The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( 1923 ) Unrated | In fifteenth century Paris, the brother of the archdeacon plots with the gypsy king to foment a peasant revolt. Meanwhile, a freakish hunchback falls in love with the gypsy queen. Director: a list of 25 titles created 18 Jun 2011 a list of 35 titles created 21 Mar 2014 a list of 33 titles created 17 Feb 2015 a list of 26 titles created 24 Apr 2015 a list of 45 titles created 3 months ago Title: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) 7.3/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Directors: Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney, and 2 more credits » Stars: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry In 15th century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her. Director: William Dieterle Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself. Director: John S. Robertson Relatives of an eccentric millionaire gather in his spooky mansion on the 20th anniversary of his death for the reading of his will. Director: Paul Leni A criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the daughter of the ringmaster at any cost. Director: Tod Browning A practical man returns to his homeland, is attacked by a creature of folklore, and infected with a horrific disease his disciplined mind tells him can not possibly exist. Director: George Waggner A bitter clown endeavors to rescue the young woman he loves from the lecherous count who once betrayed him.

Director: Victor Sjöström The timeless tale of the seductive gypsy Esmeralda and the tortured hunchback Quasimodo. Director: Jean Delannoy A gang of blackmailers sends a cripple to San Francisco to expose a banker they have been blackmailing. However, the cripple meets and falls in love with the banker's daughter. Director: Lambert Hillyer When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured. Director: Paul Leni The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam. Director: Harry O. Hoyt A living mummy stalks the beautiful woman he believes is the reincarnation of his lover. Director: Karl Freund Edit Storyline Clopin bought Esmeralda from the gypsies when she was young. Dancing in the square at the festival, Esmeralda is spotted by Jehan, the evil brother of the good archdeacon Claude Frollo.

When he sets Quasimodo out to kidnap Esmeralda, Phoebus, Captain of the Guards, rescues her and captures Quasimodo. The courts sentence Quasimodo to be flogged, and the only one who will give him water while he is tied in the square is Esmeralda. After Clopin forces Esmeralda to leave Phoebus at the ball, she sends a note to Phoebus to meet her at Notre-Dame. In the garden, Phoebus is stabbed in the back by Jehan. Esmeralda is accused of stabbing Phoebus, convicted by the courts and sentenced to hang. When Esmeralda again rejects Jehan, he tells her that Phoebus is dead, even though it is not true. Clopin, Phoebus and Quasimodo all try different ways to save Esmeralda. Written by Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com> 6 September 1923 (USA) See more » Also Known As: El jorobado de Notre Dame See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know?

Trivia For the larger crowd scenes, as many as 200 people were on payroll for the wardrobe department alone. Universal also built a new wardrobe building especially to handle the large number of extras who needed to be outfitted in 15th-century clothes. See more » Goofs After Esmeralda gives Quasimodo water (he's still chained down), the nose putty on Quasimodo's left cheek is coming loose - there's a noticeable gap between Lon Chaney's face and the nose putty used to make the fake cheek. See more » Quotes See more » Crazy Credits Tully Marshall is billed erroneously as "El Rey Luis XI" which is Spanish for "King Louis XI". He should have been billed as "Le Roi Louis XI" which is French for "King Louis XI".

See more » Connections A True Classic of the Silent Screen 22 July 2001 | by (bsmith5552@rogers.com) (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) – See all my reviews "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is the often filmed Victor Hugo classic tale of the tragic Quasimodo and his love for the lovely Esmeralda in 15th century Paris. Lon Chaney in perhaps his greatest role, plays the title character to perfection. Even through the grotesque make up that he created for the character, he can still elicit the sympathy of the audience through his touching portrayal. Chaney is barely recognizable through the 40 pounds of make up and appliances that went to create Quasimodo for the screen. You have to remember that this was 1923 and Chaney did not have the benefit of today's make up techniques. Patsy Ruth Miller brings youth, beauty and innocence to the role of Esmeralda, a perfect contrast to the hunchback. Norman Kerry plays Phoebus, the nominal hero of the tale who is Esmeralda's true love.

Brandon Hurst is the chief villain, Jehan, who wants Esmeralda for himself. Ernest Torrence plays Clopin the "King of the Beggars". In the role of Gringoire is Raymond Hatton, who "B" western fans will remember as the comical sidekick in several westerns of the 30s and 40s. However, this movie truly belongs to Lon Chaney. It is truly a pity that he died before he could manifest his genius in sound films. (He died in 1930 and made just one sound film). After almost 80 years, Lon Chaney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" remains the definitive version and a true classic of American cinema. 7 of 10 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) Remind Me The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) There have been a lot of misconceptions about The Hunchback of Notre Dame over the years but one thing is certain, it made a bona fide star out of Lon Chaney.

What isn't so clear is how Irving Thalberg came to be credited as the mastermind behind the project. Lon Chaney had been lobbying for a film version since 1920 but it wasn't until he shared his ideas with Thalberg that the project got greenlighted by Universal studio head Carl Laemmle. The result was a phenomenally successful film that set the standard for all future historical epics. It also confirmed Thalberg's reputation as a creative producer and helped pave the way for his illustrous career at the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios the same year. And yet, Chaney was really the driving force who originated the project. Victor Hugo's tragic tale of the deformed bellringer and his love for Esmeralda, a doomed gypsy girl, has been filmed so many times that an accurate count of all the versions would probably be difficult to pinpoint but it's not hard to see the film's ageless appeal.

While you may find movie lovers who cite the 1939 Charles Laughton version or even the 1996 Disney animated version as favorite interpretations, the general consensus among actors (Burt Lancaster and Orson Welles to name a few) is that Chaney remains the definitive Quasimodo. The 1923 version is remarkable for other reasons as well. The set alone spanned 19 acres and the actual production required the services of 750 crew members. One of the biggest challenges was finding enough costumes to clothe the more than two thousand extras. The night sequences, which took two months to film, were also a major headache and still hold the record for the largest number of electricians ever employed on one film. No less troublesome to create was Chaney's grotesque makeup which took three hours to apply and included the innovative use of cotton and flexible collodion, adhesive tape, nose putty (for warts), and plaster for a twenty pound hump on his back.

