Esmeralda is a 1922 British silent film and an adaptation of the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, with more emphasis on the character of Esmeralda rather than Quasimodo. It was directed by Edwin J. Collins (who played the hunchback in the previous 1911 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and starred Sybil Thorndike as Esmeralda and Booth Conway as the hunchback. The film is considered lost, but extant still photos show a 40-year-old Thorndike who appears to be too old for the role of the young and virginal Esmeralda. This version emphasized romance and melodrama over horror.[2]

Esmeralda
Directed byEdwin J. Collins
Written byVictor Hugo (novel)
Frank Miller
Produced byMaster
StarringSybil Thorndike
Booth Conway
Arthur Kingsley
Release date
  • 1922 (1922)
Running time
13 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

The film was remade again in 1923 as The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Universal Pictures, starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo, in what is considered the classic silent film version.[3]

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 249.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  2. ^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 249.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  3. ^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 249.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  • Alan Goble, ed. (1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Bowker-Saur. p. 233. ISBN 1857392299.
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