The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)
Encyclopedia
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923
American film
directed by Wallace Worsley
and produced by Carl Laemmle
and Irving Thalberg
. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr.
, Patsy Ruth Miller
, Norman Kerry
, Nigel de Brulier
, Brandon Hurst
. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo
's novel
, following the critically acclaimed, much reissued 1939 masterpiece by RKO. 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 film
s, including Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera
in 1925. Today, the film is in the public domain
.
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 takes her under his wing. Quasimodo is sentenced to be lashed in the public square. As he suffers under the sting of the whip, Esmeralda pities him, and brings him water. Quasimodo later hates Jehan for betraying him. Jehan and Clopin both learn that Phoebus plans to wed Esmeralda. Clopin leads the beggars into the house of Phoebus' fiance, where Phoebus has brought Esmeralda and disguised her as royalty. Clopin demands Esmeralda be returned, and Phoebus only does so after Esmeralda says that she does not belong with the aristocracy. However, Esmeralda sends him a note, to say goodbye to him a last time. During their meeting in Notre Dame, Jehan stabs and wounds Phoebus and lays the blame on Esmeralda. She is sentenced to death, but is rescued from the gallows by Quasimodo and takes refuge in the cathedral, where Archdeacon Claude invokes the sacred right of sanctuary, protecting her from arrest. Clopin leads the whole of the underworld to storm the cathedral that night, while crafty Jehan attempts to loot the treasure vaults. Quasimodo routs the invaders with rocks and torrents of molten lead, and kills Jehan by throwing him off the ramparts of Notre Dame. Just before he does, however, Jehan fatally stabs Quasimodo in the back with his knife. Phoebus comes to the rescue and encounters Esmeralda. As she and Phoebus clasp each other to their hearts, Quasimodo rings his own death toll. Esmeralda and Phoebus leave without even noticing that Quasimodo is mortally wounded, but Claude enters just in time to see him die. After ringing the bell, Quasimodo dies. The last image of the film is the great bell, swinging silently, holding the corpse of Quasimodo.
stock in various colors, including sunshine, amber, rose, lavender and blue.
The only surviving prints of the film are 16 mm "show-at-home" prints distributed by Universal in the 1920s and 1930s for home-movie purposes, and no original 35mm negatives or prints survive. Most video editions (including public domain releases) of the film are derived from 16 mm duplicate prints that were distributed by Blackhawk Films in the 1960s and 1970s. A DVD release of a newly restored print of the film was released by Image Entertainment on October 9, 2007.
1923 in film
-Events:*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1923:U.S.A...
American film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Wallace Worsley
Wallace Worsley
Wallace A. Worsley Sr. was an American stage actor who became a director in the silent film era. Worsley directed 29 films during the years 1918-1928 and acted in 7 films. He directed several films starring Lon Chaney Sr...
and produced by Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle , born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios - Universal...
and Irving Thalberg
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his extraordinary ability to select the right scripts, choose the right actors, gather the best production staff and make very profitable films.-Life and...
. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
, Patsy Ruth Miller
Patsy Ruth Miller
Patsy Ruth Miller was an American film actress.After being discovered by the actress Alla Nazimova at a Hollywood party, Patsy Ruth Miller got her first break with a small role in Camille, which starred Rudolph Valentino...
, Norman Kerry
Norman Kerry
Norman Kerry was an American actor whose career spanned over twenty-five years in the motion picture industry beginning in the silent era at the end of World War I.-Biography:...
, Nigel de Brulier
Nigel De Brulier
Nigel De Brulier was an English film actor, who launched his career in the theatre stage in his native country and transferred to movies after moving to USA. His first film role was a poet in The Pursuit of the Phantom in 1914...
, Brandon Hurst
Brandon Hurst
Brandon Hurst was an English stage and film actor. He studied linguistics in his youth and began playing in theatre in 1880s. He was nearly fifty years old when he acted in his first film Via Wireless as Edward Pnickney in year 1915 and continued acting in the 129 other films until his death 1947...
. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's novel
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.-Background:...
, following the critically acclaimed, much reissued 1939 masterpiece by RKO. The film was Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
, 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
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
. 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 film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s, including Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force...
in 1925. Today, the film is in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.