Although audiences at the time assumed Chaney did all his own stunt work in the film, he did, in fact, use a stunt double - Joe Bonomo - who was used in the scene where Quasimodo slides down a rope in front of the church and rescues Esmeralda from the King's guards. Director: Wallace Worsley Screenplay: Edward T. Lowe, Jr. Cinematography: Robert Newhard, Tony Kornman Art Direction: Elmer E. Sheeley, Sidney Ullman Cast: Lon Chaney (Quasimodo), Ernest Torrance (Clopin), Patsy Ruth Miller (Esmeralda), Norman Kerry (Phoebus), Kate Lester (Madame de Gondelaurier). BW-99m. © Lon Chaney - Man of a Thousand Faces, Silent Film Actor - goldensilents.com ~ Copyright © 2004 goldensilents.com Vintage Bio from "Who's Who On The Screen" (1920): "This splendid character actor was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado April 1, 1883.

Following his graduation from the public schools of Colorado Springs, he made his debut on the stage as a comedian in a play produced by his brother and himself. The year 1912 first saw Lon Chaney upon the screen. His debut was made as a slapstick comedian in a Universal production. He has been seen to advantage in "Hell Morgan's Girl," "The Riddle Game," "Treasure Island," "The Penalty," and "The Miracle Man." His portrayal of the psuedo cripple in "The Miracle Man" was as fine a bit of character work as has ever graced the screen. He is fond of all sports, and is an expert cook. It is Mr. Chaney's ambition to be a peer in the art of make-up." Lon Chaney's Silent Films Where East Is East (1929) .... Tiger Haynes West of Zanzibar (1928) .... Phroso 'Dead-Legs' Lon Chaney and Anita Page in "While The City Sleeps" (1928) While the City Sleeps (1928) ....

Dan Callahan Lon in "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" and Lon and Loretta Young in the same film (1928) Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) .... Tito Beppi Big City, The (1928) .... Chuck Collins London After Midnight (1927) .... Burke Mockery (1927) .... Sergei Unknown, The (1927) .... Alonzo the Armless Mr. Wu (1927) .... Mr. Mandarin Wu/Mr. Wu's Grandfather Lon Chaney, sans makeup, in "Tell It To The Marines" (1926), his favorite film role Tell It to the Marines (1926) .... Sgt. O'Hara Road to Mandalay, The (1926) .... Singapore Joe Blackbird, The (1926) .... The Blackbird/The Bishop Tower of Lies, The (1925) .... Jan Lon Chaney as Erik with Mary Philbin in "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) Phantom of the Opera, The (1925) ....

Erik, The Phantom Unholy Three, The (1925) .... Professor Echo, the Ventriloquist, aka Mrs. 'Granny' O'Grady Monster, The (1925) .... Dr. Ziska Lon Chaney as the doomed scientist, Paul Beaumont, in "HE Who Gets Slapped" (1924) HE Who Gets Slapped (1924) .... Paul Beaumont, aka HE Next Corner, The (1924) .... Juan Serafin Lon Chaney with Patsy Ruth Miller in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1923) Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1923) .... Quasimodo Shock, The (1923) .... Wilse Dilling While Paris Sleeps (1923) .... Henri Santodos ... aka Glory of Love, The (1923) All the Brothers Were Valiant (1923) .... Mark Shore Blind Bargain, A (1922) .... Dr. Arthur Lamb/The Ape Man Quincy Adams Sawyer (1922) .... Obadiah Strout Shadows (1922) ....

Yen Sin,'The Heathen' Oliver Twist (1922) .... Fagin Light in the Dark, The (1922) .... Tony Pantelli ... aka Light of Faith, The (1922) Flesh and Blood (1922) .... David Webster Trap, The (1922) .... Gaspard ... aka Heart of a Wolf (1922) (UK) Voices of the City (1921) .... O'Rourke ... aka Night Rose, The (1921) Bits of Life (1921) .... Chin Chow Ace of Hearts, The (1921) .... Mr. Farallone For Those We Love (1921) .... Trix Ulner Outside the Law (1920) .... Black Mike Sylva/Ah Wing Nomads of the North (1920) .... Raoul Challoner Lon Chaney in "The Penalty" (1920) Penalty, The (1920/I) .... Blizzard Gift Supreme, The (1920) .... Merney Stagg Treasure Island (1920) ....

Pew/Merry When Bearcat Went Dry (1919) .... Kindard Powers Lon Chaney with his own make-up kit Paid in Advance (1919) .... Bateese Le Blanc Miracle Man, The (1919) .... The Frog Man's Country, A (1919) .... 'Three Card' Duncan Wicked Darling, The (1919) .... Stoop Connors False Faces, The (1919) .... Karl Eckstrom Danger, Go Slow (1918) .... Bud Talk of the Town, The (1918) .... Jack Lanchome That Devil, Bateese (1918) .... Louis Courteau Riddle Gawne (1918) .... Hame Bozzam Broadway Scandal, A (1918) .... 'Kink' Colby Fast Company (1918) .... Dan McCarty Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin, The (1918) .... Bethmann-Hollweg ... aka Beast of Berlin (1918) ... aka Kaiser, Beast of Berlin, The (1918) ...

aka Kaiser, The (1918) Broadway Love (1918) .... Elmer Watkins Grand Passion, The (1918) .... Paul Argos Empty Gun, The (1917) Scarlet Car, The (1917) .... Paul Revere Forbes Anything Once (1917) .... Waught Moore Triumph (1917) .... Paul Neihoff Pay Me! (1917) .... Joe Lawson ... aka Pay Day (1917) ... aka Vengeance of the West, The (1917) Rescue, The (1917) .... Thomas Holland Fires of Rebellion (1917) .... Russell Hanlon Doll's House, A (1917) .... Nils Krogstad Flashlight, The (1917) .... Henry Norton and Porter Brixton Girl in the Checkered Coat, The (1917) .... Hector Maitland Mask of Love, The (1917) .... Marino Hell Morgan's Girl (1917) .... Sleter Noble Piper's Price, The (1917) ....

