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DVD The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Lon Chaney, the man of a thousand faces, was best known for playing Quasimodo and the Phantom of the Opera. But the former role was clearly the most ambitious of his illustrious career, full of such longing and anguish. It's as though his entire being was consumed by this ugly outcast with a heart as big and beautiful as Notre Dame itself. And the makeup is still astonishing. The rest of this unrequited love story is pretty effective as well, with the re-creation of medieval Paris a standout for its lavishness. Like all great silent films, it delivers a poetry of life that is abstract and tangible at the same time. --Bill Desowitz
To me, this is the best version out there. It showcases Lon Chaney's talent and demonstrates how he got his nickname "Man of a Thousand Faces"
Lon Chaney plays Quasimodo and Patsy Ruth Miller plays Esmerelda. Both do very excellent jobs in their roles. You feel compassion for Quasimodo throughout the movie and it's touching when Esmerelda finally treats him like a friend. Since this is silent, the cast needs to rely on emotion and body language to bring the point across which isn't easy but it was done wonderfully otherwise this wouldn't be considered Lon Chaney and Patsy Ruth Miller's greatest movies!
What is amazing about this movie is Lon Chaney's makeup and the talent he had for distorting his body. His expertise in mime as well as sign language show how hw lived up to his nickname. He is the best Quasimodo and Patsy Ruth Miller ia not only a classic beauty but the best Esmerelda!
This is a just have for any Lon Chaney fan and anybody who appreciates the artful silent movies.
Some clarification needed!!!
That Hunchback is a classic is undisputed; nobody with any knowledge of film can argue with that. And Chaney's make-up remains unequaled even today. And of course, his performance was just as unforgetable.
But at least one so-called Chaney "expert" really needs to know his facts before just blathering innacuracies. There are several good bios out there; he should've read one. To that end, just a few truth-adjustments:
First, The Penalty wasn't a horror film; it was a melodrama. Neither, for that matter, was Hunchback. It was also a melodrama. Chaney first got the attention of fans with Miracle Man, not Penalty. Hunchback made him a major star. Chaney only made two real horror films, actually, and one of those is lost.
Second: There is no absolute proof that Chaney co-directed Phantom. None. It's just rumored because he and the director didn't get along. He did, however, first make the inquiry about the story.
Third: Chaney wasn't considered the greatest character actor; he was considered a major actor, period. He was a true superstar, in fact.
Fourth: Chaney was NOT Universal's most bankabale star. Phantom & HUnchback were the only 2 major films he made for Universal. He was, however, one of MGM's biggest box-office draws for years.
Fifth: Chaney died in 1930, not 1933. He likely would have played Dracula (which was 1931, not 33) -- Browning wanted him for it. But he had already had the lead role in his ONLY talkie, Unholy Three, and was slated for another WAY before Dracula began filming.
It's Better To Be Ugly Outside Than Inside...
Quasimodo (Lon Chaney) lives within the towering walls of the Notre Dame cathedral. He is considered a freak by everyone, especially his "master" Jehan, who treats him as if he were a pet. During the "Festival of Fools", the beautiful gypsy girl, Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) dances for the crowd. Jehan is filled with lust and sets out to have her at all cost. He uses Quasimodo to attempt a kidnapping, letting him take the fall when the soldiers come to Esmeralda's rescue. Phoebus, the captain of the guard, falls madly in love with Esmeralda, setting out to win her hand in marriage. Meanwhile, poor Quasimodo is chained and whipped before a jeering throng of onlookers. Esmeralda happens by and gives him water after hearing his pitiful cries of thirst. She also covers his wounds. This gives Quasimodo his first real taste of unconditional compassion from a fellow human being (other than the priest brother of Jehan). Alas, there seems to be far more evil than good! Quasimodo must ultimately save Esmeralda from execution when Jehan stabs Phoebus in the back, leaving her to take the rap for his crime (notice any pattern here?). While this is going on, the peasants, under their leader Clopin, have decided to rise up and revolt against the tyranny they've been crushed under for so long. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME is quite an ambitious movie! There are several villains and heroes, all with different agendas. Quasimodo is the purest character in the story, driven only by his instincts and impulses, he helps those who help him and hurts those who hurt him. This movie also has Esmeralda's mother, a woman who hates gypsies for stealing her baby girl, never realizing until near the end that her daughter is right in front of her. Quasimodo is a tragic character on par with Frankenstein's monster, King Kong, etc. Chaney was a true genius at giving emotional depth to the hapless, "ugly" creatures he portrayed. In HUNCHBACK, he breathed life into a role that could have easily been just another two dimensional monster. This classic belongs on your DVD shelf with PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, NOSFERATU, METROPOLIS, and DOCTOR JEKYLL AND MISTER HYDE. Highly recommended...
