So let’s talk about Lighting. Besides the functional side of lighting (i.e. lighting the sets so you can see the sets and actors) there is mood lighting and this is what I’m going to touch on because it’s more fun.

For the most part the movie is pretty tame in the lighting department despite William Dieterle being  part the of German Expressionism movement but  there is great example of chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro  (Italian for light and dark) utilizes  the contrast between light and dark  for  pure dramatic effect.  During the scene where Frollo confesses his confused love/lust for Esmeralda. As he pins her against a tree his face is fully illuminated while the back ground is let darker; text-book Chiaroscuro.

Example of Chiaroscuro Frollo Sir Cedric Hardwicke 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame  picture image

Example of Chiaroscuro

Example of Soft Lighting Esmeralda Maureen O'Hara 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame  picture image

Example of Soft Lighting

Example of Hard Lighting Frollo Sir Cedric Hardwicke 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame  picture image

Example of Hard Lighting

Moodiness Esmeralda Maureen O'Hara 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Moodiness

 

Clopin King of Beggars Thomas Mitchell 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Example Bottom Lighting

 

There is a moodiness to certain scenes and sometimes characters would get   lighting treatment (i.e softening, harding, bottom lighting or chiaroscuro)  but I would say that at the time of the film’s release the lighting came off more dramatic. After all Dieterle was part of the German Expressionism movement which was the predecessor to Film Noire ( which by it’s very nature is moody) so there is mood but for a modern viewer the dramatic isn’t as striking except in the confession scene, that was a slap in the face with lighting.

See ya next time – It’s time for Book vs the 1939 version 

 

If you didn’t know any better, you might think that the 1939 version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was filmed on location, I know that’s what I thought at first but that is not the case.

This film was  shot completely on set at the RKO ranch in the San Fernando Valley. The sets were designed after a 400 year old wood carving of Paris.  The sets are one of the strongest visual aspects of this movie. They transport the viewer to 15th century Paris, with the narrow streets, Notre Dame in all its’ glory, with its’ accurate nave and it’s raised platform complete with stairs, Both the raised platform and the stairs are no longer a part of the actual Notre Dame due to time and erosion. Erosion and structural changes to Notre Dame are some of the reasons why films shouldn’t take too much lead from Notre dame in it’s modern state if their doing a period piece (I’m looking at you here Disney).

Notre Dame 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Notre Dame

Front Notre Dame 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Front of Notre Dame

Facade of Notre Dame 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Facade of Notre Dame

Nave of Notre dame 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Nave of Notre dame

15th century Parisian Street 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

15th century Parisian Street

Another view of 15th century Parisian Street 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Another view of 15th century Parisian Street

Crowd scene 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Crowd scene

 

 

All the attention to the details of the sets are one of the strongest aspects of the film and this helps  keep the film in  classic movie nostalgia.

Next time: Lighting!

 

The first aspect of Mise-en-Scene of the 1939The Hunchback of Notre Dame”  that I’m going to look at are the Props. Why Props? Well to put it nicely it’s the least impressive aspect of the film. This film has very little in terms of props. Fact is, some definitions of Mise-en-scene lump props and setting together and while some of the “props” in this movie are more like set pieces, the sets of this movie need their own post. So anyway on with the Props.

 

A Bell of Notre Dame 1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

A Bell of Notre Dame

Quasimodo and the Bells charles laughton 1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

Quasimodo (Charles Laughton) and the Bells

The film being a period has tons of props to help create the look and feel of Paris in the late 1400’s but only a hand full of these props are actually important for the characters and the story. Two of the most important “props” (I would consider them more like set pieces, but I’ll address them here) are the printing press and the Bells. Being a Hunchback of Notre Dame film there must be Bells. The Bells in this film are very impressive they look like cathedral bells. The bells that Charles Laughton (Quasimodo) had to ring were roughly about 100 pounds (true factoid – the huge bell Emmanuel at Notre Dame is about 13 tons). There not much to say on the Bells in this film they look like huge cathedral bells  the sound like Bells but that’s because the sound recording is bells from Notre Dame..

 

printing press harry davenport 1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

The Printing Press

Then there is the printing press, the movie symbol for progress, again this thing is so big that it more a set piece than a prop  and again I can’t say to much on it it. Like the bells, it is well executed and looks on point to how Gutenberg’s press looked. The printing press does have a major importance in the film but the film hits you over the head with this fact every chances it gets. So it really does become annoying.

