin, who is the king of the oppressed beggars of Paris' underworld. The dashing Captain Phoebus rescues her from Quasimodo, while Jehan escapes and leaves him. Phoebus is entranced by Esmeralda, and ... |