Billy Kilmartin Price of Silence, The (1916) .... Edmond Stafford Accusing Evidence (1916) Place Beyond the Winds, The (1916) .... Jerry Jo Felix on the Job (1916) .... Tod If My Country Should Call (1916) .... Dr. George Ardrath Mark of Cain, The (1916) .... Dick Temple ... aka By Fate's Degree (1916) Grasp of Greed, The (1916) .... Jimmie ... aka Mr. Meeson's Will (1916) (UK) Bobbie of the Ballet (1916) .... Hook Hoover Gilded Spider, The (1916) .... Giovanni ... aka Full Cup, The (1916) (USA) Tangled Hearts (1916) .... John Hammond Grip of Jealousy, The (1916) .... Silas Lacey Dolly's Scoop (1916) .... Dan Fisher Father and the Boys (1915) ....

Tuck Bartholomew Stronger Than Death (1915) Under a Shadow (1915) .... Jealous Husband Millionaire Paupers, The (1915) Lon of Lone Mountain (1915) .... Lon Moore Mother's Atonement, A (1915) .... The Husband Alas and Alack (1915) .... Her Husband Fascination of the Fleur de Lis, The (1915) .... Duke of Safoulrug Pine's Revenge, The (1915) .... Black Scotty Chimney's Secret, The (1915) .... Charles Harding Quits (1915) .... Frenchy Bound on the Wheel (1915) Trust, The (1915) .... The Burglar Violin Maker, The (1915) .... The Violin Maker Steady Company (1915) .... Factory Worker Stronger Mind, The (1915) .... The Crook's Pal Idyll of the Hills, An (1915) .... Mountaineer Girl of the Night, The (1915) .... Jerry ...

aka Her Chance (1915) (USA: reissue title) Grind, The (1915) .... The Old Man ... aka On the Verge of Sin (1915) Maid of the Mist (1915) .... Postmaster Desert Breed, The (1915) .... Fred All for Peggy (1915) .... The Stable Groom Outside the Gates (1915) .... Perez Where the Forest Ends (1915) .... Paul Rouchelle Such Is Life (1915) .... Tod Wilkes When the Gods Played a Badger Game (1915) .... The Property Man ... aka Girl Who Couldn't Go Wrong, The (1915) Threads of Fate, The (1915) .... The Count Measure of a Man, The (1915) .... Lt. Jim Stuart Smalltown Girl, The (1915) .... The Procurer Star of the Sea, The (1915) .... Tomasco Sin of Olga Brandt, The (1915) .... Stephen Leslie Her Escape (1914) ....

Pete Night of Thrills, A (1914) .... Visitor Lion, the Lamb, the Man, The (1914) .... Fred Lights and Shadows (1914) .... Bentley Her Life's Story (1914) .... Don Valesquez Virtue Is Its Own Reward (1914) .... Duncan Bronson Pipes o' Pan, The (1914) .... Arthur Farrell Richelieu (1914/I) .... Baradas Higher Law, The (1914/I) .... Sir Stephen Her Bounty (1914) .... Fred Howard Miner's Romance, A (1914) .... John Burns Oubliette, The (1914) .... Chevalier Bertrand de la Payne By the Sun's Rays (1914) .... Frank Lawler Her Grave Mistake (1914) .... Nunez Ranch Romance, A (1914) .... Raphael Praz Hopes of a Blind Alley (1914) .... Vendor Old Cobbler, The (1914) .... Wild Bill Forbidden Room, The (1914) ....

John Morris Heart Strings (1914) (unconfirmed) Unlawful Trade, The (1914) .... The Cross Blood Tragedy of Whispering Creek, The (1914) .... The Greaser End of the Feud, The (1914) .... Wood Dawson Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf, The (1914) .... The Wolf Embezzler, The (1914) .... J. Roger Dixon Menace to Carlotta, The (1914) .... Giovanni Bartholdi ... aka Carlotta, the Bead Stringer (1914) (USA) Discord and Harmony (1914) .... The Sculptor Remember Mary Magdalen (1914) .... The Half-Wit Honor of the Mounted, The (1914) .... Jacques Laquox Lie, The (1914) .... Young MacGregor Bloodhounds of the North (1913) .... Mountie Red Margaret, Moonshiner (1913) .... Lon ... aka Moonshine Blood (1916) (reissue title) Back to Life (1913) ....

The Rival Elephant on His Hands, An (1913) .... Eddie Almost an Actress (1913) .... Cameraman Trap, The (1913/I) Shon the Piper (1913) .... Clansman Sea Urchin, The (1913) .... Barnacle Bill Poor Jake's Demise (1913) .... The Dude Blood Red Tape of Charity, The (1912) .... Marx, a Gentleman Thief To learn more about Lon Chaney visit his profile on The Internet Movie Database The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) *** Victor Hugo�s The Hunchback of Notre Dame stands among the all-time grand champions in the �When will you people finally get tired of filming this story?� stakes. If we count the Walt Disney version from 1997 (as I suppose we must), I know of at least 13 cinematic adaptations of the novel, going all the way back to 1906�s Esmeralda.

(Incidentally, that total includes a couple versions inexplicably made in India!) But of all the multitudinous Hunchback movies, the two that people remember best today are the 1939 RKO version with Charles Laughton and Universal�s 1923 silent rendition featuring the legendary Lon Chaney Sr. in the title role. In my estimation, the �39 version is pretty sorry taken as a whole, with Laughton�s fine performance providing its only redeeming feature. The older Universal film, on the other hand, is far superior, though I don�t hold it in nearly such high esteem as is customary among movie critics. The first thing that is likely to strike most modern viewers about The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the completely alien approach that it takes toward character development. Movies today are expected to introduce their characters gradually, using dialogue and interaction to reveal their personalities. In the silent era, this was all but impossible because of the limited amount of text that could be presented legibly on a single intertitle.

With dialogue necessarily sketchy and restricted only to those ideas that simply could not be conveyed by actions or gestures, silent filmmakers often accompanied the introduction of a new character with a title card that briefly synopsized that character�s salient qualities. This technique was especially common in films that had large casts, and since The Hunchback of Notre Dame has more characters than it quite knows what to do with, those descriptive intertitles appear in it with extraordinary frequency. All the introductions slow the narrative to a crawl during the first third of the film, but the important points are as follows: During the reign of the tyrannical Louis IX, in Paris�s famous Notre Dame Cathedral, there lives a deaf, half-blind, hideously deformed man named Quasimodo (Lon Chaney, from The Monster and London After Midnight ). Quasimodo works as the cathedral�s bell-ringer, and the reason he lives in the church as well is that the fear and hatred his deformities inspire in those who see him is such that he is effectively barred from living among �normal� people. It�s also worth keeping in mind that Quasimodo despises the world at least as much as it despises him.

