Line #1 Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1923


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_hunchback_of_notre_dame___poster_1923.jpg]]
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3	''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' is an American 1923 silent film based on the Creator/VictorHugo [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame novel by the same name]]. It was produced by Creator/{{Universal}} and starred Creator/LonChaney as Quasimodo.
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5	The story follows the original novel insofar as Esmeralda is the focus, and Quasimodo is only a supporting character.[[note]]Hugo's novel was called ''Notre-Dame de Paris'' in the original French, and the English title overstates Quasimodo's importance.[[/note]] The main changes to the plot involve reworking the story into a typical Hollywood romance, with Phoebus and Esmeralda as our leading man and woman. Unlike in the novel, they get a happy ending. This may also be the first adaptation in which Claude Frollo is turned into a DecompositeCharacter to avoid portraying a priest as the villain. In this version, Frollo's negative traits are given to his brother Jehan.
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7	This film is considered to have launched the Franchise/UniversalHorror franchise, notwithstanding that it is one of the franchise's titles that isn't actually horror. Notably, Quasimodo never appeared in any subsequent Universal films, the [[Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1939 1939 version]] being a production of Creator/RKOPictures. Even so, this film's status as part of the classic horror canon is the reason Quasimodo is occasionally counted as part of the MonsterMash.
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9	In 1951, the film entered the PublicDomain due to Universal failing to renew the copyright.
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12	!!''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' provides examples of:
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14	* AdaptationalHeroism:
15	** Claude Frollo mixes this with DecompositeCharacter. He is a [[GoodShepherd saintly archdeacon]], his villainous role instead given to his brother Jehan. This would be repeated in the 1939 version.
16	** In the book, Phoebus was a jerk who was just interested in Esmeralda for sex. Although still portrayed as a womanizer, this film casts him as a heroic love interest for her.
17	* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: Esmeralda still rescues Gringoire in the Court of Miracles, but their chaste marriage doesn't happen.
18	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: "All Quasimodo knew was that this girl had once been kind to him," says the TitleCard explaining why he rescued Esmeralda.
19	* BittersweetEnding: In the end, Phoebus is reunited with Esmeralda, but Quasimodo is already dying from the wound he sustained from Jehan Frollo.
20	* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: After Phoebus rescues Esmeralda near the beginning, he plans that she will be just another conquest for him. He brings her to a tavern, where he pulls down her sleeve as an apparent precursor to undressing her. When his feelings for her become serious, he pulls her sleeve back up and offers to take her home.
21	* DemotedToExtra: Gringoire is pretty much reduced to being Phoebus' [[AdaptationalComicRelief goofy sidekick]], mostly just to keep him in the story.
22	* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the book, Quasimodo starves to death after Esmeralda has been hanged. Here, he is instead fatally stabbed by Jehan right before the latter is thrown off the ramparts of Notre Dame.
23	* DisposableFiance: Fleur-de-Lys is still in the story, and becomes this trope as a result of Phoebus ending up with Esmeralda. Fleur seems to be very "meh, whatever" about her fiance running off with another woman. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse The screenwriters might not have thought this through completely.]]
24	* {{Flashback}}: Used to illustrate Sister Gudule's backstory.
25	* TheIngenue: Esmeralda, like in the novel and unlike in basically every subsequent adaptation.
26	* LadykillerInLove: Phoebus towards Esmeralda.
27	* MutualKill: Jehan fatally stabs Quasimodo, but the hunchback manages to throw his master off the ramparts of Notre Dame before succumbing to his wound.
28	* MythologyGag: When Jehan tries to convince Esmeralda to run away with him, he's wearing the robes of the Church, which he hastily explains by saying that it was the only way he could get past the guards. Apparently, that's as close as they could get to having a priest as the villain in 1923.
29	* OrphansPlotTrinket: Esmeralda's necklace, as in the novel.
30	* PragmaticAdaptation: Due to the censorship of the time, Claude Frollo becomes a heroic figure while his younger brother Jehan becomes the primary antagonist.
31	* PrincessForADay: Phoebus dresses Esmeralda up like a noblewoman and brings her to a ball, where he introduces her as "Her Highness, Princess of Egypt."
32	* RaceLift: Averted. Unlike in later adaptations, Esmeralda is revealed to be the long-lost daughter of Sister Gudule. This subplot goes nowhere in the film, which is probably why subsequent versions cut it.
33	* ShipperOnDeck: In this version, Gringoire doesn't want Esmeralda for himself and is instead rooting for her to get together with Phoebus.
34	* SparedByTheAdaptation: Unlike in the original novel, Esmeralda lives. However, Quasimodo still dies, [[DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation albeit differently from the book]].
35	* [[UptownGirl Uptown Boy]]: Social class proves to be an obstacle in Phoebus and Esmeralda's relationship.

Context Film / TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1923