Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda with Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda with Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Costumes in the 1923 version of Hunchback are for the most part good. They look appropriate to fashions of the late middle ages. However with the exceptions of Chaney’s make-up for Quasimodo the costumes are not spectacular. There is no one costume that stands out and is memorable. They are just nice and appropriate to both the characters and the times. However there are two costumes I would like to discuss in addition to Chaney’s make-up since Chaney is the main selling point of the film.

Lon Chaney as Quasimodo 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Lon Chaney as Quasimodo 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Lon Chaney was a genius with make-up. It’s not wonder that he has been dubbed the “Man of a Thousand Faces.” His most memorable transformations of his own face in his film career were the Phantom and Quasimodo.

For Quasimodo, Chaney looked at illustrations  by Hugo to get an accurate look. For his cheeks Chaney used cotton and colodium. Colodium is a skin sealer. What he would do is paint spirit gum, which is an adhesive, apply a wad of cotton to it and then cover it with colodium. The process was repeated to build up the cheeks to the desire look. This also allowed Chaney to reuse the cheeks for a few day with minimal effort. For the hunch he wore a 15-20 pound plaster hump. The hump was held in place by a leather harness that attract at the waist. It also had straps at the shoulders that attached to the belt to keep Chaney in a hunch position.

He also wore a rubber suit over the harness in the pillory scene. He covered it with hair to give Quasimodo an animal-like look. Early in the film he had hair on his knuckles but he did away with that as the filming went one. Chaney also employed false teeth and a wig.

Lon Chaney as Quasimodo 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Lon Chaney as Quasimodo 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

I don’t think the Quasimodo’s look has aged as well as  the Phantom’s make-up but Chaney did help solidify movie make-up and set a precedent for the look of future Quasimodos so I do give kudos to the make-up in this version.

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

So there are a few  costumes I want to discuss, three of Esmeralda’s and  Marie’s costumes. Esmeralda has four costume changes but I want to look at three, her normal outfit, prison dress and her robe. The Costumes were  supervised by Gordon Magee, that they only costume credit I found.

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Esmeralda’s normal gypsy costume is based on a 1891 illustration. You can see it in the vest, short sleeves, the shoes and the mid calf hem line. While I like this costume as a whole it is inaccurate to the Romani convention that ankles should not be expose but their is another force at work in Esmeralda’s costume; the 1920’s.

Esmeralda’s costume has a more shapeless silhouette, long beaded necklaces and the sleeves look straighter and look more like modern t-shirt.

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

However Esmeralda’s prison dress and her robe look more like a product of the 20’s. Her prison dress has a shapeless silhouette and the way it cinches in at the waist and puffs over is very 20s. Plus the short hemline. Hemlines that hit mid-calf was the style in 1923 for hem.

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

However the robe is the worse offender of Esmeralda’s costumes. In a deleted scene from the movie, Quasimodo trades candles for clothing for Esmeralda to wear. He gets a robe or a “dressing gown” that has a fur trim and looks to be made of velvet with a satin belt.

Number 1; robes didn’t not exist at this time in Europe.. Robe/dressing gown came in to fashion in the 18th century  because orientism was fashionable. Number 2; given the materials, fur, satin and velvet, it’s doubtful that a mere chest of candles could be traded for a garment made from these materials. Beside those  issues, the robe features  the signature 1923 hemline and the shoes. The shoes that Esmeralda wears with the robe are flats with a flower detail. Clearly not shoes wore in the middle ages.

Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

However the worse offender of the 1920 style in a costume is Marie’s. Marie is Clopin’s wife. Marie actually has two costumes but they’re very similar.  Both are very shapeless dresses that flattened out her chest which is  the classic 1920 silhouette.

Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

One  has almost kimono-esque sleeves that have a scallops detail at the edge. Both hemlines hit at the ankles but one it’s a handkerchief hem, so the longest point hit the ankle.

