Paris, France, 1482. Frollo, Chief Justice of benevolent King Louis XI, gets infatuated by the beauty of Esmeralda, a young Romani girl. The hunchback Quasimodo, Frollo's protege and bell-ringer of Notre Dame, lives in peace among the bells in the heights of the immense cathedral until he is involved by the twisted magistrate in his malicious plans to free himself from Esmeralda's alleged spell, which he believes to be the devil's work.
Acting
Laughton's Quasimodo—grotesque, tender, utterly devastating
Production
Cathedral sets so massive they built a studio version of Notre Dame
Cinematography
Shadow-drenched Gothic grandeur that invented the aesthetic
Director
William Dieterle
Charles Laughton
The Hunchback Quasimodo
Cedric Hardwicke
Frollo
Thomas Mitchell
Clopin
Maureen O'Hara
Esmeralda
Edmond O'Brien
Gringoire
Alan Marshal
Phoebus
Walter Hampden
Archdeacon
Harry Davenport
King Louis XI
Katharine Alexander
Madame de Lys
George Zucco
Procurator
Fritz Leiber
Old Nobleman
Etienne Girardot
Doctor
Helene Reynolds
Fleur de Lys
Minna Gombell
Queen of Beggars
Arthur Hohl
Olivier
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
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