Line #30 Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1956


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hunch56.jpg]]
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3	''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' is a French-Italian 1956 film adaptation of [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame the eponymous novel]] by Creator/VictorHugo. Produced by Paris Film Productions and Panitalia and directed by Jean Delannoy, it starred Creator/AnthonyQuinn as Quasimodo, Creator/GinaLollobrigida as Esmeralda and Alain Cuny as Claude Frollo.
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5	The third major film adaptation of the story following the American versions of [[Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1923 1923]] and [[Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1939 1939]] and the first in colors, it is most noted for being TruerToTheText, even keeping Hugo's original DownerEnding intact.
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7	French and English versions of the movie were shot simultaneously. There are a few differences between the two versions, some of these aimed at keeping the English version compliant with UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode.
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10	!!''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' provides examples of:
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12	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: A downplayed example as Quasimodo is portrayed more realistically and less like a caricature with his back having a small curve in his spine and his face being only slightly deformed.
13	* AdaptationDyeJob: Quasimodo is portrayed as black-haired rather than as a redhead.
14	* AdaptationalJobChange: This time, Frollo is an alchemist... who lives in Notre Dame for some reason.
15	* AmbiguouslyBrown: Due to her literary counterpart having been an example of AmbiguouslyBrown, it is uncertain if this portrayal of Esmeralda is truly a RaceLift or still an example of Roma by adoption with her backstory having been cut.
16	* BaitAndSwitchComment: In the Court of Miracles, when Gringoire is about to be hanged:
17	-->'''Clopin:''' Haven't I seen you before? Ah, you're the author of that drama!\
18	'''Gringoire:''' Yes! Yes, I am Pierre Gringoire, poet and author of ''The Quest for Beauty''!\
19	'''Clopin:''' I saw your play.\
20	'''Gringoire:''' ''[hopeful]'' Did you?!\
21	'''Clopin:''' [[CausticCritic Never did a man deserve hanging more.]]\
22	''[execution resumes]''
23	* BurnTheWitch: As King Louis XI casually notes, "we have enough witches to keep the fires burning." Averted with Esmeralda, who is found guilty of witchcraft, but is sentenced to hang instead.
24	* ChastityDagger: Esmeralda throws hers aside during her love scene with Phoebus. Frollo then picks it up and uses it on Phoebus himself. The fact that the knife belonged to Esmeralda is cited at her trial.
25	* CulturalTranslation: While the French version follows the book and has Quasimodo crowned "Pope of Fools", it's "King of Fools" in the American version in order to comply with the Hays Code. The scene had to be shot twice to accommodate the change in headwear. Additionally, the French version had two scenes that were cut out of the English version.
26	* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: Esmeralda is killed by a stray arrow rather than being hanged as in the novel. They still hang her corpse, however.
27	* DownerEnding: Possibly the only film version to keep the book's tragic ending intact.
28	* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The English version never ''says'' that Frollo is a priest, because that would violate [[https://productioncode.dhwritings.com/multipleframes_productioncode.php Section VIII of the Hays Code]]. However, he does live in a cathedral and wear robes that look like they could be priest's robes. He's identified onscreen as an alchemist, but he did practice alchemy on the side in the original novel. All in all, it seems like the filmmakers are trying to make it so that the audience will infer that he's a priest, but without tipping off the censors.
29	* GoldFever: Frollo is into alchemy because "gold is the only true light".
30	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: King UsefulNotes/LouisXI visits Frollo at one point.
31	* KickTheDog: The man who administers Quasimodo's flogging drinks from his pitcher of water, then Jehan Frollo refills it... before placing it only inches away from Quasimodo, who is unable to reach it. Happily, Esmeralda gives him a drink.
32	* KindHeartedCatLover: Downplayed, but one scene features a cat whom Quasimodo is quite gentle with.
33	* KingIncognito: Louis XI goes undercover to meet with Frollo and find out how he's coming along in his alchemical pursuits.
34	* LadyInRed: Esmeralda's iconic outfit in this movie is a sexy red dress, which she wears for her dance and most of the rest of the time. Notably, this was the first adaptation to be in color, so it's the first film version in which we, the audience, actually get to know what color she's wearing.
35	* PlayingHardToGet: After the whole Esmeralda incident, Phoebus is informed that Fleur-de-Lys "doesn't want to hear about you again. In other words, she's dying to see you."
36	* PragmaticAdaptation: Due to the Hays Code, Claude Frollo couldn't be portrayed as a villain and a priest. In contrast to previous adaptations, he is still a villain, but this time only referred to as strictly an alchemist... One who lives in the cathedral and wears the robes of a priest.
37	* PrefersGoingBarefoot: This is the first film version in which Esmeralda is barefoot for the whole movie, [[LostInImitation a detail that would be repeated in many subsequent adaptations]]. Amusingly, the film includes the book's line in which it's mentioned that she will be sent the gallows in her shift and barefoot. Since she's ''already'' barefoot, you'd think that part wouldn't need to be specified.
38	** Gina Lollobrigida herself was probably also a barefooter, given that she really enjoyed posing to the photographers in her Esmeralda outfit (most of the pictures you would find by googling "Lollobrigida Esmeralda" are off-screen shots rather than actual scenes from the movie), and portrayed three other iconic barefoot characters, namely Maria De Ritis in ''Bread, Love and Dreams'' (1953), Marietta from ''The Law'' (1959), and Ippolita from ''La bellezza di Ippolita'' (1962). Speculation even says that it was the actress' own idea to portray Esmeralda barefoot, rather than the director's.
39	* TruerToTheText: This version is one of the closest to the book. There are a few differences, such as Frollo not being explicitly stated to be a priest, but it still follows the original plot beat-for-beat, including the DownerEnding.
40	* WritersSuck:
41	-->'''Esmeralda:''' How did you become a poet? On purpose or by accident?\
42	'''Gringoire:''' I wasn't brave enough to stay a soldier, pious enough to stay a monk, or strong enough to chop wood.\
43	'''Esmeralda:''' So after you found out you were good-for-nothing, you decided to become a poet?\
44	'''Gringoire:''' That's the origin of my genius.

Context Film / TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1956