Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood - and horror's - first great acting performance
Review: 1920 saw the first outing of interest to horror fans of the silent period's most famous character actor, Lon Chaney Sr, when he appeared in director Wallace Worsley's The Penalty. Worsley and Chaney teamed up more famously for this classic 1923 film version of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Chaney's career-making turns in Hunchback and as Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera (1925) which Chaney himself co-directed, would forever seal his credentials as an actor of considerable skill and of one of the early stars of what after 1930 would become the horror genre. His performance as Quasimodo in the 1923 film remains a spectacular showcase for his athleticism and physicality as an actor, prefiguring the arrival of later actors like Burt Lancaster. For modern audiences, Hunchback is probably one of the most accessible of the early silent movies. The film has aged well and the scale of its sets and set pieces will be a pleasant surprise to many. Both Phantom and Hunchback were products of entrepeneur Carl Laemmle's fledgling Universal Film Manufacturing Company, later to become Universal Studios - the Hollywood home of horror movies - as producers of Dracula, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. Chaney would equally go on to become Universal's most bankable star in the silent period and be justifiably regarded as the greatest character actor of his time - and he was a bona fide horror star to boot. Chaney would star in other horror movies until his death in 1933 (including the first horror-comedy The Monster in 1925) but Phantom, Hunchback and the Tod Browning movies have come to be regarded by horror critics and collectors as his signature roles in the silent era. His association with Browning would continue until his death (ironically, not long after being cast to star in what would have been his first major sound role, Dracula, which was to be directed by Browning for Universal).
Rating: 
Summary: what exactly does "remastered" mean?
Review: I bought this dvd instead of other cheaper ones available of this classic movie, thinking I would get a better quality. Perhaps I've been spoiled by other really good DVD of silent film masterpieces, and I don't know what the cheaper DVD are actually like, but if this was remastered, the picture quality does not show it. I give the DVD 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Great Film, Sub-Standard Film Elments
Review: I know, I know. "The film's nearly 80 years old"; "what did I expect??"; "there's only so much you can do to restore old films..." I've heard it all, and this transfer from Image still gets only 3 stars. Why? Because I've seen better transfer elements on VHS, for crying out loud, elements that possessed far better image clarity than we're given on this disc. In several areas, the image is nearly washed out, leaving only tiny black pixels in its stead. Clearly, this is a problem with the version that Image has chosen for the transfer, and is not a problem that is attributable to the age of the picture. Having said that, however, it should be noted that there are no truly superb prints of this silent "Hunchback," and that the picture is worth spending a few hundred thousand-or a million or two-bucks to restore, if not with an entirely new negative, then at least via digital means. It is a fine rendition (I won't argue the point of whether Laughton's fine portrayal is 'better'...this is in the eye of the beholder) of Hugo's novel, and Lon Chaney's characterization is one of the most startling ever put on film. Mr. Chaney's use of his hands conveys subtleties that his face does not, providing us with one of the silent silver screen's most moving performances. He is Quasimodo, the hunchback, just as he was Erik, the Phantom, Blizzard, the underworld mastermind, and the tough sergeant in "Tell It To The Marines." If you're looking for a film with a thrilling story that is punctuated by pathos, and the kind of catharsis that can only come from witnessing the triumph of love and the human spirit, there is no better viewing than the 1923 "Hunchback of Notre Dame." Just be ready for the inevitable "who dragged this print through the Liquid Paper factory" question you'll be asking yourself when you view this DVD. PLEASE, Image, or Criterion--do something to rescue this classic movie so that my grandchildren can enjoy it, too.
Rating:
Summary: A SILENT MASTERPIECE.
Review: In spite of being dubbed the "Man of a Thousand Faces", what sticks in the viewer's memory isn't Chaney's fairly conventional make-up, but rather the way he used his body - his movements and contortions. Bowed under the 72-pound weight of a rubber hump that made it difficult for him to stand up straight, Chaney adopts a weird ape-like crouch, as though his legs were too rickety to support him, but which allows him to scuttle about in a manner frighteningly part-simian and part-arachnoid. Surprisingly eneptly mounted - considering its lavish budget - i.e. many social, religious and sexual abberations which were central to the Hugo novel are missing - and wretchedly directed by Wallace Worsley with a constant flurry of extras milling about, this famous silent film survives solely through Chaney's remarkable performance. Too many horror fans are disappointed, it seems, when they find out that this Victor Hugo story is essentially a historical romance. However, viewers will nevertheless be impressed by Lon Chaney's excellent portrayal of the tragic Quasimodo. For this 1923 extravaganza, it took Universal a year to prepare the enormous sets, a four-month shooting schedule and an incredible cast of 3500 supporting players and extras. Interestingly enough, there were a number of earlier silent versions - the most notable being THE DARLING OF PARIS (1916) - in which Quasimodo won Esmeralda!
Rating:
Summary: A SILENT MASTERPIECE.
Review: In spite of being dubbed the "Man of a Thousand Faces", what sticks in the viewer's memory isn't Chaney's fairly conventional make-up, but rather the way he used his body - his movements and contortions. Bowed under the 72-pound weight of a rubber hump that made it difficult for him to stand up straight, Chaney adopts a weird ape-like crouch, as though his legs were too rickety to support him, but which allows him to scuttle about in a manner frighteningly part-simian and part-arachnoid. Surprisingly eneptly mounted - considering its lavish budget - i.e. many social, religious and sexual abberations which were central to the Hugo novel are missing - and wretchedly directed by Wallace Worsley with a constant flurry of extras milling about, this famous silent film survives solely through Chaney's remarkable performance. Too many horror fans are disappointed, it seems, when they find out that this Victor Hugo story is essentially a historical romance. However, viewers will nevertheless be impressed by Lon Chaney's excellent portrayal of the tragic Quasimodo. For this 1923 extravaganza, it took Universal a year to prepare the enormous sets, a four-month shooting schedule and an incredible cast of 3500 supporting players and extras. Interestingly enough, there were a number of earlier silent versions - the most notable being THE DARLING OF PARIS (1916) - in which Quasimodo won Esmeralda!
