Wednesday, April 23, 2014

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The contorted bell ringer of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral becomes a pawn in his master's evil scheme to kidnap the sweet and beautiful gypsy Esmeralda. As an underground revolution concurrently ensues and Esmeralda is brought up falsely on murder charges, Quasimodo sees his opportunity to seize the day and exact revenge on his odious keeper. Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg's silent production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a riveting retelling of Victor Hugo's classic due to its expansive staging and an unforgettable Lon Chaney performance who appears more sparingly than one might presume.