The Hunchback of Notre Dame
All team (55)
Short description
Set in fifteenth-century Paris, this silent drama centres on Quasimodo, the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, and his devotion to Esmeralda, a young Romani dancer. When the archdeacon's brother Jehan becomes obsessed with her and has Quasimodo attempt to abduct the woman for him, the plan fails and Quasimodo is captured and publicly flogged. Esmeralda is the only one who shows him kindness. She in turn loves the soldier Phoebus, who is already betrothed to Fleur de Lys, and Jehan's jealousy leads to a stabbing for which Esmeralda is blamed. Quasimodo hides her inside the cathedral's tower. The film draws on Victor Hugo's novel and was produced by Universal Pictures.
Wallace Worsley directed from a screenplay by Chester L. Roberts, with Irving Thalberg and Carl Laemmle producing. Lon Chaney leads as Quasimodo, appearing opposite Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda, Norman Kerry as Phoebus de Chateaupers, Winifred Bryson as Fleur de Lys, Kate Lester as Madame de Condelaurier and Nigel De Brulier as Don Claudio. The production credits 78 cast members and 56 crew.
Released in September 1923, the film runs 113 minutes and cost a substantial reported budget. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.2 from around 6,800 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.5 from 143 votes. A critics' rating of 8.1 from 27 reviews places it considerably higher with reviewers than with the general audiences recorded on those platforms.
What's left behind the scenes
- Preparation for filming took about a year. During this time, a detailed model of Notre-Dame Cathedral was created, approximately 75 meters in height and 50 meters in width.
- Filming took place from December 16, 1922, to June 5, 1923.
- Approximately four thousand extras were involved in the film, for whom appropriate costumes were specially sewn.
- Lon Chaney, who played Quasimodo, initially requested a fee of $1500 per week, which was a considerable sum at the time. Chaney subsequently raised his earnings twice more, reaching $2500 per week. As a result, Universal Pictures wanted to find a cheaper actor for the lead role, but after fruitless searches, they were unable to do so and agreed to the actor’s terms.
- To achieve the image of Quasimodo, Chaney had to spend about an hour and a half in makeup, wear a rubber cushion as a hump weighing 36 kilograms, and put on a flesh-colored rubber suit and corset. To create the appropriate teeth, Chaney wore a special device in his mouth.
- During the scene of Quasimodo's torture, this action was real, although the actor playing the soldier who was flogging Quasimodo tried to hit Chaney over the shoulder.
- A film adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame."
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