The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) | 31 Days of Horror: Oct 22

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His face rings a bell.

Welcome to a week of horror films celebrating anniversaries, starting with the 100th Anniversary of the Lon Chaney classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is the definitive version of the film which is why it also receives the “H-Origin” banner.

Before Viewing

It’s difficult to discern anything from the trailer for this film, other than there’s a deformed man and a woman that appears to pity him. Title cards prominently feature Lon Chaney’s name in conjunction with the title character. There are also several other male characters that appear to be the villains, or at least smarmy characters that audiences are not supposed to like. It’s been 100 years since The Hunchback of Notre Dame came out, so let’s not wait any longer.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

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After Viewing

The year is 1482 in Paris, France. A half-blind and deaf hunchback named Quasimodo (Lon Chaney) is crowned the King of Fools in a giant festival outside of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Phoebus de Chateaupers (Norman Kerry) meets with King Louis XI (Tully Marshall) and gets promoted to Captain of the Guard. Even though he is betrothed to another, Phoebus is enchanted with Esmerelda (Patsy Ruth Miller), a gypsy dancing girl, as are others.

Jehan (Brandon Hurst), the evil brother of the Church’s arch deacon and master of Quasimodo instructs his hunchback to kidnap Esmerelda. Phoebus saves her and Quasimodo is arrested and given the King’s justice. Strapped to a stone in the square, he is given 20 lashes. After the flogging, the hunchback cries for water, and Esmerelda who was passing by takes pity upon him. In the Court of Miracles, where Clopin (Ernest Torrence), the King of the Beggars and Esmerelda’s adoptive father rules, Esmerelda also saves Gringoire (Raymond Hatton), a poet, from being hanged.

Phoebus takes Esmerelda to a ball where he dresses her in a fine gown and introduces her as the “Princess of Egypt.” She feels out of place and says she belongs with her own people. Clopin, thinking her captured, forms a mob to rescue her, nearly coming to blows with Phoebus. Esmerelda leaves with Clopin, saying she doesn’t love Phoebus, but secretly sends him a note later for the two to meet for a “last farewell.”

Jehan, still eager to have her hand in marriage, offers Clopin half his fortune to marry his daughter. Esmerelda meets Phoebus at Notre Dame to tell him she can’t marry him. Jehan sneaks up and stabs the Captain in the back before leaving hastily. Onlookers believe Esmerelda, a gypsy, stabbed the nobleman and she is arrested, tortured and put in the dungeons to be hanged.

Jehan, disguised as his pious brother, comes to Esmerelda’s cell to offer his proposal. He lies to her that Phoebus has died from his wounds, but she still rejects his advances. Quasimodo rings the bell signaling an execution, but knows not whom for. When he sees Esmerelda, Quasimodo grabs her and carries her inside the church claiming sanctuary. Clopin marshalls all the peasants of the Court of Miracles to save Esmeralda as Phoebus gathers his troops to stop the mob.

Quasimodo defends the church by throwing large stones and molten lead on the rabble below. During the fight Clopin is stabbed and dies. Jehan, seeing that Esmerelda is once again within his grasp tries to grab her, but Quasimodo feeling a hatred for his master and knowing that Esmerelda was once kind to him, throws the man off the parapet of the church, killing him. Phoebus happily reunites with Esmerelda. Unfortunately, Jehan had stabbed Quasimodo, who rings the bells of Notre Dame one last time before dying.

“Have you so little misery that you must create more” – Esmerelda

Welcome to the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of The Hunchback of Notre Dame on 31 Days of Horror. This kicks off a week of anniversary celebrations featuring films celebrating their 50th to 10th birthdays. I featured a similar celebration week last year looking at Nosferatu for its centenary. What is most impressive is how well this film still stands up. Apart from the fact that this is a silent film photographed in black and white 100 years ago, the story and the characters, especially Chaney’s portrayal of Quasimodo, are still accessible and understandable. Yes, the performances are a little melodramatic, still steeped in the traditions of the theater. But all that can be excused for the emotions that are evoked through their interactions.

I am including this film as one of the “H-Origins” titles, which is how 31 Days of Horror has labeled iconic films that present the origins of certain horror elements. Which raises the question, is this version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame a horror film? That’s a complex question with an inexact answer. Universal Studios absolutely counts this as one of their Classic Monsters films which include titles like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and The Mummy. It is the first film where Lon Chaney used extensive makeup to turn himself into a grotesque creature, which he would also do in some other classic horror films like The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and London After Midnight (1927). And there is horror in the film. Mostly it comes from other characters towards Quasimodo. He receives attacks from Jehan, Phoebus and Clopin for just living his life. In this film’s case, the monster is the protagonist and the horror is directed upon him. It also may have been considered terror-inducing seeing the face of Quasimodo 100 years ago. While modern audiences might not bat an eye and the makeup, this was still a new process for audiences of the 1920s.

But in reality, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, in all its versions, is really more of a love story. Like The Phantom of the Opera, both stories feature physically deformed characters that are shunned by society and fall in love with a woman beyond their status. For Quasimodo, it’s less about a love story for him, though he seems as if he would do anything for Esmerelda. It’s more that his attraction comes from her being the only person to afford him common human decency. After being (unfairly) accused of trying to kidnap Esmeralda, she is the only person that stops to bring him water after his flogging in the public square. This minor act of kindness creates a bond that supersedes other characters’ relations. The real love story, of course, is Phoebus and Esmerelda. He seems to forget that he’s engaged to another woman once he sees the beauty that is Esmerelda. A woman that is able to cause riots in the streets of Paris.

And those streets are huge. Films of this era did not travel around the world to make their pictures. So this entire picture was shot in the back lots of Universal Studios in the hills north of Los Angeles. The central square of Paris and the Court of Miracles (which is still a section of the Little Europe backlot on the tour) were constructed as well as about two stories of the Cathedral. It looks immense on film, and is also compounded by the use of a floating miniature (a small replica hung in front of camera, blending in with the surroundings) to extend the top of the set, making it appear that the entirety of Notre Dame was constructed in Southern California. The film also appeared to shoot the night scenes at night. As discussed in the Nosferatu article last year, night scenes were usually shot during the day and just tinted blue for silent films. Sometimes day-for-night would occur, which is using the exposure on the camera to make things appear darker. Since the film was shot on a back lot, apparently the ability to have enough electricity for the lighting was possible. It certainly creates a different look for the film.

This was the second adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel, coming twelve years after a 1911 French version (naturally). At least eight other films have followed including a 1939 version with Charles Laughton, a 1956 version with Anthony Quinn, and Disney’s musical adaptation in 1996. As with other classic films, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is something that should be watched at least once. The horror from the film may be subjective, but there’s no discounting that this was a monumental piece of filmmaking for any time.

Assorted Musings

• A simple subplot, that modern audiences should have no trouble figuring out, includes an angry woman shouting slurs at Esmerelda, a ”dirty gypsy.” Audiences learn that Esmeralda was stolen by gypsies as a young girl. It’s no surprise that later in the film the woman turns out to Esmerelda’s birth mother.
• Lon Chaney applied his own makeup daily, including a plaster of paris hump, which took him reportedly three hours to complete.