The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

BLU-RAY EDITION

Flicker Alley, in association with the Blackhawk Films Collection®, is proud to present The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo, looking as if he had just stepped out from the original illustrations of Victor Hugo’s novel.

Hunchback is a huge production: the sets depicting 15^th-century Paris covered nineteen acres of Universal Pictures’ back lot and included the façade of Notre Dame Cathedral. Filming took six months and the climactic sequence employed two thousand extras, but it’s Lon Chaney’s performance that makes the character unforgettable. The Hunchback of Notre Dame premiered at New York’s Astor Theatre on September 2, 1923. The success of the film was immediate; it made Carl Laemmle and Universal Pictures a fortune, and turned Lon Chaney into a screen legend.

This edition is mastered from a multi-tinted 16mm print struck in 1926 from the original camera negative. (The film apparently does not survive in 35mm). Visible wear in the source material is diminished with a moderate amount of digital restoration. A new symphonic score arranged by Donald Hunsberger was recorded in the Czech Republic with a full orchestra conducted by Robert Israel.

This edition produced by David Shepard and Serge Bromberg; Special Contents Copyright 1991, 1996, 2007, 2014 by Film Preservation Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

BONUS MATERIALS INCLUDE:

• Audio Commentary Track - by Lon Chaney scholar Michael F. Blake
• Rare Behind-the-Scenes Footage - featuring Lon Chaney out of makeup on the Cathedral set
• Alas and Alack (1915) - an early short film featuring a brief appearance by Lon Chaney as a hunchback
• Photo Gallery - a slideshow presentation of over 50 original production and publicity stills
• Original Program Book - a digital reproduction of the souvenir program book that was sold at all roadshow engagements of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Souvenir Booklet - featuring an essay by Lon Chaney scholar Michael F. Blake