The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

In 15th century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Sonya Levien (screen play), Bruno Frank (adaptation)

Stars:

Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Cedric Hardwicke

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Laughton	...	The Hunchback Quasimodo
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Frollo (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Thomas Mitchell	...	Clopin
Maureen O'Hara	...	Esmeralda
Edmond O'Brien	...	Gringoire
Alan Marshal	...	Phoebus
Walter Hampden	...	Archdeacon
Harry Davenport	...	King Louis XI
Katharine Alexander	...	Madame de Lys
George Zucco	...	Procurator
Fritz Leiber	...	Old Nobleman
Etienne Girardot	...	Doctor
Helene Reynolds	...	Fleur de Lys (as Helene Whitney)
Minna Gombell	...	Queen of Beggars (as Mina Gombell)
Arthur Hohl	...	Olivier

Storyline

King Louis XI is a wise and old king and Frollo is the Chief Justice. Frollo gazes on the gypsy girl, Esmeralda, in the church during Fool's Day and sends Quasimodo to catch her. Quasimodo, with the girl, is captured by Phoebus, Captain of the Guards, who frees the girl. The courts sentence Quasimodo to be flogged, and the only one who will give him water while he is tied in the square is Esmeralda. Later, at a party of nobles, Esmeralda again meets both Frollo, who is bewitched by her, and Phoebus. When Phoebus is stabbed to death, Esmeralda is accused of the murder, convicted by the court and sentenced to hang. Clopin, King of the Beggars; Gringoire, Esmeralda's husband; and Quasimodo, the bellringer, all try different ways to save her from the gallows.

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Plot Keywords:

king | chief justice | bellringer | murder | gypsy | 

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Taglines:

Drama Unparalleled ! Spectacle Beyond Belief ! !

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 December 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Victor Hugo's Immortal Classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$646,600, 31 January 1940

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min (Turner library print) (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the first day of shooting, director William Dieterle assembled a crowd of extras in front of the cathedral set and called for Charles Laughton. The actor, in full costume and makeup, protested that he wasn't ready to play the scene yet and couldn't shoot that day. Dieterle said, "Please, Charles, the next time you are not ready, let me know it previously so I can plan accordingly."

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Goofs

In this story set in 15th century France, a character wears glasses kept in place with strings that loop around the ears. That type of eyeglasses was invented in Spain during the reign of Philip II in the 16th century.

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Quotes

Clopin: [to Gringoire immediately following flogging of Quasimodo] Never trust a man with pinched nostrils and thin lips.

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Connections

Featured in Savage Predators: 20 Movie Collection (2016)

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Soundtracks

Ave Maria
(1572) (uncredited)
Music by Tomás Luis de Victoria
Sung by mixed chorus during opening credits

User Reviews

The peak of art in Hollywood cinema

A sweeping claim? Perhaps. But despite the presence in Hollywood over sixty subsequent years of Ford, Wyler, Kubrick, Coppola, Scorsese et al, The Hunchback of Notre Dame remains as fresh, as emotionally resonant and yes as powerfully artistic as the day it was made. What constitutes 'art' is of course a personal matter, just as the Breughel-like compositions of Hunchback might be as mystifying to someone whose favourite film is A Clockwork Orange (Lichtenstein?). But what makes Hunchback so satisfying as art is precisely that its makers didn't set out with art in mind. Dieterle and his co-creators embarked on the project with the aim of telling a great yarn, making it look authentic, and above all ENTERTAINING the audience. It is to this end that the Grand Guignol excesses of the novel were trimmed or altered, and the Hollywood bittersweet ending imposed. Audiences filed out with their Kleenex in hand having witnessed a three-ring circus of a movie, then went home to read the war-soaked newspapers.

Virtually every frame of this movie could be taken in isolation, made into a poster and hung on a wall. Examples include Gringoire cradling the dying Clopin as a rivulet of lead trickles past in the background, the voyeuristic eye of Quasimodo peering through fence palings at the dancing Esmeralda - I could go on and on. And pervading it all is the magnificent score of Alfred Newman, surely his finest ever.

Rather than sing its obvious praises, the film can simply speak for itself. As narrative, as character, as cinema craft, it is totally successful throughout. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is my favourite film of all time, bar none. Ten out of ten