The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film)
Encyclopedia
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939
American monochrome
film
starring Charles Laughton
as Quasimodo
and Maureen O'Hara
as Esmeralda
. It was directed by William Dieterle
and produced by Pandro S. Berman
. The film is considered by some reviewers to be the best of the many film versions of Victor Hugo
's classic novel.
The character of Frollo was heavily changed. Instead of being an archdeacon, he is a judge and a close advisor of King Louis XI, while in the novel they do not meet each other. Frollo's death was portrayed close to the original one, but a major difference is that in the novel he was watching Esmeralda's execution when Quasimodo killed him.
Phoebus, who is only wounded by Frollo in the novel, is killed by him in this film version; therefore, as in the novel, Esmeralda is wrongly accused for the crime, but her attraction for Phoebus is not explored by the film after the incident.
The personal history of Esmeralda is ignored by the film. In the novel, it is revealed that she was not born as a gypsy and her mother is a recluse in Paris. In the film, her mother is not portrayed and neither is her background.
At the end of the film, Esmeralda is pardoned and is freed from hanging and then leaves with Gringoire and a huge crowd out of the public square. In the novel, Gringoire left Esmeralda with Frollo capturing her and saves her goat instead, resulting in Esmeralda's death. The film also makes it clears that Esmeralda eventually comes to love Gringoire, whereas in the novel, she merely tolerates him.
, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation
.
said that the film "in all is more than entertaining." He said that "the mediocre effects offer a forceful contrast to the great moments" in the film.
1939 in film
The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
American monochrome
Monochrome
Monochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...
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...
starring Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
as 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...
and Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
as Esmeralda
Esmeralda
-Places:* Esmeralda County, Nevada, a county in western Nevada, USA* Esmeralda, Cuba, a city in Cuba* Esmeralda, Chile, a town in Chile* Esmeralda, Venezuela, a town in Venezuela* Esmeralda Municipality, Oruro Department, Bolivia-The Hunchback of Notre Dame:...
. It was directed by William Dieterle
William Dieterle
William Dieterle was a German actor and film director, who worked in Hollywood for much of his career. His best known films include The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Story of Louis Pasteur and The Hunchback of Notre Dame...
and produced by Pandro S. Berman
Pandro S. Berman
Pandro Samuel Berman , was an American film producer.-Biography:His father, Henry Berman, was general manager of Universal Pictures during Hollywood's formative years. The younger Berman, Pandro Samuel, was an assistant director during the 1920s under Mal St. Clair and Ralph Ince...
. The film is considered by some reviewers to be the best of the many film versions 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 classic novel.
Differences between the film and the novel
The plot differs considerably from that of the original novel. The main differences are that Esmeralda and Quasimodo remain alive at the end, unlike in the novel, in which Esmeralda is hanged and Quasimodo is presumed dead, but two years later a hunchback skeleton is found at her grave site.The character of Frollo was heavily changed. Instead of being an archdeacon, he is a judge and a close advisor of King Louis XI, while in the novel they do not meet each other. Frollo's death was portrayed close to the original one, but a major difference is that in the novel he was watching Esmeralda's execution when Quasimodo killed him.
Phoebus, who is only wounded by Frollo in the novel, is killed by him in this film version; therefore, as in the novel, Esmeralda is wrongly accused for the crime, but her attraction for Phoebus is not explored by the film after the incident.
The personal history of Esmeralda is ignored by the film. In the novel, it is revealed that she was not born as a gypsy and her mother is a recluse in Paris. In the film, her mother is not portrayed and neither is her background.
At the end of the film, Esmeralda is pardoned and is freed from hanging and then leaves with Gringoire and a huge crowd out of the public square. In the novel, Gringoire left Esmeralda with Frollo capturing her and saves her goat instead, resulting in Esmeralda's death. The film also makes it clears that Esmeralda eventually comes to love Gringoire, whereas in the novel, she merely tolerates him.
Legacy
The film later strongly influenced the 1996 version of The Hunchback of Notre DameThe Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released to theaters on June 21, 1996 by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is inspired by Victor Hugo's novel of...
, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation
Walt Disney Feature Animation
Walt Disney Animation Studios is an American animation studio headquartered in Burbank, California. The studio, founded in 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio by brothers Walt and Roy Disney, is the oldest subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
.