The Archdeacon of Notre Dame (Nigel de Brulier, from Ghosts and The Monkey�s Paw) has a brother named Jehan (Brandon Hurst, whom we�ve also seen in White Zombie and Murders in the Rue Morgue ), who is rather less than saintly. Though the point is never made explicitly, it seems plausible that Quasimodo�s slavish devotion to Jehan stems from the hunchback�s recognition and approval of the contempt in which the single-mindedly self-interested Jehan holds the rest of the human race. King Louis�s reign is a troubled one. His cruelty has given rise to a rival power structure, a swarming multitude of beggars, thieves, and vagrants whose leader, Clopin ( The Unholy Night �s Ernest Torrence), is slowly forging them into an army of proto-communist revolutionaries. Clopin has a foster daughter named Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller), whom he bought from a band of Gypsies when she was just a toddler.

At the annual Feast of Fools� a sort of national holiday for the Lumpenproletariat of France, which is grudgingly tolerated by the king and his ministers� Esmeralda�s dancing attracts the attention of two people who will come to be very important in her life. One of them is Quasimodo, whom she meets when the revelers bestow upon him the dubious honor of crowning him King of the Fools, a distinction which the crowd gives each year to the ugliest man that can be found. The other is Phoebus de Chateaupers (Norman Kerry, who later played alongside Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera and The Unknown ), King Louis�s captain of the guards. Phoebus is instantly smitten with Esmeralda, and will spend the rest of the movie blowing off his long-suffering fiancee in a quest to get into the gypsy girl�s pants. A bit later, Esmeralda acquires another admirer, one whom, given the choice, she�d almost certainly rather not have. This is Jehan, who sees the girl when she comes to the cathedral to meet Phoebus.

That very night, Jehan sics Quasimodo on Esmeralda, but the hunchback is foiled in his kidnapping attempt by the captain of the guards, who arrests him and sends him off to one of the king�s nastier jails with a detachment of soldiers, while he and Esmeralda go off to the nearest tavern to drink and make out. (And by the way, Patsy Ruth Miller has amazingly sexy shoulders.) This leads us ultimately to one of The Hunchback of Notre Dame�s pivotal scenes, the public flogging of Quasimodo. The hunchback is sentenced to 50 lashes and an hour in restraints in the public square. Near the end of his punishment, Quasimodo begins calling out for water, but everyone in the square is having too much fun watching him suffer to give him any. Everyone, that is, except for Esmeralda, whose unexpected act of kindness wins her the hunchback�s undying affection. This will come in handy later, because Esmeralda is about to have the worst kind of run-in with the authorities.

Jehan still desperately wants Esmeralda for himself, and after his abduction scheme fails, he turns his attention to other avenues. First, he tries to buy the girl from Clopin, suggesting that the treasure of Notre Dame Cathedral could turn the �King of the Beggars� into a real leader of men. Clopin doesn�t agree to Jehan�s bargain, but then again, he doesn�t exactly say no, either. Jehan is an impatient man, though, and he eventually gets tired of waiting and tries to kill Phoebus, thereby eliminating his competition. This plan goes wrong on so many levels it�s not even funny. Not only does Esmeralda not suddenly fall into Jehan�s arms after he stabs Phoebus (well, duh...), Phoebus himself has the inexcusable temerity not to die! What�s more, Esmeralda ends up getting charged with the attempt on the captain�s life, and is tortured into confessing to the crime. (Note that this scene employs a little-known, but highly effective medieval torture device: the boots. This instrument was clamped around the victim�s feet and tightened by means of a long iron screw.

More than a few minutes in the boots and there wouldn�t be enough left of your ankle bones to make beads out of.) Quasimodo reenters the picture when he sees Esmeralda saying her final prayers, surrounded by soldiers on the front steps of the cathedral. Remembering her as the girl who gave him a drink when he was tied up in the square, and making the connection between her presence at the cathedral and the death-knell he had been ordered to ring an hour or so before, the hunchback literally swings into action, dropping down to the steps on a rope, and then carrying Esmeralda to safety on the roof. And thus the stage is set for the climactic battle in the square before the church. Clopin, having been told by Jehan that his foster daughter was imprisoned in Notre Dame, raises up his army and leads it in a siege of the cathedral. Phoebus, now minimally recovered from Jehan�s attempt on his life, rides with his men to oppose Clopin�s attack.

And Quasimodo, for his part, mistakes everybody on the streets below for the policemen whom he expects to come looking for Esmeralda at any moment, and rains down stones, timbers, and molten lead left by the workers repairing the cathedral roof on beggars and guardsmen alike. Finally, Jehan makes one last, desperate play to possess Esmeralda, and learns first-hand that on Quasimodo�s shit-list is a bad place to be. The final outcome of all this mayhem isn�t so mercilessly bleak as it is in Hugo�s novel, but it doesn�t take nearly as many liberties with the story as the 1939 version, with its concluding round of happily-ever-afters for all. You can really tell the folks at Universal pulled out all the stops for this one. I don�t think I�ve ever seen a review of The Hunchback of Notre Dame that didn�t say something about the film�s �epic scope� or �sweeping grandeur,� and this is one of those rare instances in which I�m inclined to add my voice to the chorus of mainstream critical opinion.

This movie is just fucking impressive, proving by its example that there is occasionally a good reason to spend as much money as the majors do when they�re putting together a picture. Everything from the sets to the costumes to the most insignificant prop looks exactly right, and the thronging extras effectively transform the back-lot stages where most of the filming took place into a convincing approximation of a vibrant European city. The most impressive thing in the movie, however, is Lon Chaney himself. The man is simply unbelievable. Not only does he portray his character more persuasively than any actor since, despite having no audible dialogue and having his entire face obscured or distorted by elaborate makeup, he also devised that memorable makeup himself. What�s more, he puts on an awesomely athletic performance, especially when you consider that the body suit he wore to give him the hunchback�s ape-like build weighed a full 70 pounds. Try climbing eight or ten feet up a rope in so cumbersome a getup, then hanging from it upside down by your ankles, and see what you get!