Rating:
Summary: A SILENT MASTERPIECE.
Review: In spite of being dubbed the "Man of a Thousand Faces", what sticks in the viewer's memory isn't Chaney's fairly conventional make-up, but rather the way he used his body - his movements and contortions. Bowed under the 72-pound weight of a rubber hump that made it difficult for him to stand up straight, Chaney adopts a weird ape-like crouch, as though his legs were too rickety to support him, but which allows him to scuttle about in a manner frighteningly part-simian and part-arachnoid. Surprisingly eneptly mounted - considering its lavish budget - i.e. many social, religious and sexual abberations which were central to the Hugo novel are missing - and wretchedly directed by Wallace Worsley with a constant flurry of extras milling about, this famous silent film survives solely through Chaney's remarkable performance. Too many horror fans are disappointed, it seems, when they find out that this Victor Hugo story is essentially a historical romance. However, viewers will nevertheless be impressed by Lon Chaney's excellent portrayal of the tragic Quasimodo. For this 1923 extravaganza, it took Universal a year to prepare the enormous sets, a four-month shooting schedule and an incredible cast of 3500 supporting players and extras. Interestingly enough, there were a number of earlier silent versions - the most notable being THE DARLING OF PARIS (1916) - in which Quasimodo won Esmeralda!
Rating:
Summary: Someone Please Save This Great Film
Review: It is a measure of the greatness of this film that it is still so deeply moving in spite of the atrocious quality of this recording. Surely it is worth the cost of making a good print.
As it is, it's a disgrace.
The superior quality of this film is mostly the result of the team of Lon Chaney Sr.(Quasimodo) and the director, Wallace Worsley. There is nothing significantly dated about this film.
Its power as truly cinematic (image-based) art is still far beyond most films and nothing in the budget-obsessed Hollywood of today can touch it. Lon Chaney's incredible performance, without the aid of sound(voice)and so well captured by Worsley, is the molten core that radiates its heat and energy to everything else in the film. For me Chaney's Quasimodo is a deeper, more compelling and more truly cinematic creation than that of Charles Laughton. Chaney's Quasimodo is not just pathetic, he is truly frightening, vastly more so than Laughton's, and yet he is utterly heartbreaking. This is one of the few examples of genius captured on celluloid and it should be protected for coming generations. America needs to learn to take care of its precious little real art. This film gets 5 stars, but this recording deserves no more than 2. Nonetheless, I must still highly recommend it. I hope there is someone who cares who has the means to save this great film
Rating:
Summary: Nothing can beat "The Man Of A Tousand Faces."
Review: Lon Chaney's performance was more than good. Despite, hair, pounds of makeup, a 72-pound hunch, and four layers of clothing, Lon Chaney was able to create the role as both frightening and heartbreaking. He portrayed the exact image on what Victor Hugo was thinking when he thought up Quasimodo. I think that his performance is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there will be because originals are always the best.
Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC OF LOVE AND HORROR!
Review: Sounds like two words that don't go well together, right? Well never has the classic "Beauty and the Beast" tale been more splendidly presented than in this film version of Victor Hugo's novel. As THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, Lon Chaney is simply unforgettable with his disshevelled hair, stooped shoulders, rounded eye sockets, and a through his grin the ugly tip of the epilectic. Great supporting cast also includes Brandon Hurst (Sir George Carew in DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE), Ernest Torrance, Raymond Hatton, Norman Kerry, and many others. I can never watch this film and not instantly fall in love with Patsy Ruth Miller, a truly beautiful actress whose performance of Esmeralda can still make you likewise of Quasimodo feel for her. Although Chaney's hunchback is somewhat mocking and barbaric at times, he is also sympathetic like Karloff's Frankenstein Monster. In one scene he delivers food for Esmeralda after rescuing her, and turns away, as so she doesn't need to look at his ugly features while she eats. What does Esmeralda do? She consoles Quasimodo, and allows him to sit calmly beside her.Audio essay by Make-Up Artist, and long-time Lon Chaney archivist Michael F. Blake is also very captivating. It wasn't until 1998 that I was able to see this for the first time, and by then it's 75th anniversary the film was very stunning to be seen in locations that DO look strikingly similar to Paris, although shot truthfully on Universal's back lot. The lavish production values and a cast of many all help make this an enduring classic. Skip the lame Disney production - THIS is the TRUE Hunchback!
Rating:
Summary: Good Lon Chaney silent film.
Review: The Hunchback of Notre Dame is quite a good silent film, starring the famous Lon Chaney Sr. as the eccentric and tortured Quasimodo. The story slightly follows Victor Hugo's novel, and the acting is fine for this type of genre. The story flows well, though the movie is rather overlong for 1925. There are two DVD's and several VHS versions of the film sold on the market.
The two DVD versions differ in quality. I own the earlier, unrestored release by Alpha Video. This edition is the one NOT to purchase. The picture quality is grainy and snowy. The screen is also difficult to see at times, and the picture is so bright that you are looking at a white screen. True, the film is over 75 years old, but it deserves a better restoration. The more recent DVD, released by Republic Pictures, has been restored and cleaned up. The Alpha DVD price is also cheaper. To appreciate the film and Lon Chaney in full glory, purchase the restored Republic DVD and nothing else.
P.S. Ignore the retarded Disney version.
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