The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939) We will now establish ourselves as the 10 millionth film blogger to pine for Hollywood's glory year of 1939.....the year that brought us "Gone With The Wind", "The Wizard Of Oz", "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, "Stagecoach", "Gunga Din", "Drums Along The Mohawk" and the film we're posting about today.
You need only to contemplate this Sunday's upcoming Oscars ceremony to realize how far American filmmaking has come.....and how far it's fallen as a mass entertainment art form.
In one of the world's great ironies, all of this year's nominees were all easily accessible to a pandemic stricken populace by way of streaming sites.
The irony being that none of these films were designed for enjoyment, applause and popcorn munchin' by movie theater crowds. They were mostly fashioned for film festival culture vultures, with more than few of them unfit for human consumption.
Enough about them....for now. Let's set the time machine back to 82 years ago, when the studio system excelled in making creatively ambitious epic films to thrill, delight and grip an American and worldwide audience of millions.
And "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" has it all......it breaks your heart, scares you, drops your jaw in shock and awe and even makes you laugh a few times.
Start with Charles Laughton's now legendary performance as Quasimodo, which still stands as one of the most indelible portrayals of a tortured wretched soul in torment........a chunk of genius work that has inspired generations of actors to pursue their craft to the highest levels.
Then there's the movie itself.......put together with loving attention to every detail. The stunning glass mattes of the cathedral and propulsive editing by Robert Wise, who'd go to an esteemed directorial career of his own. ("West Side Story", "The Sound Of Music", "The Haunting")
We still can't get over the sight of a young, dashing Edmond 'O Brian, who'd later carve out a long career as angry authority figures and cranky old coots. (We barely recognized him when we saw him in "The Wild Bunch")
The rest of the cast was equally golden......the ravishing Maureen 'O Hara as Esmerelda, Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the cold hearted yet sexually obsessed Frollo and Thomas Mitchell as the wily King Of Thieves, doing this film the same year he went into "Gone With The Wind".
We could spend who knows how many hours pointing out all the wonderful vivid moments and scenes in this film. We won't...... because everyone should see and savor this film for themselves. It's the pinnacle of what the still young Hollywood studio system could achieve with all the craftsmen and artists it had at its command.
But before we close out this post, as a movie music aficionado, we couldn't end without mentioning Alfred Newman's magnificent symphonic score, filled with grand choral work and all the expected emotional power to accompany the classic story on display.
An easy one rate, a bell-ringing (you should pardon the expression) 5 stars (*****), an all time FIND OF FINDS.
Ah well......time to return to 2021.....(sigh).......
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