And according to contemporary reports (although this has been disputed since), Chaney also did all his own stunts� in full hunchback regalia, mind you� which, in light of all the time he spends climbing around on the cathedral facade, is absolutely staggering. (And even if it wasn�t Chaney himself, somebody sure put in a lot of hours scrambling up and down the sets in that hunchback getup. Whoever it was, that guy gets my undying respect.) Where The Hunchback of Notre Dame goes wrong is in trying to pay lip service to every piddling little subplot in the novel. Most mass-market paperback editions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame are close to two inches thick; there�s just no way to turn such a story into a 90-120-minute movie without leaving a lot out. Usually, this kind of streamlining is accomplished by jettisoning extraneous characters, subplots, and minor twists to the main story. Not so with this movie. What director Wallace Worsley and writers Edgar T. Lowe Jr.

and Perley Poore Sheehan have done instead is reduce the screen time devoted to such things to the bare minimum necessary to establish their presence in the story. This is likely to leave most audiences scratching their heads at the relationships among whole phalanxes of characters whose actions have little or no apparent impact on the plot. For example, it is entirely possible to tell this story without once making reference to the failed poet Gringoire (Raymond Hatton, who can be seen near the other end of his life in The Day the World Ended and Invasion of the Saucer Men ), or to the madwoman who turns out to be Esmeralda�s long-lost mother� as indeed I have. The latter character�s entire purpose in the movie is to snatch away the girl�s necklace as she is led off to her intended execution, only to recognize it as the one she gave her baby daughter on the day the child was stolen by Gypsies. Yet even when it comes, this revelation has no effect on the story whatsoever.

With time constraints pressing down on the story, it would make much more sense just to ditch this character, and use the ten minutes or so gained thereby to further develop the character of Jehan, who, as the main villain, really ought to have a bit more to do. But that aside, this version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame remains the one to see. It has all the high-dollar production value of the 1939 version, an even hotter Esmeralda, and a far more thematically honest spin on the basic story. Plus, it has Lon Chaney in one of his best roles, which ought to be enough all by itself. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923/I) Author: lugonian from Kissimmee, Florida THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (Universal, 1923), directed by Wallace Worsley, takes an important step in cinema history.

While Victor Hugo's classic novel, published in the 1830s, had been transferred to the screen on several occasions prior to this 1923 adaptation, one of mention titled THE DARLING OF Paris (Fox, 1917) featuring Theda Bara, this production ranks one of the first lavish spectacles Universal had produced thus far, as well as a truly challenging performance for Lon Chaney (1883-1930) in the role of the deformed bell-ringer named Quasimodo. Remade several times thereafter, with the most famous being the 1939 adaptation starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara for RKO Radio (interestingly not by Universal!), no two versions are exactly alike. In fact, the more recent adaptation transferred to the screen became the 1996 feature length animation musicalized version, but many of the remakes then and now do owe a lot to Chaney's artistic achievement of long ago. Set in fifteenth century Paris, Quasimodo "deaf, half blind", is a deformed soul attending the gathering of the Festival of Fools.

Among the celebrants are Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller), a gypsy girl, "a child of mystery," who enters the city of Notre Dame and dances for the crowd, and Gringoire (Raymond Hatton), a poet-playwright attempting to act out his allegorical play with little success. The crowd encounters the hideous face of Quasimodo, and instantly acclaimed him as the King of the Fools. Normally regarded a monster, Quasimodo has his moment of glory becoming the center of attention before Dom Claude (Nigel De Brullier), the saintly priest, has him return with him to the cathedral. The evil Jehan (Brandon Hurst), has one thing in mind, his lust for the gypsy girl. He sends Quasimodo to abduct her, as witnessed by Phoebus (Norman Kerry), a captain of the guards ("men yielded to his sword, and women to his smile"), rescuing her from the hunchback. After Quasimodo's capture and punishment through flogging, it is Esmeralda, no longer fearing him, to grant him his request for water.

Jehan continues his abduction plot on Esmeralda, but because of her love for Phoebus, makes her the accused and sentenced through execution for the stabbing of Phoebus, leading Quasimodo to repay the favor by coming to Esmeralda's aide. The other members of the cast of thousands include: Ernest Torrence (Clopin, "King of the beggars, enemy of the king" and Esmeralda's "foster father"); Tully Marshall (King Louis XI, "whose dungeons are always full, whose executioners always kept busy"); Kate Lester (Mademoiselle de Gondelaurier); and Gladys Brockwell (Godule, the mysterious reclusive woman who feels gypsies "should all be cursed"). With Chaney's many early screen performances starting in 1914, along with hundreds of characters and thousands of faces, he actually didn't reach true star prominence until after achieving the kind of success long overdue him with THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. In spite of his feature billing, grotesque makeup and sympathetic gestures, Chaney's participation in this production is actually a supporting one.

Much has been written about Chaney's makeup, a misshapen face with an eye that droops almost out of its socket, mouth with jagged teeth and twisted legs, wavy hair, but it's his character behind that makeup who really brings out his sympathy and human dignity. Not essentially a horror film, but rather a love story of two misunderstood characters, the hunchback and the gypsy girl. Unlike Victor Hugo's novel, this screen version details very little about Quasimodo's background, yet, spends more time bringing out the true heritage of Esmeralda. This carefully constructed production captures the simplicity of 19th century Paris, from the authentic Notre Dame cathedral down to the costumes, making this one a true classic of the silent screen. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) remain two of Lon Chaney's most famous screen roles. During the early years of video cassette distributions, these two silent features, which have become public domain titles, were the easiest to obtain.

Released through various distributors means alternate versions, ranging from bad video transfers with no musical scoring, to clear picture quality with various types of underscoring, ranging from organ to orchestral, with the majority with the average time frame from 97 to 123 minutes. Blackhawk Video's version contained a Lee Irwin orchestral score with flute sounds, ringing church bells and cathedral chanting. Republic Home Video, along Critic's Choice contained organ scores, color tints and new title cards for its opening introduction. The only debit with Republic's home video transfer is having the final scene as Quasimodo ringings the church bell of Notre Dame for the last time, abruptly ending in freeze frame as the priest (De Brulier) walks towards him, not showing what follows. The print with the abrupt conclusion was the one used in the 1971 presentation of the 13-week series of THE SILENT YEARS as hosted by Orson Welles on public television. At present, many other video and/ or DVD transfers, do feature the original opening title credits and the complete finish focusing on the bell as it slowly stops swinging back and forth before stopping with the THE END (or rather FIN) title card reaches the screen.

