The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956 film)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
French theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jean Delannoy
Produced by	Raymond Hakim Robert Hakim
Written by	Victor Hugo (novel) Jean Aurenche Jacques Prévert Ben Hecht
Based on	The Hunchback of Notre Dame  by Victor Hugo
Starring	Gina Lollobrigida Anthony Quinn Jean Danet Alain Cuny Robert Hirsch
Music by	Georges Auric Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
Cinematography	Michel Kelber
Edited by	Henri Taverna
Distributed by	Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Release dates	November 23, 1956
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Italy/France
Language	French
Budget	1 million
Box office	$2.25 million (US)[1]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (in French Notre-Dame de Paris) is a 1956 French film version of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name, directed by Jean Delannoy and produced by Raymond Hakim and Robert Hakim. The film is the first version of the novel to be made in color.

It stars Mexican actor Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo and Gina Lollobrigida as Esmeralda. In the tradition of many sword and sandal spectacles, Quinn and Lollobrigida are the only two actors in the film who actually speak in English; the rest of the cast is made up of French actors who have had their voices dubbed into English. Anthony Quinn's portrayal of the hunchback Quasimodo is more human and less horrific than most other portrayals. Instead of having a huge hump and a hideously deformed face, he only has a small curve in his spine and a slightly deformed face. The film is one of the few adaptations to use Victor Hugo's original ending; although Esmeralda is killed by a stray arrow rather than hanged. Esmeralda's last words were: "Life is wonderful" ("C'est beau, la vie"). A voiceover narration tells us at the end that several years afterward, an excavation group finds the skeletons of Quasimodo and Esmeralda intertwined in an embrace.

Cast

• Gina Lollobrigida as Esmeralda
• Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo
• Jean Danet as Phoebus de Chateaupers
• Alain Cuny as Claude Frollo
• Robert Hirsch as Pierre Gringoire
• Danielle Dumont as Fleur de Lys
• Philippe Clay as Clopin Trouillefou
• Maurice Sarfati as Jehan Frollo
• Jean Tissier as King Louis XI
• Valentine Tessier as Aloyse de Gondelaurier
• Jacques Hilling as Maitre Charmolue
• Jacques Dufilho as Guillaume Rousseau
• Roger Blin as Mathias Hungadi
• Marianne Oswald as La Falourdel
• Roland Bailly as The Hangman
• Piéral as The Dwarf
• Camille Guérini as The President
• Damia as The Beggar
• Robert Lombard as Jacques Coppenole
• Albert Rémy as Jupiter
• Hubert de Lapparent as Guillaume de Harancourt
• Boris Vian as The Cardinal
• Georges Douking as A Thief
• Paul Bonifas as Master Lecornu
• Madeleine Barbulée as Madame Outarde
• Albert Michel as Night Watchman
• Daniel Emilfork as Andry le Rouge

Trivia

• Lollobrigida's performance was the first one to portray Esmeralda barefoot. In fact, the attention paid to Lollobrigida's costuming and physical features have been considered by many real-life Romani people to be the most accurate depiction of what a medieval Romani woman would have looked like.

References

1. "Top Grosses of 1957", Variety, 8 January 1958: 30

External links

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Internet Movie Database
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Trailers From Hell
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Rotten Tomatoes