Handkerchief hems were popular in the 1910-1920’s and it was seen in Ancient Greece.  While it was used in Antiquity it was not at all popular in 1482. The other one is pointed with a scallop edge which makes it appear shorter. While Esmeralda’s costumes harken to the 20’s, Marie’s flaunts it to the point that it looks really out of place.

Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Eulalie Jenson as Marie 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

The costumes are appropriately medieval for the men and the women’s costumes are mixed with the style of the 1920 to make they look more stylish regardless of period appropriateness.

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Pictures came from the Philip J Riley Book

Next Time – The Sets

Notre Dame de Paris set from the 1923 version of Hunchback picture image

Notre Dame de Paris Set from the 1923 version of Hunchback

Ab fab or Absolutely Fabulous is one of my favorite television shows ever. It’s a comedy show from England. It’s about two middle-aged  women who think they are hip and trendy. And the main character’s daughter is their unfashionable, mature foil. The show is very funny and blends physical comedy with wit.

Anyway in season 4 episode 3, entitled Paris, they all go to Paris and there is a reference to Notre Dame de Paris the musical albeit, the London cast.

Watch the video for the full reference. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o-lIosEyFE

This video is a rendition of Belle in Polish. To my knowledge Belle is the only song from Notre Dame de Paris that has been offically translated into Polish. I for one don’t like the jazz arrangement of the song. But what do you think? Yay or Nay?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJOmpZEIKa8

Helene Segara & Patrick Fiori with Dancers being silly in an Elevator Notre Dame de Paris picture image

Helene Segara, Patrick Fiori & some of the dancers being silly in an Elevator

Here are some Funny add-in to Notre Dame de Paris and some Mistake. Though I’m sure there are a lot more of these incidences that occurred in all the many different casts.

During Tentative d’enlèvement Phoebus sings “Je suis le capitaine chargé de la sécurité” (“I am the captain in charge of security” ), in the last performance the word “SECURITY” was written on Patrick Fiori chain mail. source

During a performance of  La volupté the bed was covered with condoms. source

During Tentative d’enlèvement in a performance, Fiori replaced Esmeralda’s knife with a comb . source

During the song Je reviens vers toi Fiori instead of singing “au fond de moi c’est toi que j’aime encore” (From the depths of me, it’s you I still love) he sang “au fond de toi c’est moi que j’aime encore” (From the depths of you it’s me I still love). source

In the London production during The Bird they put in Cages Garou instead of ” do they birds they put in cages” he accidently starts to sing “do the children they put in cages” source

Since it’s Friday the 13th and we’re focusing on Notre Dame de Paris this month I created a special fan-art for the occasion

Friday the 13th Notre Dame de Paris

Friday the 13th Notre Dame de Paris Special

I was aiming for a creepy/spooky vibe. I tried to make it look like Esmeralda was a demonic ghoul haunting Frollo.

Today’s Horoscope will come from the Notre Dame de Paris libretto that comes with the DVD, I’ll also give the english equivalent from DVD subtitles.

Esmeralda Scrying Notre Dame de Paris picture image

Esmeralda Scrying

And the Horoscope is “Loin de ceux qui craignent, Qu’on les ensorcelle”  (Far away from those who fear, to be bewitch by her). So distance yourself from those who are threaten by you, if you’re a Cancer be extra cautious.

Lyrics from Ou est-elle?

 

 

Though Notre Dame de Paris was never translation into Armenian, Belle was. It’s called Ser.  I think it’s quite pretty.

Now, I don’t know much Armenian, but Ser means “Love.” Another Fun Fact, both Helene Segara and Patrick Fiori are half-Armenian.  Segara even sang a song, Dele Yaman, in Armenian on her 2009 album Mon Pays C’ Est La Terre and her song Dans Nos Souvenirs is in remembrance for the Armenian genocide . Another fun fact, there is a large population of Armenians in Beirut.

You know who else is half-Armenian? Me ^^.  I’m also Italian, English, Irish, & Scottish, and a little bit Assyrian and who what else ^^.