Lon Chaney, cinema's "Man of a Thousand Faces," stars in this silent classic - the first version of Victor Hugo's novel about the tortured hunchback. Half-blind and monstrously deformed, Quasimodo dwells within the sanctuary of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Ridiculed and exploited by a cruel world, he passionately rings the cathedral's great bells to express his feelings. Quasimodo secretly loves a beautiful gypsy girl named Esmeralda, for whom he sacrifices his life when he rescues her from her evil guardian. Chaney's great performance and his incredible use of make-up brilliantly evoke both terror and pity for the hunchback as this classic tale is played out in medieval Paris.

This silent film is the first screen version of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel. Chaney plays the deformed bell-ringer who is smitten by a beautiful dancing girl persecuted by the wicked Bishop of Notre Dame.