‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’: Hugo’s Moving Drama

A film set in 15th-century Paris centered on Notre Dame Cathedral and characters embodying beauty and ugliness.

(L–R) The Archdeacon (Walter Hamden), Esmerelda (Maureen O’Hara), and Gringoire (Edmund O’Brien), in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” RKO Radio Pictures

NR | 1h 56min | Drama | 1939

The year 2024 marks the 85th anniversary of director William Dieterle’s film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” based on Victor Hugo’s novel and set in 15th-century Paris. It’s also the year the now-restored Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame reopens after a ruinous fire in 2019.