More film versions
Today, I was lucky enough to get Kevin J Harty's The Reel Middle Ages secondhand. It's a compendium of films on mediæval themes, and includes several versions of NDdP.
I was interested to note that in the French silents, La Esméralda (1905) and NDdP (1911), Claude's profession and the tragic ending are retained. It's Hollywood that changes things: The Darling of Paris (1917), starring Theda Bara as a vampy, kohl-eyed Esméralda (with a truly adorable Djali, judging by the photo), had Claude Frallo (sic) as a secular scientist, and (the review implies, as the film seems to be lost) a happy ending. It also features Pâquette as a character. The 1923 silent HoND began the American habit of re-arranging the Frollo brothers. What continually surprises me is how film books tend to praise the 1923 and 1939 versions over all others, when they are serious betrayals of the book. The 1956 version is habitually underrated.
(x-post to hond, les_sanspapiers)
I was interested to note that in the French silents, La Esméralda (1905) and NDdP (1911), Claude's profession and the tragic ending are retained. It's Hollywood that changes things: The Darling of Paris (1917), starring Theda Bara as a vampy, kohl-eyed Esméralda (with a truly adorable Djali, judging by the photo), had Claude Frallo (sic) as a secular scientist, and (the review implies, as the film seems to be lost) a happy ending. It also features Pâquette as a character. The 1923 silent HoND began the American habit of re-arranging the Frollo brothers. What continually surprises me is how film books tend to praise the 1923 and 1939 versions over all others, when they are serious betrayals of the book. The 1956 version is habitually underrated.
(x-post to hond, les_sanspapiers)