Trivia / The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

• California Doubling: The whole thing was shot in California, of course. In fact, Universal's "Little Europe" backlot was originally built for this film. The version you see on the Studio Tour today is actually a reconstruction, the original having been destroyed in a 1967 fire.
• Dawson Casting: Twenty-year-old Quasimodo is played by forty-year-old Lon Chaney.
• Method Acting: Chaney wasn't a fan. During rehearsal, he felt Patsy Ruth Miller (Esmeralda) was overacting and told her, "Remember my dear, you are an actress. You don't have to live the part, just act it. The point is not for you to cry, but to make your audience cry. You have to be in control of yourself."
• Missing Episode: In the original roadshow cut, the film ran twelve reels long. It was later edited down to ten reels for its general release. The twelve-reel version is now lost. Most notably, it featured a scene in which Quasimodo traded candles for a dress to give to Esmeralda. In the surviving ten-reel version, he still gives her the dress, but it's not explained where he got it.
• Underage Casting: 46-year-old Nigel de Brulier playing elder brother Claude Frollo to 57-year-old Brandon Hurst playing younger brother Jehan Frollo.

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