It's another Friday wif' Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots a classic story by Victor Hugo starring Charles Laughton as the poor hunchback, Quasimodo. Of course, Lon Chaney played the character in 1923 and Anthony Quinn played him in 1956, I saw the Quinn version at the theater when it came out. Our 1939 version had a whopping $1,800,000 budget, and, it shows.
Eegah!! sent over a soundclip of the theme from this great movie,
sooooo, you can push the big red
'GO' button there next to atomic Quasimodo,
NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our audio offering for...
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME!
It's amazing to see the huge amount of extras used in a number of breathtaking scenes! Here, they prepare for a celebration in the town square.
Naturally, poor old Quasimodo is crowned king of the fools.
In the love interest department on the poor side of town, Esmeralda saves this handsome clown, Gringoire, from hanging by marrying him!
You can see how the heavy makeup and body suit must have been extremely uncomfortable and sweaty!
Esmeralda is falsely accused of murdering the Captain of the Guards and is ordered to be hung! The guy in the goofy looking monkey suit sentencing her to death there is the actual murderer, I wonder what they wear when the Numbskull and Boneheads boy's club assembles?..
Anywho, Quasimodo saves the day by swooping in on a rope, he grabs Esmeralda and takes her to the safety of the bell tower. A very exciting scene to say the least!
Quasimodo freaks out Esmeralda by riding and jumping to and fro on the tower bells while they clang away!
Quasimodo brings her a small pet bird to keep her company, he covers the twisted side of his face as he watches her enjoy the gift. She then learns how intelligent and sensitive he actually is!
Quasimodo single handedly prevents the angry mob from storming the church, exciting stuff!
In the most satisfying scene, Quasimodo gets revenge on his cruel master by tossing him out of the bell tower to a well diserved death on the ground below! Goodnight, sweet asshole!!
Esmeralda and Gringoire give a thankful look back to see Quasimodo with his best friends, the gargoyles, as the two leave the city to persue their dreams...
2 comments:
10,000 thrills, eh? I missed about 9,995 of them. And it cops out and leaves Quasi alive at the end. For sheer bizarreness, it's hard to top Disney's inexplicable animated children's musical of this story.
For me, Chaney's version is the only version.
The Chaney version will be coming up...
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