It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since Morlock RHS posted this beautiful sequence of stills and dialogue from 1939′s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O’ Hara.  I think enough time has passed that we can revisit the subject, to take another look at the interesting parade of actors who’ve brought Victor Hugo’s tragic Quasimodo to life.  For those of us who revel in the monstrous, the Hunchback gives us an opportunity to feed both our romantic and our gruesome-loving sides, and what a potent combination that is.

Let’s of course start with Lon Chaney in the 1923 silent version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, produced by Universal’s legendary producer Carl Laemmle.  Filmed several years before Chaney’s huge successes in titles like Phantom of the Opera and The Unholy Three, Chaney was virtually unrecognizable as Quasimodo.  His Hunchback was lively, and immediately shown as bad-tempered, spitting on the crowds far below him in his perch on a parapet of Notre Dame Cathedral, and mocking them with high-altitude acrobatics as he scampers among the gargoyles.  He’s ugly, but impish and energetic, and as with all the subsequent Quasimodos, the make-up used to transform him is particular to his face.  None of the Quasimodos looks the same, and starting with Chaney, whose stock in trade was intricate and convincing physical transformation, the looks are fascinating to compare.  When his shirt is ripped off while he’s on the punishment wheel — it’s not a pillory, what is the correct term? — he has quite the rug on his chest and he looks positively furry.  Patsy Ruth Miller is a sweet and solicitous Esmeralda. 

In terms of a completely devastating performance as Quasimodo, Charles Laughton in 1939′s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, directed by William Dieterle, quite simply can’t be beat.  Not only was Laughton an exceptional actor, but physically he was already almost vulnerable-seeming, a roundish fellow, and his version of the Hunchback was perhaps the most monstrous, and also the greatest.  His face almost seems to have been melted, one eye deformed, his lumpy visage frightening and taking advantage of Laughton’s already undelicate features.  When he pokes his head out when he’s crowned King of Fools, it’s a shocking moment.  He’s so ugly he’s beautiful, as the intrigued stares of the noblewomen can attest to.  Later when he’s being punished and his shirt is ripped off, the liquidy sheen of his pale and un-hairy body is shocking and painful to see.  Again, Laughton’s own large size and his own awkward physicality added to the distinct power of his Hunchback, so different from Chaney’s previous incarnation.  The 1939 movie has everything going for it — a wonderful Oscar-nominated score by Alfred Newman, incredible supporting performances by a completely radiant Maureen O’ Hara as Esmeralda, so sexy yet innocent and refreshing, a handsome and passionate Edmond O’ Brien as the rebel poet, the seething and erotically possessed Cedric Hardwicke and everybody else — and in overall impact it still thrills.  It’s hard to believe that Laughton didn’t get an Oscar nomination for his stunning performance — it was a tough year, lots of good competition – and maybe it was considered a “trick” performance — all make-up aided — though that always tends to get nominations these days.  Laughton is heartbreaking and truly an outsider, and his Quasimodo is still the gold standard. 

Another bigscreen Hunchback is 1956′s Anthony Quinn.  This movie, directed by   Jean Delannoy (who celebrated his 100th birthday this past January!) has the disadvantage of foreign language dubbing which takes away from the impact and takes us too far away from the story before us.  Gina Lollobrigida’s sexpot Esmeralda can’t come close to the breathtaking charm of Maureen O’ Hara.  Totally different vibe there; Gina is molto voluptuous, very Italian.  It feels more like a Hercules movie in terms of production values, and Quinn’s Quasimodo doesn’t even get much of a hump.  He’s big and boorish more than completely the outcast, stuck with a bad haircut, shaggy eyebrows, and seems more slow-in-the-head than anything else.  While praised for sticking closer to the novel than previous versions, this is a very 1950s’ tarted-up version which lacks a central amazing performance that would make the whole thing work. 

U.S. TV brought us a good Quasimodo in 1982′s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with lovely English actress Lesley-Anne Down as Esmeralda (she had made a big splash in Upstairs, Downstairs), I Claudius’ brilliant Derek Jacobi as the entranced cleric Frollo and Anthony Hopkins as the Hunchback.  Hopkins received an Emmy Award nomination for his role, and much critical acclaim.  It’s evidently now available on DVD but in a truncated length (cut for a 2-hour movie length down from 3!), and it would be well worth checking out for the great cast alone.  Another thing different in the many versions is the plot itself, and this one ends differently and more definitely, if not more happily, for Quasimodo advocates.

In 1997 actor-singer Mandy Patinkin took his turn as Quasimodo for cable television, with the sultry Salma Hayek as Esmeralda and RIchard Harris as the bedeviled cleric in another television do-over.  Patinkin has got a good hump, at least, and Hayek is alluring as Esmeralda.  The NY Times liked Mandy, by gum, and Patinkin claimed that Charles Laughton’s Quasimodo was his bible, the 1939 production frequently consulted for inspiration by all connected with this adaptation.  You know how TV is, interesting things come and sometimes just disappear, and Patinkin’s Hunchback was surely overshadowed by Disney’s 1996 bigscreen animated musical of the novel.  Singing gargoyles notwithstanding, Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame wasn’t one of the studio’s biggest hits, probably because of the underlying serious and quite un-fairytale like source material that even a few catchy ditties couldn’t lighten up for the kiddie market. 

Thanks to DVD releases and the internet, where Hunchback aficionados can share their passions, this collection of fine actors twisting and transforming themselves into Victor Hugo’s tragic Quasimodo is fairly close at hand.  The novel is available on many sites offering public domain literary works, including this one, and though maybe it’s a little heavy for an end-of-summer project, may we suggest reading the book again and watching all the movies as a winter diversion?  It’s on my to-do list now after learning more about this diverse collection of interpretations.  And of course you can claim your trip to Paris to see the real cathedral is a learning experience, too!  Sweet!

Here are a couple of interesting videos.  First is a mash-up, “My Hump” performed by the cast of the 1939 version:

 And how about a little compare and contrast of the various Esmeralda’s dancing styles?