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The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923),
Director: Wallace Worsley, rated
Passed
Victor Hugo's Immortal
Classic
  Starring:
Lon Chaney, Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Kate Lester,
Winifred Bryson, Nigel De Brulier, Brandon Hurst, Ernest
Torrence, Tully Marshall, Harry von Meter, Raymond Hatton
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
- good
"Why was I not made of
stone, like thee?"
- Quasimodo, to a
gargoyle
Why watch this? Two
reasons: it is a timeless story, and Lon Chaney as Quasimodo.
Plot Summary:
In 15th-century Paris, the kind-hearted gypsy dancer
Esmeralda is sought after by the evil Jehan, brother of the
archdeacon, and the dashing soldier Captain Phoebus. After being
framed for a crime by Jehan, Esmeralda is sentenced to death,
only to be rescued and given sanctuary within Notre Dame
Cathedral by the deformed bell-ringer, Quasimodo, who harbors a
deep devotion to her. This act sets off a conflict as a mob from
the city's underworld storms the cathedral to either free or
kill Esmeralda, forcing Quasimodo to defend her and the church.
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Dad's Preview:
As a nine-year-old, and years before seeing this film, I
constructed the hunchback model (by
Aurora) for my "Monsters" collection. It even glowed in the
dark. The tortured,
deformed Quasimodo, has always garnered my sympathy. It was
make-up like this that had Hollywood calling Lon Chaney the "Man
of a Thousand Faces" - it truly is a grotesque physical
transformation, eons before CGI. This film version, of Victor
Hugo's novel, is epic as it recreates old Paris and the mobs of
people, always hungry for vile entertainment. Patsy Miller
captivates, as the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda, always the passion
of men, yet with a soft spot for Quasimodo. This is Universal
horror 101, and a must see for fans of the genre. |
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Carl Laemmle, Lon
Chaney, Irving Thalberg;
Universal Pictures |
