Main Cast: Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Maureen O'Hara, Thomas Mitchell, Edmond O'Brien
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Few will argue with the contention that RKO Radio's 1939 adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame was the best of the many screen versions of the Hugo classic. We say this even allowing for certain liberties taken with the source material-liberties calculated by scenarists Sonya Levien and Bruno Frank to draw parallels between 15th century Paris and 20th century Europe. Thus, Claude Frollo (Cedric Hardwicke), the villain of the piece, is no longer merely a religious hypocrite unable to control his own carnal desires. Instead, Frollo is a bush-league Hitler, warning that the invention of the printing press is dangerous in that it will encourage the rabble to think for themselves, and plotting the persecution and destruction of the "undesirable" gypsies. In the same vein, Gringoire the Poet (Edmond O'Brien in his film debut) has been transformed into an agit-prop "Group Theatre" activist, bent on bringing the unvarnished truth to the ignorant Parisians. Many of Hugo's subplots have been dispensed with, the better to concentrate on the grotesquely deformed Quasimodo (Charles Laughton), bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, and his puppylike loyalty towards imperiled gypsy dancer Esmerelda (Maureen O'Hara, in her first American film appearance). The schism between the haves and have-nots in the walled city of Paris is illustrated in broad, visually dynamic strokes by director William Dieterle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Set in fifteenth century France, The Hunchback of Notre Dame captures the medieval era's tumult, as superstition and prejudice war with progress, both material and intellectual. Church and state unite to attempt to hold back the waves of change sweeping over Europe, as it rides the crest of the Renaissance. Charles Laughton's performance as Quasimodo, the misshapen protagonist, is every bit as moving as Lon Chaney's work in the earlier silent film. Overcoming his physical deformity and status as social outcast, Quasimodo represents all that is most noble and heroic about mankind, while the physically commanding Frollo, a man of immense political and religious power, acts as his morally corrupt and sexually repressed counterpoint. Maureen O'Hara's film debut is also memorable; the passions she inspires in the men around her are wholly believable. The recreation of medieval Paris is an awesome achievement, and the elegance of the production values is indisputable. Director William Dieterle manages a difficult task well, creating a film of both great sweep and remarkable intimacy. The film takes some liberties with the source material, but it captures the essence of Victor Hugo's novel very well. It was nominated for two Academy Awards (music and sound); Laughton's definitive performance was overlooked by the Academy. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide
