The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939 American film starring Charles Laughton as Quasimodo and Maureen O'Hara as Esmeralda. Directed by William Dieterle and produced by Pandro S. Berman, the film was based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

For this production RKO Radio Pictures built on their movie ranch a massive medieval city of Paris and Notre Dame Cathedral, one of the largest and most extravagant sets ever constructed.

Plot

"With the end of the 15th century, the Middle Ages came to a close. Europe began to see great changes. France, ravaged by a hundred years of War, at last found peace. The people under Louis XI felt free to hope again ~ to dream of progress. But superstition and prejudice often stood in the way, seeking to crush the adventurous spirit of man."

The film opens in 1482 with King Louis XI and his close advisor, Frollo, the King's Chief Justice of Paris, in a printing shop. Frollo is determined to do everything in his power to rid Paris of anything he sees as evil, including the printing press and gypsies, who at the time are persecuted and prohibited from entering Paris. That day is Paris' annual celebration, the Festival of Fools. Esmeralda, a young gypsy girl, is seen dancing in front of an audience of people, including the King and Frollo. Quasimodo, the hunchback and bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, is crowned the Pope of Fools until Frollo catches up to him and takes him back to the church.

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris) is a French Romantic novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered, and the true protagonist of the story Esméralda. English translator Frederic Shoberl named the novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in 1833 because at the time, Romantic novels were more popular than Romance novels in England. The story is set in Paris, France in the Late Middle Ages, during the reign of Louis XI (1461–1483).

Background

Victor Hugo began writing Notre-Dame de Paris in 1829, largely to make his contemporaries more aware of the value of the architecture, which was neglected and often destroyed to be replaced by new buildings, or defaced by replacement of parts of buildings in a newer style. For instance, the medieval stained glass panels of Notre-Dame de Paris had been replaced by white glass to let more light into the church. This explains the large descriptive sections of the book, which far exceed the requirements of the story. A few years earlier, Hugo had already published a paper entitled Guerre aux Démolisseurs (War to the Demolishers) specifically aimed at saving Paris' medieval architecture. The agreement with his original publisher, Gosselin, was that the book would be finished that same year, but Hugo was constantly delayed due to the demands of other projects. In the summer of 1830 Gosselin demanded that Hugo complete the book by February 1831. Beginning in September 1830, Hugo worked nonstop on the project thereafter. The book was finished six months later.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame commonly refers to:

It may also refer to:

Christianity

Churches and cathedrals

Algeria

Cambodia

Canada

France