Hunchback of Notre Dame [DVD] [1939] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Previously filmed in 1923 (with Lon Chaney as Quasimodo) this version is a vast improvement. Directed by German expatriate William Dieterle and featuring a superb performance from Charles Laughton as the lonely misshapen bellringer who falls in love with a beautiful gypsy girl. This was Laughton's second portrayl of a Hugo character (after playing Javert in 'Les Miserables' in 1935) and it became one of his most famous roles; overcoming the discomfort of the make up and the heat (it was filmed during the hot September of 1939) and pulling off a wonderful charectarisation, managing to convey Quasimodo's kindness and beauty of character. He is matched by a great cast - Cedric Hardwicke as the corrupt Frollo, Thomas Mitchell as the rebellious Clopin and Harry Davenport as the kindly old King while the nineteen year old Maureen O'Hara is breathtaking in her Hollywood debut as Esmerelda. Dieterle's direction brings genuine mood and atmosphere to the film and is matched by the tremendous sets (a mock up Notre Dame was built in the San Fernado Valley). The film cost more than $2 million and was a huge success - both critically and financially.

The dramatic tool of having someone in love with another who will never return their feelings has been used extensively in cinema .I am willing to bet that it's never been done better or with more emotional resonance than the 1939 version of Victor Hugo's novel set in 15th century France.

This is more of a straight up love story than the previous 1923 silent version starring Lon Chaney with the hapless disfigured bell ringer Quasimodo (Charles Laughton) hopelessly in love/lust with the stunningly beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda (Maureen O'Hara) who naturally doesn't reciprocate .The film though draws parallels between 15th century France and the 20th century . Claude Frollo( Cedric Hardwicke ) the films villain is not only a sexually repressed religious hypocrite , and they ,ve always been in short supply , but advocates the destruction of the printing press so the proles will never be able to think for themselves and the wholesale destruction of the gypsies so the comparisons with Hitler are clear.

Many of the sub-plots of Hugo's, novel however have been dispensed with so director William Dieterle can concentrate primarily on the relationship between Quasimodo and Esmeralda though he does use the poet Gringoire ( Edmond O'Brien) as an agit-prop to further highlight the difference between the haves and the have- not's. The movie catches the tumultuous sweep of events very well while retaining the intimacy of the characters motivations and stories.

The sets of medieval Paris are truly awesome , particularly Notre Dame Cathedral itself ( which cost an at the time astonishing $250,000) and the score by Alfred Newman is excellently restrained. The script is literate -Quasimodo asks of a gargoyle -"why was I not made of stone like thee?" but has moments of pithy brilliance but what really elevates this movie is the performance of Laughton which unbelievably did not even earn him an Oscar nomination. Though the movie did earn two nominations for score and sound the fact that Laughton radiating the despair and desire of the hunchback through his makeup, failed to be recognised is one of the academy's truly glaring omission's . It's a truly staggering performance , one of the greatest in cinema history , and even now is not really given the recognition it deserves.

It's all the more powerful given that the makeup , which took two and a half hours to apply wasn't really that great , giving the character a slightly false almost cartoon like look. That Laughton was able to overcome this and palpably invest his character with such pathos and soiled dignity is remarkable .His performance still resounds today because what this film deals with ,is as eternal as man kind. The love of one for another particularly when it is,nt reciprocated , and the nobility and splendour of a persons nature , despite their grotesque visage is always likely to appeal to us. This film, along with David Lynch,s brilliant "Elephant Man" as I said before, does it better than any other.

I really enjoyed watching the 1930's version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame based on the famous book by Victor Hugo. I felt myself moved and saddened by Charles Laughton's portrayal of the hunchback Quasimodo who only wanted people to love and like him as a person and not jeer at him or despise as he was accustomed to. Laughton gives an excellent portrayal of Quasimodo he portrays this tragic figure with such empathy and depth you are mesmerised by Quasimodo and do not regard him otherwise as some grotesque caricature of a freak.Maureen O'Hara provides good support as the beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda only wanting justice for her race who were subjected to persecution and bigotry that time in France. Cedric Hardwicke as the villainous Frollo is brilliant. I liked this film too because on another level it looks at our treatment of outcasts in society such as the hunchbacked Quasimodo and the gypsies too and it is just as relevant today especially as there is more awareness for minorites such as these and the importance to bring about changes in the law to cater for their basic human rights. I've seen several versions of this film with Anthony Hopkins and Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo no one however can beat the great Charles Laughton!