The silent PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has probably been available in dozens of VHS and DVD editions over the years. Virtually all are based on the very heavily re-worked 1929 reissue, the version almost everyone knows--probably even unaware that it isn't the original release and how unlike the original film it is. In fact, the original 1925 version doesn't seem to exist any longer in a decent print: only scratchy, blurred, grainy "play-at-home" 16mm prints survive. Sadly, the original version contained better camera set-ups, better editing, a more coherent story, more consistent acting and direction, and it runs 107 minutes to the reissue's 92 (at the same 20 frames-per-second projection speed of the period).
Of the many film versions of Victor Hugo's novel, this classic from Hollywood's golden year of 1939 remains the best, rivaled only by the 1923 silent version starring Lon Chaney. In his triumphant attempt to create a performance as memorable as Chaney's, Charles Laughton played the lovelorn Parisian hunchback Quasimodo under a disfiguring costume and gruesome makeup that rendered the actor almost unrecognizable. The result is a gripping and heartfelt portrayal of the misshapen bell ringer who falls desperately in love with the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda (played by Maureen O'Hara). The lavish production also greatly benefits from exquisitely moody black-and-white cinematography, brilliant medieval set design, and the atmospheric direction by German expatriate William Dieterle, whose style... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Charles Laughton - Maureen O'Hara Director(s): William Dieterle DVD Release Date: Released the 28 October 1997 Usually ships in 24 hours
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As noted critic Pauline Kael observed, "... this first important film of the vampire genre has more spectral atmosphere, more ingenuity, and more imaginative ghoulish ghastliness than any of its successors." Some really good vampire movies have been made since Kael wrote those words, but German director F.W. Murnau's 1922 version remains a definitive adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Created when German silent films were at the forefront of visual technique and experimentation, Murnau's classic is remarkable for its creation of mood and setting, and for the unforgettably creepy performance of Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a.k.a. the blood-sucking predator Nosferatu. With his rodent-like features and long, bony-fingered hands, Schreck's vampire is an icon of screen horror, bringing... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Max Schreck - Greta Schröder - Ruth Landshoff Director(s): F.W. Murnau DVD Release Date: Released the 02 January 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"It's alive! Alive!" shouts Colin Clive's triumphant Dr. Frankenstein as electricity buzzes over the hulking body of a revived corpse. "In the name of God now I know what it's like to be God!" For years unheard, this line has been restored, along with the legendary scene of the childlike monster tossing a little girl into a lake, in James Whale's Frankenstein, one of the most famous and influential horror movies ever made. Coming off the tremendous success of Dracula, Universal assigned sophomore director Whale to helm an adaptation of Mary Shelley's famous novel with Bela Lugosi as the monster. When Lugosi declined the role, Whale cast the largely unknown character actor Boris Karloff and together with makeup designer Jack Pierce they created the most memorable monster in... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Colin Clive - Mae Clarke - Boris Karloff Director(s): James Whale DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Let me just go on record of saying that the closest equivalent to Lon Chaney that we have working today is Robert DeNiro. Think about it - Chaney went to extraordinary lengths to achieve authenticity (60 pound hump on his back to play Quasimodo, wires to pull his face back in the Phantom's death's-head grin, DeNiro gains weight for Raging Bull, etc), Chaney had a tough, strong, solid physical presence that lends his every appearance a weight and reality that most other actors lack, he often played the darker side of human nature but did so with sensivity, realism, and pathos, and Chaney was a hard working professional, a non-nonsense person who was dedicated to his craft. I've associated Chaneyt and DeNiro in my head for a long time now and have never read or heard that comparrison, so I... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Wallace Worsley DVD Release Date: Released the 28 October 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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