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME occasionally appears on cable television's Turner Classic Movies as part of its weekly Silent Sunday Night presentations hosted by Robert Osborne. Due to a renewed interest into the life and career of Lon Chaney, "The Man of a Thousand Faces," this best known version to the Victor Hugo classic should be the one film to consider and study. (***) Was the above review useful to you? DVD Savant Review: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) The Hunchback of Notre Dame Ultimate Edition The Hunchback of Notre Dame Image / Blackhawk 1923 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 117 min. / Street Date October 9, 2007 / 24.99 Starring Lon Chaney, Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Ernest Torrance, Tully Marshaly Cinematography Sydney Singerman, Maurice Pivar, Edward Curtis Written by Perley Sheehan, Edward Lowe, Jr.

from the novel by Wallace Worsley Reviewed by Glenn Erickson Attractive prints of Lon Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera are now available, and the Turner Classic Movies cable channel shows a number of once-rare Chaney classics like Dr. Wu and Tell it to The Marines. Chaney's breakthrough silent epic The Hunchback of Notre Dame now exists only in 16mm prints, and mostly in a digest version. David Shepard, owner of the Blackhawk Films library, has been producing fine restorations of near-lost films under his Film Preservation Associates banner. Not long after the release of an earlier Image disc, Shepard came into possession of an even better print source. Two years later comes this 'Ultimate Edition', the best-looking version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame yet. Until its conclusion, Chaney's Hunchback is a fairly faithful simplification of Victor Hugo's elaborate historical romance. A straight pageant with few cinematic touches, the entire show belongs to Lon Chaney and his magnetic characterization. While the other characters are established in florid inter-titles, Chaney's expressive mime earns rather than demands audience sympathy as the misshapen Quasimodo.

Chaney's physical transformation is so convincing, patrons could be forgiven for believing that he could magically change his shape to fit his horrid characters. Synopsis: Feeble minded hunchback Quasimodo (Lon Chaney) is crowned King of the Fools on a big Paris festival day. The beggar chieftain Clopin (Ernest Torrence) dispatches his thieves and fake beggars to work the crowd while his adopted daughter Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) entertains as a gypsy dancer. She immediately wins the heart of the officer Phoebus (Norman Kerry) while Quasimodo looks on, also struck by her beauty. Esmeralda saves the poet Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) from Clopin's rabble while the unscrupulous Jehan (Brandon Hurst) uses Quasimodo in an attempt to kidnap the dancer. She's rescued by Phoebus and Quasimodo is punished by a public whipping. Clopin's beggars are ready to strike back at the hated aristocrats when the jealous Jehan stabs Phoebus, framing Esmeralda for the crime.

Quasimodo saves her from hanging and carries her to the sanctuary of the church. The state and the mob both want Esmeralda, but the hunchback defends Notre Dame from all entry. The Hunchback of Notre Dame became one of Universal's biggest box office draws of the 1920s, making up in part for earlier expensive disappointments. Its lavish Paris set covered a huge chunk of Universal City and remained as the background for the studio's later cycle of horror pictures. Thousands of extras were filmed before the replica of the Notre Dame cathedral. Elaborate special effects created the illusion of the cathedral's tower and the surrounding city. Wallace Worsley's dull direction showcases the sets, occasionally finding a good high angle to represent Quasimodo's point of view. Slack storytelling fumbles an entire major subplot. An elaborate extended flashback establishes that Esmeralda is really the kidnapped daughter of a noblewoman, now driven mad with grief. (spoiler) After that buildup we expect a melodramatic revelation, something on the order of Griffith's Orphans of the Storm. The issue is instead resolved in a perfunctory, offhand manner, robbing Esmeralda of a major emotional payoff.

The script uses 'poetic' visuals to convey certain ideas. When Phoebus seduces Esmeralda, we're shown an insect caught in a spider's web (an effect ruined by a redundant inter-title). Another 'visual simile' elides the actual moment of a stabbing: as a knife is drawn, the image cuts to a candle being blown out. When we cut back, the evil deed is done. The famous whipping scene is reduced to almost nothing. The whip flies once, and Quasimodo reacts once. Not one lash occurs on screen, and the scene is over before it begins. Quasimodo topples stones and molten lead from the battlements of the church, but we see few of the consequences the mob below. We have to guess why Clopin is suddenly in such terrible shape. The original picture almost certainly displayed a great deal more violence. According to expert commentator Michael F. Blake, 1923's censors were to blame. To an editor's eye, it looks very much as if the censorship occurred during a re-cut for Universal's 16mm Show-at-Home prints.

One close-up knife wound is still intact, most likely retained because it's the only indication that a stabbing has occurred. Without it we'd never know why the victim later collapses and dies, a major story point. We've all read about the extremes of Chaney's makeup. A harness under his full body suit held the heavy hump in place and prevented the actor from standing up straight. Quasimodo's deformities are convincing even when he clambers up and down the cathedral exterior. His misshapen face and dead eye must have been a nightmare for audiences of 1923, but the character generates considerable sympathy. His acting style operates on a different plane than the other players, with their poses and static expressions -- the "Man of a Thousand Faces" has found a more direct emotional connection with his audience. Despite Lon Chaney's presence The Hunchback isn't a horror film. The imposed bittersweet ending softens the downbeat finale of Hugo's book: years later, dungeon keepers find Quasimodo and Esmeralda's skeletal corpses joined in a deathly embrace.