Synopsis
The story is set in Paris ten years before Columbus discovered America.Quasimodo
Quasimodo
Quasimodo is a fictional character in the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death. The role of Quasimodo has been played by...
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
Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Esmeralda, or La Esmeralda , born Agnes, is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame . She is a French Gypsy girl...
, the adopted daughter of Clopin
Clopin
Clopin Trouillefou is a fictional character first created in the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by French author Victor Hugo, and subsequently adapted.-In the novel:...
, who is the king of the oppressed beggars of Paris' underworld. The dashing Captain Phoebus
Captain Phoebus
Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He is the Captain of the King's Archers. His name comes from Phoebus, the Greek god of the sun , with whom he shares handsome looks and skill at...
rescues her from Quasimodo, while Jehan escapes and leaves him. Phoebus is entranced by Esmeralda, and takes her under his wing. Quasimodo is sentenced to be lashed in the public square. As he suffers under the sting of the whip, Esmeralda pities him, and brings him water. Quasimodo later hates Jehan for betraying him. Jehan and Clopin both learn that Phoebus plans to wed Esmeralda. Clopin leads the beggars into the house of Phoebus' fiance, where Phoebus has brought Esmeralda and disguised her as royalty. Clopin demands Esmeralda be returned, and Phoebus only does so after Esmeralda says that she does not belong with the aristocracy. However, Esmeralda sends him a note, to say goodbye to him a last time. During their meeting in Notre Dame, Jehan stabs and wounds Phoebus and lays the blame on Esmeralda. She is sentenced to death, but is rescued from the gallows by Quasimodo and takes refuge in the cathedral, where Archdeacon Claude invokes the sacred right of sanctuary, protecting her from arrest. Clopin leads the whole of the underworld to storm the cathedral that night, while crafty Jehan attempts to loot the treasure vaults. Quasimodo routs the invaders with rocks and torrents of molten lead, and kills Jehan by throwing him off the ramparts of Notre Dame. Just before he does, however, Jehan fatally stabs Quasimodo in the back with his knife. Phoebus comes to the rescue and encounters Esmeralda. As she and Phoebus clasp each other to their hearts, Quasimodo rings his own death toll. Esmeralda and Phoebus leave without even noticing that Quasimodo is mortally wounded, but Claude enters just in time to see him die. After ringing the bell, Quasimodo dies. The last image of the film is the great bell, swinging silently, holding the corpse of Quasimodo.
Cast
- Lon ChaneyLon Chaney, Sr.Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
as QuasimodoQuasimodoQuasimodo is a fictional character in the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death. The role of Quasimodo has been played by... - Patsy Ruth MillerPatsy Ruth MillerPatsy Ruth Miller was an American film actress.After being discovered by the actress Alla Nazimova at a Hollywood party, Patsy Ruth Miller got her first break with a small role in Camille, which starred Rudolph Valentino...
as EsmeraldaEsmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)Esmeralda, or La Esmeralda , born Agnes, is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame . She is a French Gypsy girl... - Norman KerryNorman KerryNorman Kerry was an American actor whose career spanned over twenty-five years in the motion picture industry beginning in the silent era at the end of World War I.-Biography:...
as Captain PhoebusCaptain PhoebusCaptain Phoebus de Chateaupers is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He is the Captain of the King's Archers. His name comes from Phoebus, the Greek god of the sun , with whom he shares handsome looks and skill at... - Kate LesterKate LesterKate Lester born Sarah Cody was an English theatrical and silent film actress born in Shouldham Thorpe, Norfolk, England. Her family, the Suydams of New York, were staying in England at the time of her birth....
as Madame de Gondelaurier - Winifred BrysonWinifred Bryson-Biography:She was married twice, first to actor Warner Baxter from 1918 until his death in 1951 and then to Ferdinand H. Manger. Bryson began to perform publicly in 1914, initially in the musical comedy stage, and in the drama Regeneration with Bert Lytell...
as Fleur de LysFleur de LysFleur de Lys is a superheroine from Quebec and an ally of Northguard, created in 1984 by Mark Shainblum and Gabriel Morrissette. The name of the character is inspired by the heraldic symbol of the fleur de lys. It is the official emblem of Quebec and a prominent part of the Flag of Quebec...