 

 

Aristotle the Goat 1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

Aristotle the Goat

Esmeralda and Aristotle share a moment   maureen O'hara  1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

Esmeralda (Maureen O'Hara) and Aristotle share a moment

Now the props that were more than set pieces, the props with purpose. Starting with the Goat, Aristotle or the miracle goat.  Aristotle can perform math much like his counterpart Djali (from the book). Aristotle is the main reason why Esmeralda is on trial for witchcraft. The poor goat gets the short end here, Aristotle is brought in because I guess the script writers forgot that there was a goat and that the goat was a main character in the book and added it at the last second. So Aristotle is brought in and you never see or hear mention of him after Esmeralda is recused. So the purpose of the Goat is to solidify Esmeralda as  potential witch but here the thing, It’s never really clear to whom Aristotle belongs. Gringoire seems to have more to do with Aristotle than Esmeralda. Gringoire introduces him and Gringoire has concern for him (he brings him a cabbage while Aristotle and Esmeralda are in jail). Aristotle just seems to exist to bring trouble to Esmeralda. Aristotle takes off for Esmeralda just before the murder and lingers with her  and during the trial, Aristotle nuzzles her which is further the witchcraft accusation. It also seems like that Gringoire both named Aristotle and more than likely taught him to count. But since Aristotle’s backstory is non existent  the audience is left just to assume Aristotle is Esmeralda’s goat, and since Aristotle comes and goes and his one function is to implicate Esmeralda as witch  for medieval types during the trial. Therefore the goat is a prop and I wish they had gotten a white goat, apart from accuracy to the book, a white goat would have looked better for a black and white film.


Daggers in the "Trial by Ordeal" 1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

Daggers in the "Trial by Ordeal"

Esmeralda's Clean Dagger maureen o'hara 1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

Esmeralda's Clean Dagger

Another prop used to showcase Esmeralda’s guilt are the daggers. There are two daggers, Esmeralda’s and Louis’. Esmeralda’s dagger is the “murder weapon” though when Phoebus is found dead and Esmeralda is found with dagger in hand with  Aristotle her Dagger is clean. Louis’ dagger was used during the “Trial by Ordeal” that he subjected Esmeralda to in an effort to clear her of murder but she failed. Unlike the Esmeralda’s dagger, Louis is used to show that he a good king who at least tried to help, but further than that the dagger does nothing.

 

bellboy 1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

The Bellboy

Gringoire's pamphlet 1939 Hunchback of Notre dame  picture image

Gringoire's pamphlet

Other props in the movie that are featured and slightly important that I’ll mention quickly are Bell Boy, the pamphlet and a whip. The Bell Boy is used in the Court of Miracles to test Gringoire thief skills, he fails to steal from the prop and as a result marries Esmeralda and they fall in love. Paper and books are seen throughout the movie, they go hand-in-hand with the printing press that is a symbol of progress. The big piece of paper is Gringoire’s pamphlet that help pardon Esmeralda (though another piece of paper damned her, the nobels’ petition but they didn’t use the press so their old fashion and therefore they suck) Lastly, the Whip, Quasimodo is whipped on the pillory and when Esmeralda gives him water and pity, he fall in love with her. The whip is symbol for oppression and since this film is about modernization and progress the whip serve as a counterpoint to have crappy the medieval time period was.

More on Mise-en-scene next time – Costumes

Notre Dame 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image
Set of Notre Dame 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame

So if the plot of the 1939 version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” is the weakest aspect then what are stronger aspects?

The Visuals.

The Mise-en-Scene (stuff in front of the camera)  more than makes up for the weak plot adaptation. The break down of Mise-en-scene is in five parts; Lighting, Sets, Costumes, Props, and Staging/perfomances.

For the most part all these areas are handled with masterful attention, then again it’s no surprise considering how much RKO Radio Pictures put into movie to one up the 1923 version ($250,000 in 1939*)

Over the next couple of posts we’ll look at the Mise-en-scene  of the film.

First up – Props

* Today this would about $180,000(IMDB), the amount of the 1939 budget comes from Maureen O’Hara’s autobiography “Tis Herself”

page contains affiliate link