Image and Blackhawk's Ultimate Edition DVD of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is said to be from an original 1924 print that David Shepard acquired almost immediately after the previous Image disc release. It's not clear if it is actually longer because the new copy has been transferred at a slightly lower frame rate. We are told that this copy has original main titles from 1923, as opposed to the 1928 reissue credits on the previous release. The 16mm source is of very good quality. Although not as sharp as 35mm, the image is stable, with few breaks. Many hairline scratches are visible. Viewers spoiled by other restorations may not perceive that much of an improvement over the older disc. The new disc is definitely sharper, revealing more film damage along with the additional detail. The framing is also improved, with a small amount of extra image on all four sides. The impressive orchestral score was compiled by Donald Hunsburger and adapted and conducted by Robert Israel in 2006. It greatly adds to the film's sweep and drama. Shepard's extras add a couple of new items to the contents of previous editions. Michael F.

Blake does commentary duty, talking about the film's background and explaining the content of a few missing sections. At one point a dress and shoes for Esmeralda to wear just show up in the cathedral loft; in a lost scene, Quasimodo originally traded a box of candles for them. In a newsreel outtake, Chaney demonstrates how he climbed the cathedral set ("There's not much to it."). An image gallery contains old ads, posters and a large number of original stills. A sizeable excerpt is presented of a 1913 film called Alas and Alack, in which new Universal player Chaney appears in two roles, one of them a hunchback! Blake provides the essay for an insert booklet, which is accompanied by a reproduction of the film's original souvenir program. Lastly, about twenty 3-D photos of the sets and Chaney are presented in the red-blue anaglyphic process. Two pair of 3-D glasses are included. Written with assistance from Gary Teetzel.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, The Hunchback of Notre Dame rates: Film History Milestones - 1923 Event and Significance 1923 The four Warner brothers' film distribution and production business was incorporated and called Warner Brothers Pictures Inc. - one of the first large film studios. They released the 6-reel comedy-drama The Gold Diggers (1923), now a lost film. 1923 At the Rivoli Theatre in New York, Lee de Forest demonstrated a sound-on-film method for recording sound on the edge of the film strip, called Phonofilm. He projected a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers. It would become the industry standard. 1923 One of the highest-grossing films of the year was Paramount's and James Cruze's feature-length western The Covered Wagon (1923). It was an expensive effort which cost $800,000 yet brought $4 million at the box-office.

The film was the historical drama of a wagon train in the mid-1800s moving westward, encountering harsh environmental and weather conditions (a river crossing and prairie fire), and of course, hostile Indians. Hollywood was encouraged to produce many more westerns in subsequent years. 1923 Handsome 31 year-old silent era actor Wallace Reid had been appearing, on average (over a seven-year period) in as many as one feature film every seven weeks, when he died of influenza and a weakened immune system. The real cause of his death was an overdose, due to his alcoholism and severe drug addiction to morphine (allegedly supplied by the studio to keep him working following a train wreck back injury). This was one of many scandals that would rock Hollywood and eventually lead to attempts to clamp down and prompt the implementation of the motion picture production code (Hays Code) in the early 1930s. 1923 Harold Lloyd, the bookish, horn-rimmed glasses, straw-hat-wearing comedian and Everyman hero, nicknamed "the King of Daredevil Comedy," thrilled audiences with his death-defying stunts in Safety Last (1923) .

This successful film is most remembered for its thrilling, hair-raising climax - a reckless, 'safety last,' humorous stunt on the side of a twelve-story skyscraper above busy city streets. The scary sequence was deliberately shot with most of the camera compositions including views of the perilous drop behind him. 1923 Director Cecil B. DeMille's first version of the Biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1923) was the most expensive film ever made and featured the largest set ever constructed in movie history to that time - the 'City of the Pharoahs' (gates 120 feet tall and 720 feet wide, and with four massive 35 foot tall Egyptian statues weighing 1,000,000 pounds). After the big-budget film was made, the director ordered the set in San Luis Obispo County (California) bulldozed and buried -- 60 years later, archeologists uncovered part of the set at the location known as the Guadalupe-Nipomo Sand Dunes. DeMille remade his silent epic in 1956.

1923 In the first filmed version of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), Lon Chaney was transformed into the deformed hunchbacked bellringer for the silent film with extensive, convincing makeup (a wig, puffy cheeks, false teeth, fake eye, etc.). 1923 The Hollywood sign (originally advertising and spelling out HOLLYWOODLAND) was built above town in 1923 for $21,000 by a real estate developer. It was not an advertisement to promote the major film studios, but was actually put up above the Hollywood Hills to advertise a local real estate development in nearby Beachwood Canyon - and was only supposed to be installed for 18 months. The sign lost its suffix "LAND" in 1949 when the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce began a contract with the City of LA Parks Department to repair and rebuild the sign. 1923 Paramount Pictures' silent comedy Hollywood (1923) by director James Cruze, a "lost film," starred Hope Drown in her film debut (and sole film appearance) as aspiring actress Angela Whitaker who ventured to Hollywood.

Due to cameos by dozens of silent film era stars (i.e., Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. DeMille, Anna Q. Nilsson, Richard Arlen, Noah Beery, William Boyd, Bebe Daniels, Douglas Fairbanks, Ben Turpin, Tim Holt, Zasu Pitts, Mary Astor, Mary & Jack Pickford, Alan Hale, William S. Hart, Pola Negri, Will Rogers, Sid Grauman, and Gloria Swanson), it was necessary to fill the main characters' roles with unknown performers. 1923 The Fleischer Brothers (Dave and Max) produced the first feature-length animation (a documentary), titled The Einstein Theory of Relativity. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) Lon Chaney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) on Blu-ray Lon Chaney was the most unlikely of Hollywood superstar actors. Talented and ambitious, he fearlessly took on roles of tortured victims, twisted villains, and misshapen outcasts, parts that he brought to life with a mix of elaborate make-up, physically demanding incarnations, and emotionally intense performances.

In some ways, you could see him as the De Niro of the silent era, sinking himself into each role so deeply he loses himself in it, at least as far as the viewer in concerned. In an industry that celebrates physical beauty and charisma, Chaney won over audiences by playing characters that looked or acted like monster while communicating their inner drives and torments with his eyes and his face and his body language. The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923 was his first major production, a lavish period drama based on a classic novel and created at a cost of over $1 million by Universal, at the time a second-tier studio with ambitions to compete with the majors in the blockbuster realm. It made him one of Hollywood's biggest screen stars. This adaptation largely hews to the narrative of Victor Hugo's novel. Chaney plays Quasimodo, the horribly misshapen, deaf and half blind bell-ringer at Notre Dame, nominally raised by Don Claudio (Nigel De Brulier), the Archdeacon of Notre Dame.

