The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris is shrouded in romance, myth, mystery and intrigue... Throughout the ages, poets and writers have drawn inspiration from her splendor... Generations have found both wonder and terror in the gargoyles that appear menacingly from her thin structures...
Hailed by critics as the most important of French Romantic writers, Victor Hugo invented his own version of the historical novel, combining the local color and historical detail of Honoré de Balzac and the spiritual lecture of George Sand..
The film, set in 15th century medieval period, tells a moving story of a Gypsy girl Esmeralda who comes to Paris to intercede with the King Louis XI (Harry Davenport) for her people... While there, she earns her living as a dancer arising passion in the Chief Justice of Paris, Jean Frollo, a sinister priest, who discovers that she favors Captain Phoebus (Alan Marshal).
Frollo sends the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, Quasimodo, to kidnap her... Esmeralda is rescued by the captain of the guard who is later stabbed by Frollo with the blame being thrust on her...
Under torture, she confesses to the crime and is sentenced to be hung... But she is saved by the hunchback who attempts to shelter her in the cathedral...
Much of the rich atmosphere is concretely seen in this version: The persecution of Gypsies; the happy Festival of the Fools; the conclave of thieves and beggars in the Court of Miracles; the punishment of Quasimodo; the Cathedral and its role as the center of medieval Paris... The highest dramatic moment of the film comes when Clopin (Thomas Mitchell) calls upon his half-starved mob to attack the fortified cathedral and rescue Esmeralda...
Charles Laughton is cast as Quasimodo, Hugo's extremely disfigured man... Quasimodo is a monstrous 'King of Fools' with inner beauty, strength and nobility... He is deaf for the sound of the bells he loves... In this distorted body with ugly face, there is lot of humanity, kindness and gratitude...
Sir Cedric Hardwicke plays the privileged arch villain Jean Frollo, who controls medieval France... He is an ambitious priest who resists the force of political change against the church... He is a man with emotion and passion, blinded by a false light, obsessed, confused and tormented by a lustful desire...
Maureen O'Hara plays the enchanting Esmeralda, a young naive Gypsy dancer, innocent and pure...
Edmond O'Brien (in his film debut) plays an impertinent dreamer who arouses laughter and amusement with his adventures in the Court of Miracles...
Harry Davenport plays a fascinated King, happy to live in an age of great beginnings, determined to take his bath twice a year...
William Dieterle's film is a small masterpiece, projecting deep feeling for the human soul, love of the fantastic, the mystical and the grotesque...
Hailed by critics as the most important of French Romantic writers, Victor Hugo invented his own version of the historical novel, combining the local color and historical detail of Honoré de Balzac and the spiritual lecture of George Sand..
The film, set in 15th century medieval period, tells a moving story of a Gypsy girl Esmeralda who comes to Paris to intercede with the King Louis XI (Harry Davenport) for her people... While there, she earns her living as a dancer arising passion in the Chief Justice of Paris, Jean Frollo, a sinister priest, who discovers that she favors Captain Phoebus (Alan Marshal).
Frollo sends the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, Quasimodo, to kidnap her... Esmeralda is rescued by the captain of the guard who is later stabbed by Frollo with the blame being thrust on her...
Under torture, she confesses to the crime and is sentenced to be hung... But she is saved by the hunchback who attempts to shelter her in the cathedral...
Much of the rich atmosphere is concretely seen in this version: The persecution of Gypsies; the happy Festival of the Fools; the conclave of thieves and beggars in the Court of Miracles; the punishment of Quasimodo; the Cathedral and its role as the center of medieval Paris... The highest dramatic moment of the film comes when Clopin (Thomas Mitchell) calls upon his half-starved mob to attack the fortified cathedral and rescue Esmeralda...
Charles Laughton is cast as Quasimodo, Hugo's extremely disfigured man... Quasimodo is a monstrous 'King of Fools' with inner beauty, strength and nobility... He is deaf for the sound of the bells he loves... In this distorted body with ugly face, there is lot of humanity, kindness and gratitude...
Sir Cedric Hardwicke plays the privileged arch villain Jean Frollo, who controls medieval France... He is an ambitious priest who resists the force of political change against the church... He is a man with emotion and passion, blinded by a false light, obsessed, confused and tormented by a lustful desire...
Maureen O'Hara plays the enchanting Esmeralda, a young naive Gypsy dancer, innocent and pure...
Edmond O'Brien (in his film debut) plays an impertinent dreamer who arouses laughter and amusement with his adventures in the Court of Miracles...
Harry Davenport plays a fascinated King, happy to live in an age of great beginnings, determined to take his bath twice a year...
William Dieterle's film is a small masterpiece, projecting deep feeling for the human soul, love of the fantastic, the mystical and the grotesque...