The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) Review

Directed by: Wallace Worsley

Written by: Victor Hugo, Presley Poore Sheehan

Starring: Lon Chaney, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Norman Kerry

Black-and-white, silent, one hour 37 minutes

This one takes place in 1482. We start out seeing the hunchback crawling around on the outside of the Notre Dame cathedral. He’s very acrobatic, and immediately I wondered if they used a stunt man or is that actually Lon Chaney up there? He’s climbing around on the gargoyles and jumping up and down the columns and being surprisingly mobile for a hunchback.

Clopin owns Esmerelda, who is probably the gypsy queen’s lost daughter. Jehan loves Esmerelda, but she loves Phoebus. Jehan gets Quasimodo to grab Esmerelda, but he is caught in the act.

He is sentenced to 20 lashes in the town square. Esmerelda takes pity on him and bring him water. Quasimodo now hates Jehan and loves Esmerelda too.

Clopin storms the ball and confronts Phoebus about Esmerelda. Esmerelda decides to go with Clopin, to reduce trouble. Jehan offers gold to Clopin for Esmerelda’s hand, and Jehan stabs Phoebus, letting Esmerelda get the blame. She’s going to be hanged.

There’s a lot of build-up before the hanging. Quasimodo swings in, grabs her, and goes for “sanctuary…” Pending appeal, anyway.

Clopin is planning a rescue, but the peasants are revolting! By this time, Phoebus has recovered, but he was not told Esmerelda was still alive. When he finds out, he rushes to help. There’s a big battle with the peasant storming the church, Quasimodo raining down oil and stones, and lots of action. Esmerelda and Phoebus are reunited, Quasimodo throws Jehan off the roof, but Jehan stabs Quasimodo just before he’s killed. Quasimodo dies.

Commentary:

Why did they have molten lead on the church roof?

Lon Chaney’s makeup is really good. There’s even scene where they tear his shirt off, and everything looks real. Overall, this was a lot more entertaining than I was expecting for a pure silent movie.