Universal Weekly (1923-1925)

Vol. 19, No. 7 Universal Weekly 83 THE CRITICS SAY: Hunchhack^^ Is Best Picture In Months; Lon Chaney Triumphs In Cripple Role Crowds Pay to Stand at Opening of Film from Victor Hugo's Classic at Stillman. By HARRY O'ROURKE ggrr^HE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME," the screen version of Victor I Hugo's masterpiece, will go down in motion picture history as one of the best productions of the year. The cast is wonderfully balanced and Lon Chaney in his role of Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer of the ancient cathedral, has indeed scored a triumph. The scenes and the gigantic settings in the picture are a tribute to motion pictures Carl Laemmle, president of the Universal, accomplished what has heretofore been held impossible, by taking one of the classics of all time, bluepenciling it and making it a success in the films. The picture differs in many respects from Hugo's melodramatic novel, but it retells the story in an admirable manner. Before the filming a replica of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was erected on the Universal company's lot and street scenes duplicating those in France in the days of Louis XI were builded. The entire picture has a flavor of pre-revolution days in France, with its knights and ladies, its soldiers in armor, its despotic king and its downtrodden people in whose hearts the spark of rebellion is ever lighted. The mob scenes are vivid and vital. The filming of that infuriated mob as it storms the sacred edifice to rescue the foster daughter of its leader who has been given refuge there while waiting to be hanged is an accomplishment seldom equaled and surpassed only by the scenes that follow when Quasimodo battles off the besiegers with streams of molten metal until the troops arrive. The spirit of the story is Quasimodo. He is a grotesque monster, twisted in body and restricted in mind and yet under that forbidding aspect Lon Chaney makes the character human and pitiful. He is mortally wounded in the events that follow the storming of the cathedral, but even in death he is happy. He is a pathetic sight as he staggers to the rope that controls his beloved bells and rings out his death knell while the mob leader's daughter, whom he loves as a beast might love its master, is reunited with her soldier sweetheart. There is a distorted smile on his hideous face when he falls over dead as the bells chime out the passing of his soul. The Stillman Theatre was filled to capacity at the opening performance of "The Hunchback" Sunday afternoon and in the evening standing room only was being sold at 7 o'clock. "The Hunchback" is one of the best pictures to be shown in Cleveland in many months. It is a dramatic tale that excites admiration by its undeniable beauty and power. It has its flaws the same as every other picture, but one can overlook flaws in a production so massive. It has fulfilled every prediction of even the most enthusiastic press agent. It is a story that dates back to 1482, to the days of France when the spirit of revolution was in the making. The scenes, the photography and the directing are excellent. Lon Chaney is the outstanding star of the cast. He is horrible to look upon, yet he is pitiful. His daring poses on the projecting gargoyles of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, his descent stone by stone of the front facade of the church and his acting in the gruesome scene of his castigation in the market place within the shadow of the church stamp the picture as his best. It is better than "The Miracle Man," better than "Shadows." Patsy Ruth Miller, playing the role of Esmeralda, ranks next to the king of screen contortionists, in superior work. She is a child of the underworld, the foster daughter of Clopin, leader of the beggars, and she falls in love with a man of nobility. Quasimodo worships her because she braved the jeers of the crowd and gave him water when he was weak from thirst after being publicly whipped for a crime he did not commit. He gives his life in payment for that kindness when, toward the end of the picture, he saves her from Jehan, the crafty brother of an attache of the church. He seizes him as he is about to attack the girl and, as he hurls him over an upper balcony on the cathedral, Jehan plunges a dagger in the hunchback's heart. Throughout the picture Jehan seeks to win Esmeralda and when he sees his efforts to break her troth with Phoebus de Chateaupers are futile, he stabs the lover and places the blame upon the girl. She is sentenced to be hanged, but is saved from the gallows by Quasimodo and finds refuge in the cathedral. The spectacular mob scenes and the stabbing of the hunchback follow in rapid succession. Phoebus leads his troops to quell the rioters and not until he meets Esmeralda after the stabbing of Quasimodo does she know he is still alive. (The Cleveland News) ^^Hunchhack^^ Mot;ie Fills The Stillman Theatre By DAVIS tjrpHE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE I DAME" started Sunday at the Stillman. Here's an effectively emotional movie, admirably constructed so that interest in it grows steadily to its violent climax. By that time one has become highly concerned about the fortunes in love of its fair heroine, sweet Esmeralda. But perhaps the movie owes its greatest merit to the way the pathetically grotesque bell ringer, who gives the tale its name, is impersonated by Lon Chaney. (The picture, of course, is the best now showing in Cleveland). "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," as the picture proceeds, engages the emotions in sympathy for the heroine, in pity for the grotesque bellringer, and in hate for the heroine's enemies. One wishes greatly to see her reunited to her soldier lover, and the picture marches steadily to that event. (The picture ends with her head on the burnished metal of his armored chest.) Chaney has impersonated various crippled or misshapen men, but none with success (Continued on Page 36)