Yet another in a long list of flicks I've heard about but never actually watched. I've seen clips from this one, but never sat through the whole thing.
Sadly, it seems in this case clips are enough, as long as you watch the right ones. The film is rightfully famous for Lon Chaney's performance as Quasimodo, the hunchback, as well as his innovative and grotesque makeup. But, when Quasimodo isn't on screen, we're left with a boring labyrinth of supporting characters, half of which we could do without and the other half of which could stand to get to the point a little more quickly.
Aside from Chaney, the other star of the film is Notre Dame itself, faithfully reconstructed on some soundstage at Universal as pretty much indistinguishable from the real thing. It's probably not full size, but it sure looks like it is, as it's shot from every angle, close up to wide. A cast of hundreds of extras is constantly on hand to alternatively storm the cathedral and party in the town square below the bell towers, as needed.
There are some pretty impressive stunt scenes in the first and last reels of the film as Quasimodo (and his stunt double) swing around the pillars, statues, ropes and gargoyles of Notre Dame as if he's a monkey in a zoo enclosure, albeit several hundred feet off the ground. But, inbetween these, we get seemingly endless scenes of costume melodrama as all the far less interesting characters explore the more boring aspects of romance, revolution and betrayel.
In case you're not familiar, HUNCHBACK is based on the novel by Victor Hugo, the story of Quasimodo, a deaf and half-blind hunchback who lives in Notre Dame cathedral and rings the bells. He's one of many characters who eventually falls in love with the gypsy woman, Esmerelda (Patsy Ruth Miller). Her other suitors include the captain of the guard and ladies' man, Phoebus (Norman Kerry), as well as Jehan (Brandon Hurst), creepy brother of the righteous head-deacon of Notre Dame, Don Claudio (Nigel De Brulier).
The tale is tragic as Quasimodo is first manipulated into kidnapping Esmeralda by Jehan, then caught by Phoebus and tortured in front of all of Paris. Esmerelda is the only one who shows him any sympathy, but meanwhile she's falling in love with Phoebus, who thwarted the kidnapping. Jehan, pissed, stabs Phoebus and frames Esmerelda, who is tortured into confessing and sentenced to death. Turns out, only Quasimodo can save her.
Add to this the fact that Esmeralda was kidnapped at a young age by gypsies and purchased by King of the Beggars, Clopin (Ernest Torrence), who spends half his time attempting to revolt against the upper class and the other half of his time attempting to cock block anyone daring to try to get close to Esmerelda, and you see where this starts to get a little overly complicated. On top of all of this, I've barely scratched the surface when it comes to extraneous characters and subplots.
In the end, the flick is important for Lon Chaney, the massive sets and the epic spectacle. Everything else in between is just boring filler.
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