Lon Chaney HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME January 19th at Schlafly Bottleworks

“Why was I not made of stone, like thee?”

HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923) starring Lon Chaney screens Thursday January 19th at 7:00pm at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue Maplewood, MO 63143). 

In fifteenth century Paris, the brother of the archdeacon plots with the gypsy king to foment a peasant revolt. Meanwhile, a freakish hunchback falls in love with the gypsy queen.

Victor Hugo’s classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame received a grand send-up from Universal Pictures, and superstar Lon Chaney (as Quasimodo) in 1923. The studio spent a lot of money on this production, and it shows. Universal claimed this film made Mr. Chaney a superstar. Their pride is understandable, but Chaney had already achieved that position. He was a hot property throughout the 1920s. Chaney was responsible for pulling viewers into the cinema for several high-level productions.

Universal added some of the best supporting actors in Hollywood, beautiful St. Louis native Patsy Ruth Miller (as Esmeralda), director Wallace Worsley of Chaney’s “The Penalty” (1920) to the mix, and spent a fortune on the sets. The result was a crow-pleasing epic. HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME is enjoyable for those who appreciate the genre, the lavish setting, and for Chaney’s towering titular performance.

There have been several remakes of HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, but for my money, the Lon Chaney version is the definitive version, and you’ll have the chance to see it with an audience hen we screen HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME Thursday January 19th at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue Maplewood, MO 63143)

A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/1281225625290922/

$6  for the screening. A yummy variety of food from Schlafly’s kitchen is available as are plenty of pints of their famous home-brewed suds.

“Culture Shock” is the name of a film series here in St. Louis that is the cornerstone project of a social enterprise that is an ongoing source of support for Helping Kids Together(http://www.helpingkidstogether.com/) a St. Louis based social enterprise dedicated to building cultural diversity and social awareness among young people through the arts and active living.

The films featured for “Culture Shock” demonstrate an artistic representation of culture shock materialized through mixed genre and budgets spanning music, film and theater. Through ‘A Film Series’ working relationship with Schlafly Bottleworks, they seek to provide film lovers with an offbeat mix of dinner and a movie opportunities.