The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

Directed by

Wallace Worsley

Genre

drama film, silent film, horror film, romance film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 13m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 137 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In 15th century Paris, a deformed bell ringer named Quasimodo is hidden away in Notre Dame cathedral. He becomes entangled in a story of love and cruelty that involves a beautiful gypsy woman and the powerful men who want to control her.

melodramaticatmosphericstylizedtensebroodingtragicgothicvisually striking

What happens

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American drama film starring Lon Chaney, directed by Wallace Worsley, and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. The supporting cast includes Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier and Brandon Hurst. Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film was the studio's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film, grossing $3.5 million. The film premiered on September 2, 1923, at the Astor Theatre in New York, New York then went into release on September 6. The screenplay was written by Perley Poore Sheehan and Edward T. Lowe Jr., based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel and is notable for the grand sets that recall 15th century Paris as well as for Chaney's performance and make-up as the tortured hunchback bellringer Quasimodo. This was the seventh film adaptation of the novel. The film elevated Chaney, who was already a well-known character actor, to full star status in Hollywood and also helped set a standard for many later horror films, including Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera in 1925. Two classic stills showing Chaney as Quasimodo can be seen on the internet, highlighting the makeup job, as well as the film's program book. In 1951, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants neglected to renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication. Currently, the film is available on Blu-ray and DVD, although the existing prints (all copied from 16mm sources) are all missing at least 15 minutes of footage that was in the original 1923 35mm release print. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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