The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

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Movie
German title The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Original title The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1923
length 133 minutes
Rod
Director Wallace Worsley
script Edward T. Lowe, Jr.
Perley Poore Sheehan
production Carl Laemmle
Irving Thalberg
music Cecil Copping
Carl Edouarde
Hugo Riesenfeld
camera Robert Newhard
cut Sydney Singerman
Maurice Pivar
Edward Curtiss
occupation
Chaney and Miller in one scene in the film

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the title of a literary film adaptation based on the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo .

action

Quasimodo, who was born with severe malformations, lives as a bell ringer, outcast and hermit in a bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris . At the festival of fools he sees Esmeralda, a beauty who grew up with gypsies, and is fascinated by her. But Clopin, who is the king of beggars and who freed Esmeralda from the gypsies, as well as Dom Claude, the archdean of the cathedral, and his younger brother, the priest Jehan, take a liking to Esmeralda. When Jehan and Quasimodo try to kidnap Esmeralda, they are caught by the royal guard; Jehan escapes, and Quasimodo is captured. Esmeralda falls in love with Phoebus, who is the head of the royal guard and who is engaged to Fleur de Lys.

The next day Quasimodo is publicly whipped and chained by the king. Esmeralda gives him a jug of water to drink; Claude frees him from his chains. Phoebus and Jehan now vie for Esmeralda's favor. When Phoebus seems to make the running, he is stabbed by Jehan. However, Esmeralda is taken for the perpetrator and sentenced to death. Believed to be dead, but in truth seriously injured, Phoebus is now trying, like Clopin and Quasimodo, to free Esmeralda. Quasimodo and Claude hide Esmeralda in the bell tower. The population mobilized by Clopin storms the cathedral; Quasimodo and Phoebus resist. When Jehan presses Esmeralda, Quasimodo throws him down from the church tower. Phoebus and Esmeralda are reunited; Quasimodo dies.

backgrounds

Lon Chaney acquired the rights to the novel in 1921 and began looking for a producer and funder. He met the interest of Irving Thalberg , who wanted to draw a line under what he believed to be the shallow productions of his studio Universal with a major project. For example, backdrops were built for the film on a scale never seen before; however, they were destroyed in a fire in 1967.

The film also called for Lon Chaney's talent as a make-up artist, as he wanted Quasimodo to look like the literary model. The artificial wart on his right eye cost Lon Chaney some of his eyesight. The artificial hump was made of plaster of paris and, according to Universal's advertising, weighed 72 pounds , but in reality a little more than 10 kilograms .

In addition to the production effort for the film, the extent to which the press fueled expectations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was also new . Reports about the intensive filming and the main actor Lon Chaney became important advertising factors for the film.

It premiered on August 30, 1923 at Carnegie Hall in New York .

Other film versions

Before The Hunchback of Notre Dame , other films had tried on the subject. Before 1923 he wrote Esmeralda (1905), The Darling of Paris (1917) , which is considered lost, and Esmeralda (1922). The material was later filmed in 1939 by William Dieterle as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (with Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara in the leading roles) and in 1956 under the same title by Jean Delannoy (with Anthony Quinn and Gina Lollobrigida in the leading roles).

Awards

2001 won Kevin Saunders Hayes at the Avignon / New York Film Festival the Honorary Roger Award for his newly composed music for the film

Reviews

“The first monumental film adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel, which previously saw the light of day in a few short versions. The version, which was fast-paced for the time, was formative for the genre of monumental films for a long time and paved the careers of actor Lon Chaney and producer Irving Thalberg. "

- Lexicon of international film

literature

  • Victor Hugo : The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Roman (original title: Notre-Dame de Paris ). With an afterward from Klaus-Peter Walter. Complete edition, 2nd edition. Based on the transfer by Friedrich Bremer on the original, checked and reworked by Michaela Messner. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag (dtv), Munich 2005, 617 pages, ISBN 3-423-13376-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used