''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

''Notre-Dame de Paris'') is a

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

French-Italian

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

film version of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

's 1831 novel, directed by

Jean Delannoy Jean Delannoy (; 12 January 1908 – 18 June 2008) was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director. Biography Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family was from Haute-Normandie in the north of France. He was a Pro ...

and produced by Raymond Hakim and Robert Hakim. It stars American actor

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known as Anthony Quinn, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in over 100 ...

and Italian actress

Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (4 July 1927 – 16 January 2023) was an Italian actress, model, photojournalist, and sculptor. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, a period in which she was an international ...

. The film is the first version of the novel to be made in color. In the tradition of many

sword and sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Holly ...

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. In the French version both Quinn and Lollobrigida speak French. Anthony Quinn's portrayal of the hunchback Quasimodo is less disfigured 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 Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

narration tells us at the end that several years afterward, an excavation group finds the skeletons of Quasimodo and Esmeralda intertwined in an embrace.

Plot

Quasimodo (

), the hunchback of Notre Dame Cathedral, falls in love with the gypsy Esmeralda (

). When Esmeralda is condemned as a witch by Claude Frollo (

Alain Cuny René Xavier Marie Alain Cuny (12 July 1908 – 16 May 1994) was a French actor of stage and screen. He was closely linked with the works of Paul Claudel and Antonin Artaud, and for his performances for the Théâtre national populaire and ...

), the priest who longs for her, Quasimodo takes her into the cathedral to save her. But in a misguided rescue attempt, the people come to free her and Quasimodo defends the cathedral, but they burst through the front door just as soldiers arrive and shoot arrows. One of the arrows hits Esmeralda as the crowd graves her, and Quasimodo sees her die. When Frollo comes up, Quasimodo defensively throws him off the tower of the cathedral, and then goes to find Esmeralda's body. At an old dungeon site the dead are taken, where she is left, and Quasimodo mourns her.

Cast

Production

Allied Artists invested $1,250,000 in the film.

Reception

Box office

The film was the biggest grosser in Paris in the 1956–1957 season with a gross of $603,000 on admissions of 1,064,061. It had the third most admissions in France for films released in 1956 with 5,687,222 admissions. The film earned rentals of $2.25 million in the United States and Canada.

Comic book adaptation

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', is an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...

#854 (July 1957)

References

External links

* * *
''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''
at

Trailers From Hell ''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and exp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956 Film) 1956 films 1956 horror films 1950s historical horror films Italian historical horror films French historical films Films set in the 1480s 1950s French-language films Films based on The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Films directed by Jean Delannoy Films set in Paris Films set in religious buildings and structures Films with screenplays by Ben Hecht Films scored by Georges Auric Films produced by Robert and Raymond Hakim Films with screenplays by Jean Aurenche Films with screenplays by Jacques Prévert Films adapted into comics Films about Romani people 1950s Italian films 1950s French films Films about disability in France