The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956 film)
Encyclopedia
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (in French
Notre Dame de Paris) is a 1956
French
film
version of Victor Hugo
's novel of the same name
, directed by Jean Delannoy
and produced by Raymond Hakim
and Robert Hakim
. The film is the first version of the novel to be made in color
.
It stars Mexican actor Anthony Quinn
as Quasimodo
and Gina Lollobrigida
as Esmeralda
. In the tradition of many sword and sandal
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. Anthony Quinn's portrayal of the hunchback Quasimodo is more human and less horrific 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, a voiceover
narration tells us at the end that several years afterward, an excavation group finds the skeletons of Quasimodo and Esmeralda intertwined in an embrace. Esmeralda's last words were: "Life is wonderful" ("C'est beau, la vie").
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Notre Dame de Paris) is a 1956
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
version of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's novel of the same name
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.-Background:...
, directed by Jean Delannoy
Jean Delannoy
Jean Delannoy was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director.Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family is from Haute-Normandie in the north of France...
and produced by Raymond Hakim
Robert and Raymond Hakim
Robert Hakim and Raymond Hakim were Egyptian-born brothers who usually worked in collaboration as film producers in France and other European countries...
and Robert Hakim
Robert and Raymond Hakim
Robert Hakim and Raymond Hakim were Egyptian-born brothers who usually worked in collaboration as film producers in France and other European countries...
. The film is the first version of the novel to be made in color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
.
It stars Mexican actor Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
as Quasimodo
Quasimodo
Quasimodo is a fictional character in the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death. The role of Quasimodo has been played by...
and Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...
as Esmeralda
Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Esmeralda, or La Esmeralda , born Agnes, is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame . She is a French Gypsy girl...
. In the tradition of many sword and sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
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. Anthony Quinn's portrayal of the hunchback Quasimodo is more human and less horrific 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, a voiceover
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X, iOS and iPod operating systems. By using VoiceOver, the user can access their Macintosh or iOS device based on spoken descriptions and, in the case of the Mac, the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for blind...
narration tells us at the end that several years afterward, an excavation group finds the skeletons of Quasimodo and Esmeralda intertwined in an embrace. Esmeralda's last words were: "Life is wonderful" ("C'est beau, la vie").
Cast
- Gina LollobrigidaGina LollobrigidaGina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...
as EsmeraldaEsmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)Esmeralda, or La Esmeralda , born Agnes, is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame . She is a French Gypsy girl... - Anthony QuinnAnthony QuinnAntonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
as QuasimodoQuasimodoQuasimodo is a fictional character in the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death. The role of Quasimodo has been played by... - Jean DanetJean DanetJean Danet , was a French actor, activist, and gay theorist. He appeared in 27 films between 1942 and 1983....
as Phoebus de ChateaupersCaptain PhoebusCaptain Phoebus de Chateaupers is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He is the Captain of the King's Archers. His name comes from Phoebus, the Greek god of the sun , with whom he shares handsome looks and skill at... - Alain CunyAlain CunyAlain Cuny was a French actor.He was born René Xavier Marie in Saint-Malo, Brittany, and studied medicine for a while before entering the film industry as a costume and set designer. Cuny started acting in the 1930s...
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as Guillaume Rousseau - Roger BlinRoger BlinRoger Blin was a French actor and director notable for directing the first production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot....
as Mathias Hungadi - Marianne OswaldMarianne OswaldMarianne Oswald was the stage name of Sarah Alice Bloch, a French singer and actress born in Sarreguemines in Alsace-Lorraine. She took this stage name from a character she much admired, the unhappy Oswald in the Ibsen play Ghosts...
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