Review – The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

Like the Alistair Sim Christmas Carol, this is the version I think of when Victor Hugo’s classic tale comes to mind. Though the plot is a mixture of soap opera and Enlightenment propaganda, the production is nonetheless worth it for Charles Laughton’s performance in the title role. He does a fair amount of overacting, which is understandable given the nature of the character and the amount of makeup he had to don to do the part. But every once in awhile he actually manages an emotional subtlety from somewhere deep beneath the rubber appliances. Mildly amusing