de Gondelaurier - Nigel De BrulierNigel De BrulierNigel De Brulier was an English film actor, who launched his career in the theatre stage in his native country and transferred to movies after moving to USA. His first film role was a poet in The Pursuit of the Phantom in 1914...
as Claude Frollo - Brandon HurstBrandon HurstBrandon Hurst was an English stage and film actor. He studied linguistics in his youth and began playing in theatre in 1880s. He was nearly fifty years old when he acted in his first film Via Wireless as Edward Pnickney in year 1915 and continued acting in the 129 other films until his death 1947...
as Jehan Frollo - Ernest TorrenceErnest TorrenceErnest Torrence was a Scottish born film character actor who appeared in many Hollywood films, including Broken Chains with Colleen Moore,Mantrap with Clara Bow, and Fighting Caravans with Gary Cooper and Lili Damita...
as Clopin Trouillefou - Tully MarshallTully MarshallWilliam Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
as King Louis XI - Harry von MeterHarry von MeterHarry von Meter was an American silent film actor. He was signed by the Thanhouser Company based in New York City in 1912, moving to American Film Studios a year or two later, and starred in about 200 films until 1929. He is perhaps most famous for starring in The Hunchback of Notre Dame as Mons...
as Mons. Neufchatel - Raymond HattonRaymond HattonRaymond William Hatton was an American movie actor who appeared in almost five hundred movies, including a stint of being paired in 1920s comedies with Wallace Beery....
as Pierre Gringoire - Nick De RuizNick De RuizNick De Ruiz , was an American actor. He appeared in 36 films between 1920 and 1938.He was born in Santa Barbara, California, USA and died in Los Angeles, California.-External links:...
as Mons. le Torteru - Eulalie JensenEulalie JensenEulalie Jensen was an actress on the New York stage and in silent films.Born in Chicago, she was selected as one of six extra girls from the 200 applicants responding to a New York newspaper ad inserted by Sarah Bernhardt. The famed actress was making a visit to New York City...
as Marie - Roy LaidlawRoy LaidlawRoy James Laidlaw is a Scottish rugby union footballer. Laidlaw was capped 47 times, as a scrum half, for Scotland between 1980–1988, and British Lions in New Zealand in 1983....
as Jacques Charmolue - Ray MyersRay MyersRay Myers was an American film actor and director of the silent era. He appeared in 43 films between 1912 and 1924. He also directed five films between 1910 and 1915, including The Siege and Fall of the Alamo , now considered a lost film...
as Charmolue's assistant - William ParkeWilliam ParkeGeneral Sir William Parke was born on 17 May 1822 in London in England. He was the son of Charles Parke, a land owner, formerly H.B.M Commissioner to the kingdom of Mexico and Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset and Letitia Alcock, the sister of Thomas Alcock ....
as Josephus - Gladys BrockwellGladys BrockwellGladys Brockwell was an American actress whose career began during the silent film era.-Early life:Born Gladys Lindeman in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of a chorus girl who put her on stage at a very early age. By the time she reached her middle teens, she was already a veteran and...
as Gudule - John CossarJohn CossarJohn Hay Cossar was an English actor of the silent era. He appeared in 146 films between 1914 and 1929.He was born in London, England and died in Hollywood, California. He was the fifth child of Walter Cossar and his wife Kate Lyster. Walter was in the Royal Marines between 1835 and 1863...
as Judge of the Court - Edwin WallockEdwin WallockEdwin Wallock was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 60 films between 1912 and 1923.He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
as King's Chamberlain
Preservation
Original prints of the film were on cellulose nitrate film stock and were either worn out, decomposed or were destroyed by the studio (mostly the latter). Original prints were on tinted filmFilm tinting
Film tinting is the process of adding color to black-and-white film, usually by means of soaking the film in dye and staining the film emulsion...
stock in various colors, including sunshine, amber, rose, lavender and blue.
The only surviving prints of the film are 16 mm "show-at-home" prints distributed by Universal in the 1920s and 1930s for home-movie purposes, and no original 35mm negatives or prints survive. Most video editions (including public domain releases) of the film are derived from 16 mm duplicate prints that were distributed by Blackhawk Films in the 1960s and 1970s. A DVD release of a newly restored print of the film was released by Image Entertainment on October 9, 2007.