Considering the film's brief running time, critic Christopher Workman considered it "remarkably faithful to its source material" but it "contains no discernible humor, unlike most other horror films of the period, and thus represents a bellwether of sorts for the genre....(Henry Krauss as Quasimodo) "looks remarkably like Charles Ogle in (Thomas) Edison's 1910 Frankenstein.

"[2] Although the film vilified organized Christianity by portraying members of the clergy as "sadistic and duplicitous", it was theatrically released in the US in December 1911, shortly before Christmas.

[2] Esmeralda, a gypsy (Hugo's term) girl, is the darling of the people around Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Three men are romantically interested in her: Phöebus, the commander of the city guard, Quasimodo the bell ringer of Notre Dame and Claudius Frollo, the archdeacon of the cathedral.

The latter, however, is confused by his strong affection for Esmeralda and cannot resolve the conflict caused by his vow of celibacy.