The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939, William Dieterle) (Patreon)

54/100

Almost as sanitized as the Disney version, I'm mildly surprised to discover. There are exceptions, to be sure—we still get Quasimodo killing a lot of Romani who, unbeknownst to him, are trying to help—but the effort to fashion at least a partially happy ending badly cheapens Hugo's novel, which is basically just tragedy + architecture. Esmeralda lives, Phoebus actually dies (in circumstances that Dieterle leaves bizarrely vague, as if there's meant to be some mystery about what happened), Frollo's a swell guy (all villainy transferred to his secular brother), and the revelation that Esmeralda was kidnapped as a baby and replaced by Quasimodo just gets chucked entirely (albeit to facilitate an anti-xenophobic message that was particularly pointed at the time). And while it's been many (many!) years since I read Hunchback, I feel confident that the book doesn't feature such painful "historical" dialogue as "The German inventor Gutenberg calls it a 'printing press,' Your Majesty" and "Do you recollect that letter we had from, uh, what's his name? Christopher Co...oh, Christopher Columbus?" Quite watchable nonetheless, thanks to Laughton's remarkably expressive performance (employing just his mouth and left eye), plus the novelty of the cathedral as a primary setting—between the full-scale constructed façade and what I assume are first-rate matte paintings, it's easy to embrace the illusion. (Final shot's composite work is outstanding; I looked it up just to make absolutely sure that they didn't fly Laughton to Paris, though it's hard to imagine the French government clearing a helicopter for a Hollywood movie.) Truly weird to see how RKO initially perceived Edmond O'Brien—I was not prepared for a young, earnest, conventionally heroic variant. 

Random addendum: "Sanctuary!" as a concept rubbed me the wrong way this time, smacking uncomfortably of contemporary religious liberty arguments. But that inspired me to read up on the practice—as it existed in medieval England, at least—and the details are fascinating.

Church sanctuaries were regulated by common law. An asylum seeker had to confess his sins, surrender his weapons, and permit supervision by a church or abbey organization with jurisdiction. Seekers then had forty days to decide whether to surrender to secular authorities and stand trial for their alleged crimes, or to confess their guilt, abjure the realm, and go into exile by the shortest route and never return without the king's permission. Those who did return faced execution under the law or excommunication from the Church.

Obviously none of the above is germane to Hugo's story—even if French law worked the same way, Esmeralda never gets to day two, much less to day 40. But I hereby withdraw that particular misgiving.