The plot twisting, witty, and suspenseful film (similar to Hitchcock""sThe 39 Steps (1935),To Catch a Thief (1955),North by Northwest (1959), and the entries in theJames Bondseries), shot on sets and on-location in Paris, is a sophisticated, yet off-balanced combination of thrills and comedy from screenwriter Peter Stone""s first film screenplay." The admiring and enchanted King responded without bias: "Who cares about her race? She""s pretty." Esmeralda put he King""s coin thrown to her into her bodice.King Louis XI: (To Frollo) "Doesn""t she make your pulse beat faster? What about you, Doctor?"The King""s Physician: "I""m a widower four times, sire, but I could begin all over again.The blowing trees outside his window cast moving shadows across his pillow and rustle the curtains.Inexplicably but intentionally, a mechanical toy monkey on his dresser begins moving manically - it noisily clashes its two cymbals together.The figure placed his hand into the deadly claw-hand with four razor/talons for fingers - and then slashed through a canvas." Zaius described how the militaristic, bullying Ursus was poised to go on "a rampage of conquest," and as Minister of Science, he was obligated to join Ursus to find if life existed in the Forbidden Zone - something that might be a threat to simian survival and innocence.