Cast
- Charles LaughtonCharles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
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... - Cedric HardwickeCedric HardwickeSir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was a noted English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly fifty years...
as FrolloFrolloFrollo, as a surname, may refer to the following:*Claude Frollo, the anti-hero of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame*Leone Frollo, Italian comic book and erotic artist... - Thomas MitchellThomas Mitchell (actor)Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
as ClopinClopinClopin 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:... - Maureen O'HaraMaureen O'HaraMaureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
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... - Edmond O'BrienEdmond O'BrienEdmond O'Brien was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. and his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa...
as Gringoire - Alan MarshalAlan Marshal (actor)----Alan Marshal was an Australian-born actor who co-starred with Marlene Dietrich, Irene Dunne, Greta Garbo, Ginger Rogers, and Mae West....
as 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... - Walter HampdenWalter HampdenWalter Hampden is the artist name of Walter Hampden Dougherty was a U.S. actor and theatre manager. He was the younger brother of the American painter Paul Dougherty ....
as Archdeacon - Harry Davenport as King Louis XI
- Katharine AlexanderKatharine AlexanderKatharine Alexander was an American actress. She appeared in 44 films between 1930 and 1951.She was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas and died in Tryon, North Carolina. She was one eighth Cherokee Indian...
as Madame de Lys - George ZuccoGeorge ZuccoGeorge Desylla Zucco was an English character actor who appeared, almost always in supporting roles, in 96 films during a career spanning two decades, from 1931 to 1951. He is fondly remembered for his roles in classic horror films.-Early life:Zucco was born in Manchester, England...
as Procurator - Fritz LeiberFritz Leiber, Sr.Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr. , was an was a American actor . Highly respected as a Shakespearean actor on stage, he also had a successful career in film...
as Old Nobleman - Etienne GirardotEtienne GirardotEtienne Girardot was a diminutive stage and film actor of Anglo-French parentage born in London, England....
as Doctor - Helene WhitneyHelene WhitneyHelene Whitney also known as Helene Reynolds was an American actress who appeared in films in the late 1930s and 1940s.-Biography:Whitney was born Kenyon Fortescue in 1914, but was known as Helene...
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... - Mina GombellMinna GombellMinna Gombell was an American film actress of the 1930s and 1940s.She had a very successful stage career from 1912 before being signed by Fox film company in the late twenties. Her first film was Doctor's Wives in which she played under the name of Nancy Gardner, a name given to her by Fox...
as Queen of Beggars - Arthur HohlArthur HohlArthur Hohl was a stage and motion-picture character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began appearing in films in the early 1920s...
as OlivierOlivier le DaimOlivier le Daim [or le Dain] , favourite of Louis XI of France, was born of humble parentage at Tielt in Flanders.Seeking his fortune at Paris, he became court barber and valet to Louis XI, and so ingratiated himself with the king that in 1474 he was ennobled under the title Le Daim and in 1477... - Curt Bois as Student
- George TobiasGeorge TobiasGeorge Tobias was an American character actor.-Early life and career:Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood...
as Beggar - Rod La RocqueRod La Rocque-Biography:He was born Roderick La Rocque in Chicago, Illinois. He began appearing in stock theater at the age of seven and eventually ended up at the Essanay Studios in Chicago where he found steady work until the studios closed. He then moved to New York City and worked on the stage until he was...
as Phillippe - Spencer ChartersSpencer ChartersSpencer Charters was an American film actor. He appeared in over 220 films between 1920 and 1943.He was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, and died in Hollywood, California by suicide, from a mix of sleeping pills and carbon monoxide poisoning.His first stage work soon after leaving school was a...
as Court Clerk - Kathryn AdamsKathryn Adams DotyKathryn Adams Doty is a retired American actress.She was born as Kathryn Elizabeth Hohn in New Ulm, Minnesota. In 1939, she competed in the national finals of the Jesse L. Lasky radio contest, "Gateway to Hollywood", then remained in California begin a film career under the name of Kathryn Adams....
as Fleur's Companion - Dianne Hunter as Fleur's Companion
- Sig ArnoSig ArnoSig Arno was a German-Jewish film actor who appeared in such films as Pardon My Sarong, and The Mummy's Tomb...
as Tailor
Award nominations
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards:- Academy Award for Best Original Music Score (Alfred NewmanAlfred NewmanAlfred Newman was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of music for films.In a career which spanned over forty years, Newman composed music for over two hundred films. He was one of the most respected film score composers of his time, and is today regarded as one of the greatest...
) - Academy Award for Best Sound (John Aalberg)
Reception
E. H. Harvey of The Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. It is the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates...
said that the film "in all is more than entertaining." He said that "the mediocre effects offer a forceful contrast to the great moments" in the film.