The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)

Plot

The story is set in Paris in 1482. Quasimodo is a deaf, half-blind, hunchbacked bell-ringer of the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. His master Jehan, the evil brother of Notre Dame's saintly archdeacon Don Claudio, prevails upon the hunchback to kidnap the fair Esmeralda, a dancing gypsy girl (and the adopted daughter of Clopin, the king of the oppressed beggars of Paris' underworld). The dashing Captain Phoebus rescues Esmeralda from Quasimodo, while Jehan abandons him and flees. At first seeking a casual romance, Phoebus becomes entranced by Esmeralda, and takes her under his wing. Quasimodo is sentenced to be lashed in the public square. After being whipped, he begs for water. Esmeralda pities him, and brings him some.

To their dismay, Jehan and Clopin both learn that Phoebus hopes to marry Esmeralda, despite being engaged to Fleur de Lys. Phoebus persuades Esmeralda to accompany him to a ball celebrating his appointment as Captain of the Guard by King Louis XI. He provides her with rich garments and introduces her to their hostess, Madame de Gondelaurier, as a Princess of Egypt. Clopin, accompanied by his beggars, crashes the festivities and demands Esmeralda be returned. To avoid bloodshed, Esmeralda says that she does not belong with the aristocracy. Later, however, Esmeralda sends the street poet Pierre Gringoire to give Phoebus a note, arranging a rendezvous at Notre Dame to say goodbye to him. Before Phoebus arrives, he is stabbed in the back by Jehan. After Esmeralda is falsely sentenced to death for the crime, she is rescued from the gallows by Quasimodo and carried inside the cathedral, where he and Don Claudio grants her sanctuary.

Later that night, Clopin leads the whole of the underworld to storm the cathedral, and Jehan attempts to take Esmeralda, first by guile (telling her that Phoebus's dying wish was for him to take care of her), then by force. Quasimodo holds off the invaders with rocks and torrents of molten lead. Meanwhile, the healed Phoebus is alerted by Gringoire and leads his men against the rabble. When Quasimodo finds Jehan attacking Esmeralda, he throws his master off the ramparts of Notre Dame, but not before being fatally stabbed in the back. Phoebus finds and embraces Esmeralda. Witnessing this, Quasimodo rings his own death toll, and Gringoire and Don Claudio enter the bell tower just in time to see him die. The last image is of the great bell swinging silently above the hunchback's corpse.

Cast

Production

Long before the film was produced or shot, Lon Chaney was the industry favorite to play the role of Quasimodo. Film Daily stated it was essentially common knowledge that Chaney wanted to play the role of Quasimodo and even claimed that Chaney considered organizing a company to make the film abroad. It is known that Chaney had acquired the rights to produce the film several years prior and had been actively engaged in negotiating the production with Universal. Evidence of Chaney's seriousness to do the production abroad with a German studio, the Chelsea Pictures Company. In April 1922, Chelsea Pictures announced that Lon Chaney would star in the role of Quasimodo and that Alan Crosland would direct the film. The film failed to materialize and the company seemed to have disappeared without making any releases.

Irving Thalberg, who had previously worked with Chaney and Tod Browning, desired to make a production that would rise artistically above the otherwise expensive productions Universal produced. In order to convince Universal's founder, Carl Laemmle, to formally approve the production, Thalberg pitched Hunchback to him as "a love story". Bolstered by Chaney's recent box office successes, Laemmle agreed.

Universal Weekly, the house publication of Universal, formally announced the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in August 1922. The next issue stated that the Universal Scenario Department was working on the continuity and that preliminary plans for the sets were being drafted. In September 1922, Universal Weekly announced Lon Chaney's intention for it to have him act in his final "cripple role", following the successes of both The Miracle Man and The Penalty. Chaney's ownership of the film rights allowed him contractual latitude for far more artistic approval and control of this production than he had had in previous ones; for this, he would thus serve as an uncredited, de facto producer; Thalberg was undoubtedly complicit in such an arrangement, with it serving to prevent Carl Laemmle from cutting costs on the "artistic" production.

It is not known for certain, but Lon Chaney is believed to have even been influential in the selection of the director; although Wallace Worsley, the final choice for director, had previously worked successfully with Chaney on four previous films (The Penalty, The Ace of Hearts, Voices of the City, and A Blind Bargain; the last of which also featured Chaney as a hunchback) at Goldwyn, Michael Blake, a Lon Chaney scholar, states that Chaney's first choice for director was Erich von Stroheim, at that time Universal's prized "name" director after the successes of Blind Husbands and Foolish Wives. However, Stroheim was fired by Thalberg from Universal before production on Hunchback commenced -- ironically, due to Thalberg's fears that Stroheim would incur cost overruns on his own separate production, Merry-Go-Round.

Universal Weekly thus announced Wallace Worsley, pending approval from his then-home studio Paramount, as the likely director of Hunchback in late November. Worsley's status as director, on loan from Paramount, was confirmed in the following issue, though such confirmation ran alongside an advertisement that stated Tod Browning would direct. Universal announced its intentions to recreate the Notre Dame cathedral and the surrounding streets to the exacting specifications of the period. Universal staff set about creating the "Gallery of Kings", thirty five statues, each ten feet high with intended likeness of the originals. The construction of the sets was estimated to take six months to complete. The screenplay was completed by Edward T. Lowe, Jr. and Perley Poore Sheehan by the end of 1922.

In the beginning of January, it was announced that film production began with the setting in the "Court of Miracles" setting. Shooting the Parisian underworld scene required a cast of some several hundred extras. The construction of the Notre Dame set and the street settings had not yet been completed. In the beginning of February filming had moved to the Madame de Gondelaurier scenes. The production reportedly required three thousand costumes for extras; requiring six weeks for Universal costume department to complete.

In March, Film Daily reported Worsley traded in his megaphone for a radio and loudspeaker to direct the large crowd of extras for the scenes. Radio Digest stated that it was a $7,000 radio and loudspeaker set up, equivalent to $98,000 in 2016.

Film Daily reported on June 8 that the filming of the camera shots had been completed and that Universal had signed a contract to lease the Astor Theater for showing the film on September 2.

At the beginning of the 1923, Universal's accounts believed that the cost of the production would be between $750,000 to $1,000,000.

Preservation

Original prints of the film were on cellulose nitrate film stock and were either worn out, decomposed, or were destroyed by the studio (mostly the latter). Original prints were on tinted film stock in various colors, including sunshine, amber, rose, lavender, and blue.

The only surviving prints of the film are 16mm "show-at-home" prints distributed by Universal in the 1920s and 1930s for home-movie purposes, and no original 35mm negatives or prints survive. Most video editions (including public domain releases) of the film are derived from 16mm duplicate prints that were distributed by Blackhawk Films in the 1960s and 1970s. A DVD release of a newly restored print of the film was released by Image Entertainment on October 9, 2007. A Blu-ray release of a newly restored print of the film was released by Flicker Alley on March 18, 2014.

A print of the film is held at Gosfilmofond Russian State Archive, however it is not clear what gauge the print is in, 16mm or 35mm.

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: