The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Country: US
Technical: bw 117m
Director: William Dieterle
Cast: Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Maureen O'Hara, Edmond O'Brien
Synopsis:
In fifteenth century Paris, the barely one hundred year-old cathedral is home to Quasimodo, the bell-ringer. Deformed and penniless he has, however, one thing in common with the wicked Chief Justice: his love for a gypsy girl, who is to be framed for murder when she does not give herself freely.
Review:
A masterpiece of studio production, this RKO adaptation has everything others lack: smooth Hollywood storytelling, an aesthete in the director's chair with the taste to avoid sentimentality, and a performance that goes beyond makeup to capture the tormented soul at the heart of what can too easily descend into melodrama.
Country: US
Technical: bw 117m
Director: William Dieterle
Cast: Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Maureen O'Hara, Edmond O'Brien
Synopsis:
In fifteenth century Paris, the barely one hundred year-old cathedral is home to Quasimodo, the bell-ringer. Deformed and penniless he has, however, one thing in common with the wicked Chief Justice: his love for a gypsy girl, who is to be framed for murder when she does not give herself freely.
Review:
A masterpiece of studio production, this RKO adaptation has everything others lack: smooth Hollywood storytelling, an aesthete in the director's chair with the taste to avoid sentimentality, and a performance that goes beyond makeup to capture the tormented soul at the heart of what can too easily descend into melodrama.
Country: US
Technical: bw 117m
Director: William Dieterle
Cast: Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Maureen O'Hara, Edmond O'Brien
Synopsis:
In fifteenth century Paris, the barely one hundred year-old cathedral is home to Quasimodo, the bell-ringer. Deformed and penniless he has, however, one thing in common with the wicked Chief Justice: his love for a gypsy girl, who is to be framed for murder when she does not give herself freely.
Review:
A masterpiece of studio production, this RKO adaptation has everything others lack: smooth Hollywood storytelling, an aesthete in the director's chair with the taste to avoid sentimentality, and a performance that goes beyond makeup to capture the tormented soul at the heart of what can too easily descend into melodrama.