King Louis XI is a wise and old king and Frollo is the Chief Justice. Frollo gazes on the gypsy girl, Esmeralda, in the church during Fool's Day and sends Quasimoto to catch her. Quasimoto, with the girl, is captured by Phoebus, Captain of the Guards, who frees the girl. The courts sentence Quasimoto to be flogged, and the only one who will give him water while he is tied in the square is Esmeralda. Later, at a party of nobles, Esmeralda again meets both Frollo, who is bewitched by her, and Phoebus. When Phoebus is stabbed to death, Esmeralda is accused of the murder, convicted by the court and sentenced to hang. Clopin, King of the Beggars, Gringoire the Husband of Esmeralda, and Quasimoto, the bellringer, all try different ways to save her from the gallows.
| Charles Laughton | Quasimodo |
| Cedric Hardwicke | Frollo |
| Thomas Mitchell | Clopin |
| Maureen O'Hara | Esmeralda |
| Edmond O'Brien | Gringoire |
| Alan Marshal | Phoebus |
| Walter Hampden | Archdeacon |
| Harry Davenport | King Louis XI |
| Katharine Alexander | Madame de Lys |
| George Zucco | Procurator |
| Fritz Leiber | Old nobleman |
| Etienne Girardot | Doctor |
| Helene Whitney | Fleur de Lys |
| Helene Reynolds | Fleur de Lys |
| Minna Gombell | Queen of Beggars (as Mina Gombell) |
| Arthur Hohl | Olivier |
| Curt Bois | Student |
| Alfred Newman | Composer |
| George Tobias | Beggar |
| Joseph H. August | Cinematographer |
| Rod La Rocque | Phillippe (as Rod LaRocque) |
| Spencer Charters | Court Clerk |
| Kathryn Adams | Fleur's Companion |
| Diane Hunter | Fleur's Companion (as Dianne Hunter) |
| Sig Arno | Tailor (as Siegfried Arno) |
| J.C. Fowler | Nobleman |
| Rondo Hatton | Ugly Man (uncredited) |
| Cy Kendall | Nobleman Signing Petition |
| Eddie Abdo | Singer |
| Louis Adlon | Venus |
| William Hamilton | Editor |
| George Barrows | Minor Role |
| Eddie Bracken | Soldier at Festival of Fools |
| Robert Wise | Editor |
| Vangie Beilby | Contestant |
| Lionel Belmore | Judge at Esmeralda's Trial |
| Ted Billings | Short peasant at Quasimodo's arraignment |
| Van Nest Polglase | Art Director |
| Barlowe Borland | Dubois |
| Gene Clark | Minor Role |
| Richard Clayton | Minor Role |
| Earl Clyde | Juggler |
| Edmund Cobb | Soldier |
| Alan Copeland | Choirboy |
| Harry Cording | Guard |
| Laura Hope Crews | Minor Role |
| Jack Curtis | Minor Role |
| Harold DeGarro | Stilt walker |
| Patty Lee Dear | Minor Role |
| Eddie Dew | Minor Role |
| Dick Dickinson | Wooden-Leg Man |
| Charles Drake | Young Priest |
| Arthur Dulac | Mars |
| Ralph Dunn | Soldier |
| Gretl Dupont | Lissy |
| James Fawcett | Festival Ball-Walker |
| Budd Fine | Minor Role |
| Harry Fleischmann | Minor Role |
| Robert Milasch | Townsman |
| Thom Fox | Jupiter |
| Vallejo Gantner | Merchant |
| Peter Godfrey | Monk |
| John George | Townsman |
| Alexander Granach | Soldier |
| Edward Groag | Moon |
| Laurie Hale | Minor Role |
| Charlie Hall | Mercury |
| Charles Halton | Printer |
| Al Herman | Short Fat Soldier |
| Louis Jean Heydt | Minor Role |
| Otto Hoffman | Deaf Judge |
| Billy Jones | Minor Role |
| Kenner G. Kemp | Townsman |
| Fanny Sterling | Older Gypsy Woman |
| Ruth Sterling | Gypsy Girl |
| Victor Kilian | Esmeralda's Hangman |
| Sam Sterling | Gypsy |
| Louis King | Minor Role |
| Ann Kunde | Townswoman |
| John Laing | Minor Role |
| Mike Lally | Beggar |
| Anne Kunde | Townswoman |
| Jack Lawrence | Minor Role |
| Elmo Lincoln | Minor Role |
| Ray Long | Festival Skeleton Dancer |
| Theodore Lorch | Minor Role |
| Joseph P. Mack | Workman in Play |
| Frank Mazzola | Child Extra |
| Margaret McWade | Younger Sister |
| Consuelo Melendez | Singer |
| Frederic Mellinger | Minor Role |
| Victor Metzetti | Minor Role |
| Arthur Millett | Count Graville |
| Darrell Silvera | Set Decorator |
| Frank Mills | Beggar |
| Walter Plunkett | Custome Designer |
| Angela Mulinos | Helene |
| Edward Killy | Assistant Director |
| Ferdinand Munier | Defense Attorney |
| W. Argyle Nelson | assistant director (as Argyle Nelson) |
