Champaign, IL – The Champaign Park District has announced two special screenings of the silent classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) to include live organ accompaniment by musician Jay Warren at the historic Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at 1:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. General Admission tickets are $10 plus an additional per-ticket processing fee of $2. Tickets can be purchased at the Virginia Theatre Box Office, online at thevirginia.org, or charge by phone at 217-356-9063. This event is part of The News-Gazette Film Series.
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923) | 98 min, Not Rated
This legendary silent film tells the story of Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Paris’ Cathedral of Notre Dame, 1482, as he is ordered by Jehan—evil brother of the archdeacon—to kidnap Esmeralda, a beautiful Gypsy dancing girl. Universal Pictures’ largest-scale picture to date (and one of the most expensive silent films ever, costing more than $1,250,000 to shoot), Hunchback is seen as a defining work of the era. Star Lon Chaney assisted Wallace Worsley in directing, and over 2,500 extras were brought in for the crowd scenes.
Distributed by Universal, the film was the studio’s most successful silent, grossing $3.5 million. The film premiered on September 2, 1923, at the Astor Theatre in New York, and then went into general release that same year on September 6.
The film elevated star, Lon Chaney, who was already a well-known character actor, to full star status in Hollywood and also helped set a standard for many later horror films, including Chaney’s equally-famous The Phantom of the Opera (1925).
JAY WARREN, ORGANIST
Chicago’s foremost photoplay organist brings all the color, excitement, and glamour of the silent film era back to life with his original scores for the silver screen. As regularly featured organist for the Silent Film Society of Chicago, Mr. Warren has accompanied most of the great silents throughout his thirty-year career, in his famous rousing style.
Jay Warren has been featured annually for the Silent Film Society’s highly regarded Silent Summer Film Festival since its inception in 2000. For twelve consecutive years he also performed on the E. M. Skinner pipe organ during silent film presentations at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. He further performs accompaniment to films on the Letourneau pipe organ in the Crimi Auditorium of Aurora University. Jay has also made several silent photoplay appearances on the Wurlitzer located at the Sanfilippo Foundation’s Place de la Musique in Barrington, Illinois.
For more, visit www.thevirginia.org or www.silentfilmsjaywarren.com. For media inquiries, photos, and interview requests, contact Mitch Marlow at mitch.marlow@champaignparks.org or 217/819-3936.
