The Hunchback of Notre Dame1939
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Quasimodo
as Esmeralda
as Frollo
as Clopin
as Gringoire
as Phoebus
as Archdeacon
as Louis XI
as Mme. De Lys
as Procurator
as A Nobleman
as The King's Physician
as Fleur
as Queen of Beggars
as Olivier
as Phillipo
as Court Clerk
as Ugly Man
as Beggar
Critic Reviews for The Hunchback of Notre Dame
All Critics (16) | Fresh (15) | Rotten (1) | DVD (1)
Laughton and O'Hara's performances always bring back the momentum; their poignant interactions are the clear highlights of the production.
Audiences should be thrilled anew by this lavish remake of Victor Hugo's famous novel.
The movie is magnificent in every way... But the deep emotion that we expected to feel has not caught ahold of us and we have witnessed the almost impassive the tragedy of Quasimodo. [Full review in Spanish]
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) is one of many film adaptations of the classic 1831 Victor Hugo 'beauty and the beast' novel about a deaf, hunch-backed, outcast bellringer Quasimodo (Charles Laughton) in the Notre Dame...
In its shocking way it's really very fine.
Laughton is excellent as the misshapen bellringer, cowering in the presence of that patron saint of today's Men's Rights Activists, the misogynistic hypocrite Frollo (Sir Cedric Hardwicke).
Audience Reviews for The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Victor Hugo's classic tale of a fated love between a hunchback and a gypsy girl. Hugo's eye for characterization, complex interconnected plots, revolutionary fervor, the healing power of religion, social outcasts, and love is on full display in this film adaptation of his novel Notre Dame de Paris. The script gives the basics, the skeleton, that the novel fills out, but considering Hugo's loquaciousness, the screenplay is nonetheless an achievement. Charles Laughton is at his most affecting. The burly character actor becomes Quasimodo with the same alacrity that he became Henry VIII. Comparable to Phillip Seymour Hoffman of our time (though a talent truly to say beyond compare), Laughton was his era's artist. Overall, this is a thrilling and emotional adaptation of an excellent novel.
Super Reviewer
Medieval drama about a gypsy girl who comes to Paris and the physically disfigured bell ringer she befriends. The narrative's success derives from how it captures the tragic plight of our bell ringer in Paris' legendary church so perfectly. Society's tendency to build someone up one minute only to tear them down the next is brilliant paralleled in Quasimodo's story arc. First being crowed "King of Fools" at the festival one moment then they're publicly whipping him in the town square the next. The quality of the performances is what elevates this to a work of art. Charles Laughton gives the definitive performance of Quasimodo, the deformed hunchback of Notre Dame. A delightfully atypical choice to play a sympathetic role, for an actor often type-cast as people with arrogant or unscrupulous qualities. His expressive face speaks volumes. Indeed for the first third, he doesn't utter a word. He's supported by a stellar cast. Maureen O'Hara is radiant as Esmeralda, a lovely gypsy who inspires passion in several men. Her touching act of kindness toward Quasimodo at one of his darkest hours is a beautifully acted gesture filled with poignancy. At the other end of integrity is Frollo played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke. A villainous tour de force, he is a stern, deeply flawed individual consumed by earthly desire and a lack of accountability. Also worth mentioning is Edmond O'Brien in his film debut . Esmeralda's chemistry with him as the slightly goofy poet-playwright Gringoire is sweet. Performances and set design combine perfectly to create a sweeping historical epic for the ages with a surprising amount of human intimacy. Whether it's 15th century France or elsewhere modern world, the film's themes transcend time and place.
Super Reviewer
Laughton is great and the picture is a high quality production the only negative is the complete absence of anything but American accents which can be distracting. Screen debuts for both O'Hara and O'Brien who is so young and slender at first he's not recognizable both acquit themselves well though.
Super Reviewer