The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 Silent Drama film)

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. The film was Universal'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.

Plot

Quasimodo being offered water by Esmeralda.
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 is a man named Jehan, the evil brother of Notre Dame's saintly archdeacon Dom Claude. One night, Jehan prevails upon Quasimodo to kidnap the fair Esmeralda, a dancing Roma 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 (later in the film, Quasimodo hates Jehan for abandoning him and is no longer loyal to him). 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 before Esmeralda and Dom Claude come to his aid.

Directed by Wallace Worsley
Screenplay by Edward T. Lowe, Jr., Perley Poore Sheehan
Based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Produced by Carl Laemmle

Starring Lon Chaney
Patsy Ruth Miller
Norman Kerry
Brandon Hurst
Raymond Hatton
Ernest Torrence
Nigel de Brulier
Cinematography
Robert Newhard
Uncredited Effects Assistants:
Tony Kornman
Virgil Miller
Stephen S. Norton
Charles J. Stumar
Edited by
Edward Curtiss
Maurice Pivar
Sydney Singerman
Music by
Cecil Copping
Carl Edouarde
Hugo Riesenfeld
Heinz Eric Roemheld
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date : September 6, 1923
Running time: 102 minutes
117 min (Director's cut)
98 min (cut edition)

Country United States
Language Silent (English intertitles)
Budget $1,250,000 (estimated)
Box office $3.5 million (worldwide rentals)