The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Director: Wallace Worsley
Year Released: 1923
Rating: 2.5

Hugo's classic in silent form, with make-up master Lon Chaney playing the doomed Quasimodo and some brilliant Hollywood set gurus doing a marvelous job reconstructing the Notre Dame Cathedral. Other than possessing strong visual elements it lacks the distinction of the Laughton version and is rather plodding; I found myself staring at the backgrounds more than at the main characters. The current state of the film's negative does add to the mood, as if it was filmed in the early 19th century (when the novel was published).