He lives in the bell tower of the cathedral and watches the revelry in the public space below the parapets of the church, where he becomes fascinated by Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller), the gypsy dancer and daughter of Clopin (Ernest Torrence), the King of the Beggars. When she shows him kindness, he becomes a devoted protector even while the scheming Jehan (Brandon Hurst), brother to Don Claudio, plots to take Esmeralda as his own. Wallace Worsley, who previously directed Chaney in four features (among them the twisted 1920 crime thriller The Penalty), dutifully (if flatly) directs this massive production (he wasn't Chaney's first choice... or second... or third). The major characters get their introductions in turn before Quasimodo's story even begins and the mechanics of the relationships are spelled out in headlines that suggest where the story is heading, even if it turns out a bit misleading.

When the dashing womanizer and king's guard Phoebus (Norman Kerry) sweeps the innocent Esmeralda off her feet with pretty words and gallant displays, the scene dissolves into an image of a moth in spider's web, a visual metaphor that is a charming as it is obvious. It's a momentary truth, however, as Phoebus is somehow transformed by her innocence and trust and escorts her home untouched. Esmeralda has that effect on everyone, it seems, except Jehan, who sets Quasimodo to kidnap her and then abandons the wretch when he's caught by the royal guards and sentenced to the lash in front of a cheering crowd. The most glaring change from the novel is splitting the character of Claude Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre Dame, into two roles, each incarnating on one of the conflicting halves of his character. Don Claudio is the Archdeacon here, a true, moral man of the church and kindly protector of Quasimodo, while his lustful, corrupt side is spun off into the character of Jehan, his secular brother who keeps up the façade of upper class morality while working with the underworld.

One wonders if the change was made to placate the church. In this version, the religious authority is nothing but pure and holy. And, quite frankly, impotent. Where Frollo was keenly aware of everything happening outside the doors of his cathedral, Don Claudio is oblivious to even the wildest revelry, wandering out of his cloistered church only when it fits the dramatic needs of the script. And where Quasimodo's devotion to Frollo arises from his debt to his caretaker and creates a powerful conflict when he takes on the role of protector of Esmeralda, there is no such relationship to bond him to Jehan or explain why he agrees to do the dirty work for this ne'er do well. The storytelling is mix of the grandiose and the clumsy, with Chaney largely anchoring the film and the size and scope of the spectacle elevating production.

The sets are magnificent, the biggest that Universal had built to date (the giant exterior of the cathedral and surrounding building remained standing for decades and were reused for Universal's defining horror classics of the thirties), and the Cathedral exterior is extended by a hanging miniature so it towers over the public square in in front of the church, where the cast of thousands is gathered for the opening festival sequence and again for the climactic uprising as Clopin leads an assault on the cathedral. It was convincing enough to make some believe that Universal actually shot on location rather than on their backlot. Chaney's make-up is spectacularly grotesque, with a gargoylish face of distorted cheekbones, a distended eyeball, and teeth broken to nubs, mats of coarse hair across his chest and shoulders like a werewolf, and of course his hump and bent stance (the strap he designed to hold his plaster hump in place also kept him from standing upright). But the make-up is only the surface.

Chaney gave Quasimodo a dynamic physical life, scrambling down climbing ropes (he was at times doubled by a stunt man) or hanging from the bell rope like a big kid, and a childlike innocence that gave every emotion a purity and intensity that drove his loyalties. He's less beast than arrested child in a deformed adult body, treated like an animal for so long he's become accustomed to it, yet still longing for contact. His affection for Esmeralda may begin with sexual attraction but her kindness to him in the face of abuse from everyone else makes him loyal and dedicated, like an animal bonded to its human. Patsy Ruth Miller manages to keep her innocence even while dancing for the crowds, becoming the conscience of the underworld, and Ernest Torrence is superb as the King of the Beggars, reluctantly giving in to her pleas of charity. Torrence moved freely between villains and heroes and between serious and comic roles in the silent cinema. He was a physically towering man with a big personality that he wielded well in his character turns and he plays Clopin as a man so powerful he doesn't need to make a show of physical intimidation.

The immediate response of the criminal hordes to his orders, his gestures, even a quick glance, confirms his authority. Lon Chaney created a lot of twisted wretches, vengeful villains, and criminal masterminds, but Quasimodo remains his most sympathetic screen character. He gives a big, broad performance befitting the film and the character, a simple creature with the look and strength of a beast and the innocence and loyalty of a child. According to the liner notes, there are no existing original 35mm prints of the film and no camera negative (not that uncommon for a 1923 feature), so this edition was mastered for Blu-ray from a 16mm reduction print struck in 1926 from the original camera negative, a restoration produced by David Shepard and Serge Bromberg. It's the same source used for the 2007 DVD release from Image (titled The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Ultimate Edition) and apparently the closest to the original release that is known to archivists.

The wear on the print is evident in a steady rain of minor surface scuffs and light vertical scratches down the image, but the trade-off is an improvement in sharpness and image from the earlier Image release (which was already far and away better than the other public domain editions on the market). It also features the orchestral score compiled by Donald Hunsberger and adapted and arranged by Robert Israel, conducting a small orchestra in the Czech Republic, from that earlier DVD release. The recording is bright and full, a lively and varied piece that draws in the viewer but ultimately lacks the dramatic scope and darkness that the story calls for. New to this edition is a slideshow gallery with over 100 original production and publicity stills set to selections from the score (it runs about 14 minutes) and a digital reproduction of the original souvenir program (both mastered in HD). Carried over from the Ultimate Edition DVD is the commentary track by Lon Chaney biographer and professional make-up artist Michael F.

Blake, the (incomplete) 1915 short Alas and Alack featuring Chaney in two roles (one of them a hunchback) but missing the final act of the story, and newsreel footage of Chaney (out of costume) on the Cathedral set of Hunchback. The accompanying booklet features an informative (and well-illustrated) essay on the production of the film written by Michael F. Blake written for the earlier DVD release. by Sean Axmaker

Question: Which famous actor of his day, played the Hunchback of Notre Dame in the 1923 silent film?
Answer: LON CHANEY