The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923): ***

Based on Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is set in a troubled Paris under the harsh reign of Louis IX, with all the drama converging near the Notre Dame de Paris. Quasimodo (Lon Chaney) is the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre Dame, under the Arch Deacon Claude Frollo (Nigel De Brulier) and serving his brother Jehan (Brandon Hurst). Quasimodo is misanthropic due to being shunned and reviled by the local Parisians, but Quasimodo begins to change after being treated kindly by the young Gypsy girl Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller), daughter of Clopin (Ernst Torrence) the leader of the Parisian criminals. Esmeralda has also caught the eye of Captain Phoebus (Norman Kerry), who is charmed by her dancing. However, Jehan lusts after Esmeralda also and plans various ways to get Esmeralda for himself.   

The sheer scale of the production surrounding Hunchback of Notre Dame is impressive. The lower half of the Notre Dame cathedral is replicated on set, with every intricate detail lovingly re-created for this film. Hundreds of extras and dozens of horses with armour clad guards populate the screen. There are so many sticks, swords and torches waved about in certain scenes, you feel certain that some poor extra must have lost an eye at some point during filming. The few interior shots of the cathedral are used sparingly with characters proceeding into the depths of the frame, into the shadowy nave bordered by Gothic stone columns. Otherwise, the cinematography is fairly basic as it appears to be characteristic of the early 1920s films. 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame does have one major weakness; it tries to be too faithful to the novel. Every single minor character and subplot is crammed into the film, the mystery of who Esmeralda’s real mother is, the presence of poet Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) and Phoebus’s fiancée Fleur (Winifred Bryson), and a crashed party is added in for no particular reason. Consequently, the film drags in places and is somewhat convoluted at points. Hilariously though, The Hunchback of Notre Dame does take certain artistic liberties, most particularly in the happy ending (or at least happier than the novel’s). Fleur was certainly not cool about her fiancé swanning off with a young Gypsy, which makes her presence in the film a bit bizarre, especially when Phoebus is giving loving looks towards Esmeralda right in front of Fleur and she doesn't even blink an eye.    

Lon Chaney is the main attraction of The Hunchback of Notre Dame as Quasimodo. Chaney is ungainly when he is walking about, quickly becoming nimble when he is traversing the outer walls of Notre Dame. His make-up is wonderful: a bulging blind eye, protruding cheeks and bottom lip, caved-in teeth and a tangle of hair sullies his face. Again, Lon Chaney brings a certain nuance to his performance in the sympathetic Quasimodo. His jeers at the people below him are merely a cover, hiding his desire to experience the world beyond the walls of Notre Dame. When Esmeralda leaves after bringing him water, his eyes follow her in gratitude even when she is off-screen. Quasimodo goes wild at the sight of the cathedral doors being destroyed, a desecration of his sanctuary. Chaney portrays Quasimodo’s hard and gentle nature with a single look. Patsy Ruther Miller’s performance is also accomplished as the merciful Esmeralda, dancing with joy, looking adoringly into Phoebus’s eyes and shirking away from Jehan’s lecherous advances. 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame possesses some major narrative problems, but Lon Chaney’s performance is worth watching and the scale of the production is admirable.