Search - The Hunchback of Notre Dame on DVD

Content Advisory: Violence, Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1939 DVD Release: 01/06/1998 Format: DVD - Black and White Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 57 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 7 Genres: Drama, Romantic Drama, Period Film, Melodrama

Few will argue with the contention that RKO Radio's 1939 adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame was the best of the many screen versions of the Hugo classic. We say this even allowing for certain liberties taken with the source material-liberties calculated by scenarists Sonya Levien and Bruno Frank to draw parallels between 15th century Paris and 20th century Europe. Thus, Claude Frollo (Cedric Hardwicke), the villain of the piece, is no longer merely a religious hypocrite unable to control his own carnal desires. Instead, Frollo is a bush-league Hitler, warning that the invention of the printing press is dangerous in that it will encourage the rabble to think for themselves, and plotting the persecution and destruction of the "undesirable" gypsies. In the same vein, Gringoire the Poet (Edmond O'Brien in his film debut) has been transformed into an agit-prop "Group Theatre" activist, bent on bringing the unvarnished truth to the ignorant Parisians. Many of Hugo's subplots have been dispensed with, the better to concentrate on the grotesquely deformed Quasimodo (Charles Laughton), bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, and his puppylike loyalty towards imperiled gypsy dancer Esmerelda (Maureen O'Hara, in her first American film appearance). The schism between the haves and have-nots in the walled city of Paris is illustrated in broad, visually dynamic strokes by director William Dieterle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Laughton - Quasimodo
Cedric Hardwicke - Dom Claude Frollo
Maureen O'Hara - Esmeralda
Thomas Mitchell - Clopin
Edmond O'Brien - Pierre Gringoire

An classic take on Victor Hugo's timeless tale, director William Dieterle's The Hunchback of Notre Dame finds its way to DVD courtesy of Warner Bros. Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio and offering a selection of either closed-captioned English Dolby Digital Mono or Spanish Dolby Digital Mono audio, this release also offers optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles. Though one may think that, given the film's age, there may be precious few extra features available, Warner Bros.' has surprisingly included such supplemental features as a behind-the-scenes documentary, an interview with star Maureen O'Hara, and a theatrical trailer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide