Awards & Honors

The Hunchback of Notre Dame won Oscar® nominations for Best Score and Best Sound.

The Critics' Corner – THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

"Produced by Pandro S. Berman on a scale undreamed of in the period when the earlier Hunchback was made, this version exceeds in sheer magnitude any similar film in history. Sets are vast and rich in detail, crowds are immense, and camera uses of these are versatile, varied, and veracious....Charles Laughton's portrayal of the hunchback is among the half dozen best acting achievements on record."
- Motion Picture Herald

"Parading vivid and gruesome horror, with background of elaborate medieval pageantry and mob scenes, Hunchback of Notre Dame is a super thriller-chiller. From a strictly critical viewpoint, picture has its shortcomings. The elaborate sets and wide production sweep overshadows to a great extent the detailed dramatic motivation of the Victor Hugo tale. While the background is impressive and eye-filling, it detracts many times from the story, especially in the first half."
- Variety

"Charles Laughton's version is even more horrendous [than Lon Chaney's]. It is to Mr. Laughton's credit that he is able to act at all under his make-up, to suggest exultation, hatred and to evoke pity. Yet we cannot truthfully say we enjoyed him or his picture. The film is almost unrelievedly brutal and without the saving grace of unreality which makes Frankenstein's horrors a little comic."
- Frank S. Nugent, The New York Times

"...has seldom been bettered as an evocation of medieval life, while Charles Laughton's portrayal of the grotesque Quasimodo makes even that of Lon Chaney seem feeble. The early sequences are of an unbelievable detail and intensity."

- John Baxter, Hollywood in the Thirties
"Although Laughton doesn't attempt the acrobatics that Lon Chaney performed in the silent version, his hunchback comes across as one of the cinema's most impressive 'grotesque' characterisations. Dieterle directs in a way that reminds you of his background as actor/director in the German expressionist cinema: the visuals here impressively recall earlier movies from Metropolis ([1927], the crowds) to The Last Laugh ([1924], tracking shots through the shadows). Richly entertaining."
- Tony Rayns, Time Out

"Visually impressive.....Laughton has received a great deal of praise for his performance, but he doesn't really get much opportunity to act...The film surely would have worked better if Laughton's hunchback didn't let his physical appearance completely dominate his every thought and word, because he'll get enough pity as it is just from his hideous looks..."
- Danny Peary, Guide For the Film Fanatic

"Playing Quasimodo (Lon Chaney's old role), Charles Laughton seems determined to outdo Chaney's horrifying makeup...It's an appallingly masochistic performance. The adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel...seems rather perfunctory, but the film, directed by William Dieterle, is an elaborate, well-photographed mixture of historical spectacle and Grand Guignol."
- Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies

"This superb remake is one of the best examples of Hollywood expertise at work: art direction, set construction, costumes, camera, lighting and above all direction brilliantly support an irresistible story and bravura acting."
- Halliwell's Film & Video Guide

Compiled by Frank Miller