The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) |
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| Director(s) | Wallace Worsley |
| Producer(s) | Irving Thalberg (uncredited), Carl Laemmle (uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Drama, Film Adaptation, Horror, Silent Films |
| Top Topics | Book-Based, Paris |
Featured Cast of The Hunchback of Notre Dame See More »
Lon Chaney
(as Quasimodo)
Patsy Ruth Miller
(as Esmeralda)
Norman Kerry
(as Phoebus de Chateaupers)
Kate Lester
(as Madame de Condelaurier)
Nigel De Brulier
(as Don Claudio)
Tully Marshall
(as El Rey Luis XI)
Harry von Meter
(as Mons. Neufchatel)
Raymond Hatton
(as Gringoire)
Eulalie Jensen
(as Marie)
Gladys Brockwell
(as Sister Gudule)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Overview:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) was a Silent Films - Drama Film directed by Wallace Worsley and produced by Irving Thalberg and Carl Laemmle.
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Quotes from The Hunchback of Notre Dame:
Quasimodo:
[title card] Sanctuary! Sanctuary!
Quasimodo:
Why was I not made of stone, like thee?
See More Quotes from The Hunchback of Notre DameFacts from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
See More Facts about The Hunchback of Notre Dame >>
This film was the first to use intercom technology to act as a communication device between the director and his assistants during production. Western Electric provided the wireless communication. This is standard equipment on large-scale films today.
The myth that Irving Thalberg came up with the idea for the movie was dispelled when it was discovered through telegrams and contracts in the collection of Alfred Grasso, Lon Chaney's manager, that Chaney himself suggested not only the story but who would be cast and who would direct. Chaney's original pick for director was actually Frank Borzage, not Wallace Worsley (who had directed several other pictures for Chaney). Erich von Stroheim, Allen Holubar, Chester Withey and Emile Chautard were all considered as well.
In order to prepare himself for the role of Quasimodo, Lon Chaney held interviews with people who suffered from various physical deformities. His makeup was so masterful for its time that many film patrons believed that the actor playing the title character truly appeared in real life as he did on film.
Wallace Worsley Jr., son of the film's director, said that many of the extras for the massive crowd scenes were recruited in downtown Los Angeles for $1.00 a night and meals. Among them, he said, were a good number of prostitutes, who did a "considerable sideline business" on the sets. Universal also hired 50 Pinkerton detectives and put them among the crowd, and their job was to catch pickpockets and various other thieves among the extras.
Poor quality transfers of the film are due to the fact that the film only survives in 16mm form, mainly through Universal's "Show-At-Home" film rental library. About 10-15 minutes of footage still remains missing.