Watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame For Free

Undescribable Perfection

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

In 15th century France, a gypsy girl (Maureen O'Hara) is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bell-ringer (Charles Laughton) of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times wrote a mostly negative review of the film, finding it "little more" than "a freak show". Though he acknowledged it was "handsome enough of production and its cast is expert," he called it "almost unrelievedly brutal and without the saving grace of unreality which makes Frankenstein's horrors a little comic." Nugent has his opinion, but time has sided against him. This incarnation of "Hunchback" is now widely considered the best. And although it pains me to say that anyone could beat Lon Chaney, Laughton does a fine enough job... maybe not surpassing Chaney, but at least being a suitable replacement for this version... with sound, everything is a little more epic.

Truly beautiful, compelling and enchanting interpretation of Victor Hugo's classic tale, arguably even the greatest film-version of the story that is available! This is a masterpiece of cinema thanks to several elements forming a flawless wholesome, including mesmerizing acting performances from the ensemble cast, the impressive German expressionist influences in cinematography and several astoundingly staged sequences with large crowds of people. I'm a big admirer of Lon Chaney Sr. and have a lot of respect for his 1923 silent version of the story (especially since he performed quite a bit of dangerous acrobatics) but this film simply is more accessible, absorbing and attractive. This version truly brings the France of the 15th Century back to life; with all its progressive inventions (like the art of book printing) and the slow development of scientific wisdom (the Earth actually could be round instead of flat!). What I loved most about William Dieterle's "The Hunchback of the Notre Dame" is the magnificent cast of characters. With his incredibly performance and the stunning physical transformation he underwent, Charles Laughton's Quasimodo is definitely one of the most fascinating icons in cinematic history, but the film is chock-full of other fascinating characters as well. The genuinely gold-hearted gypsy girl Esmeralda, for example, who marries an untalented poet to prevent him from getting executed and who brings water to the publicly scandalized Quasimodo even though he abducted her. Another great character is King Louis XI. As depicted by Harry Davenport, he surely is the most appealing royal character I ever saw in a movie. King Louis is human, compassionate, upright and quite avant-garde considering his age! But the most fascinating character – apart from Quasimodo the bell ringer, of course – is , inevitable, the villain of the story. Sir Cedric Hardwicke masterfully depicts Frollo; the chief of justice and loyal counselor of the King. But Frollo falls madly in love with the gypsy woman Esmeralda and commands Quasimodo, the bell-ringer of the beautiful Notre Dame cathedral, to kidnap her. Quasimodo fails and Esmeralda is saved by the chief of guards Phoebus, with whom she falls in love, much against the will of numerous men in Paris. During a nightly encounter, Frollo stabs Phoebus to death and frames Esmeralda for the murder. She is soon sentenced to torture and death by hanging, but then several men come into action to save her. Quasimodo spectacularly rescues her from the noose and gives her sanctuary high up in the Notre Dame. Meanwhile, the king of the gypsies Clopin organizes a large-scaled mob manifestation to free Esmeralda and her poet husband Gringoire uses the new printing techniques to persuade King Louis to release her. "The Hunchback of the Notre Dame" is a visually as well as emotionally engaging experience and it is truly one of the greatest Hollywood movies ever accomplished (albeit directed by a German expressionist genius). The film was nominated for two Oscars, but should have won all of them. I guess that wasn't an option in the same year with landmarks like "The Wizard of Oz", "Gone with the Wind" and "Stagecoach" as fellow contenders. Even though this certainly doesn't qualify as a horror movie, it must be said that the make-up effects on Charles Laughton are breathtaking, and genre fans should still keep an eye open for horror veterans George Zucco and Rondo Hatton that appear in smaller supportive roles.

A beautiful movie! Having not yet read Hugo's novel, but being aware, of course, of the well- known story, I was very captivated by Dieterle's version. The performances are very fine: Charles Laughton in the title role is supported by a very able cast - the never-less-than-beautiful Maureen O'Hara, a very young (and, quite surprisingly, good-looking) Ed O'Brien in his film debut, Harry Davenport, the ubiquitous Thomas Mitchell, and Cedric Hardwicke, whose performance I found to be the most impressive. The black and white-cinematography by Joseph H. August is very adequate, capturing the atmosphere one might have of the time and age beautifully (at least, the one in my mind), and so is Alfred Newman's score, which, unlike many other scores of that era, did not drown the film in a constant and often annoying soundscape. In fact, there are quite a number of scenes that might well have worked in a silent movie - the scene where Gringoire, the O'Brien-character, gets harassed by beggars comes to mind, for example. Running close to two hours, the movie nevertheless never loses steam; the multitude of interesting characters and the fine execution (of the novel, not the characters) made me put the novel up on my wish list for the next birthday presents. Very recommended!

Here it is, probably the greatest adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel. Charles Laughton creates a haunting but sympathetic Quasimodo. Both he and Esmeralda (Maureen O'Hara) are outcasts, turning to each other for comfort. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is intense and uplifting at the same time, and above all, it's one that I recommend to everyone. Beyond great.Also starring Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell (Scarlett's father in "Gone with the Wind"), Edmond O'Brien, George Zucco, and George Tobias (Abner Kravitz on "Bewitched").And yes, my grandmother met Charles Laughton during the filming. She got to talk to him for about ten minutes during the molten metal scene. She says that he was a very nice guy.