Offered for sale here is a deluxe still set from RKO's 1939 production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Charles Laughton as the Hunchback Quasimodo and Maureen O'Hara as Esmeralda. The set of photos comes in a large paper folder printed with a shot of Quasimodo ringing the bells in the tower of Notre Dame Cathedral (a set built at a cost of $250,000—The Hunchback of Notre Dame was one of the most expensive films RKO ever made).

 

Inside the folder are 15 extra-large double weight stills from the production (14 of the set measure 15.5 x 19-inches—an unusually large size for publicity stills—one is slightly smaller, at 14 x 16.5 inches). All but four of the photos still have the original "snipe" or descriptive paper blurb attached to the back. All the large photos are stamped on the reverse with the imprint of Gaston Longet, famed Hollywood photographer. See the Galleries to view the images. Other actors featured in the large stills include: Edmond O'Brien, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Alan Marshal, and Thomas Mitchell.

 

Also for sale are six 8 x 10 stills from the production. Five of these are shots of Charles Laughton in makeup as Quasimodo the hunchback. These appear to be early test shots made during make-up development as the look here differs from the final Quasimodo make-up. Four of the five shots are head shots of Laughton. One shows Laughton standing on a chalk mark in the Cathedral (full-length shot). There is one 8 x 10 photo of actress Minna Gombell (Queen of the Beggars) in costume. See the Galleries to view the images.

 

Condition: The large paper folder that encloses the large publicity stills is frayed around the edges and somewhat discolored as shown in the photo. The inner pocket that holds the photos is partially detached from its backing. The large publicity stills all show minor wear around the edges, most have small holes in the corners where they have been tacked up for display, and some of them show light silvering around the edges, typical of photographs from this period, or have minor emulsion cracks, which, with only one exception, are not obvious.  Although some of the "snipes" (descriptive paper blurbs) are creased or slightly torn (see individual image descriptions for details), most of the large photos still have their snipes attached to the back, and, overall, these nearly 80-year-old images are in excellent condition. The 8 x 10 stills of Laughton are all in excellent condition. The photo of Minna Gombell has a crease in the upper right corner, as shown, but is otherwise crisp and clean.

 

OFFERS: I would like to sell the entire set intact. Entertaining offers for the 21 images as described (15 large, double weight publicity stills in deluxe presentation folder, six additional single weight 8x10 stills). To make an offer or for more information, contact Colin Talcroft. Buyer pays shipping and insurance from Northern  California, USA

 

Note that in a 2009 auction a single example of just one image included here (Quasimodo with Esmeralda stretched out before him in the bell tower) sold for $776 including buyer's premium—and that image was of a much smaller size (only 10.5 x 13 inches) than the large images offered here.