A CLASSIC IN ITS OWN RIGHT (AND GORGEOUS, TOO!)

Not really a horror movie, more a romantic melodrama. Lavishly produced and Claude Rains is excellent.

Stage 28, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Peter Lorre, Jon Hall, Cedric Hardwicke, and Ilona Massey in Invisible Agent (1942)

Boris Karloff and Zita Johann in The Mummy (1932)

Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers in The Wolf Man (1941)

Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Lon Chaney Jr., Louise Allbritton, Evelyn Ankers, and Robert Paige in Son of Dracula (1943)

Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Lionel Atwill, Patric Knowles, Ilona Massey, and Maria Ouspenskaya in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

Lon Chaney Jr., Virginia Christine, Peter Coe, and Dennis Moore in The Mummy's Curse (1944)

Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

Dick Foran and Peggy Moran in The Mummy's Hand (1940)

Nelson Eddy and Susanna Foster in Phantom of the Opera (1943)

Would you join me for a bit of supper at the Cafe de l'Opera?

Certainly. After all, who'd pay any attention to a baritone and a detective?

Claude Rains in Phantom of the Opera (1943)

Nicki Andre and Nelson Eddy in Phantom of the Opera (1943)

Claude Rains and Susanna Foster in Phantom of the Opera (1943)

Nelson Eddy

Susanna Foster

Claude Rains

Eric Taylor

Samuel Hoffenstein

Hans Jacoby

An acid-scarred composer rises from the Paris sewers to boost his favorite opera understudy&apos;s career.

Arthur Lubin

Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom Goes Musical

Gaston Leroux&apos;s penny-dreadful novel was hardly the stuff of great literature, but it did manage to tap into the public consciousness with its gas-light-Gothic tale of a beautiful singer menaced by a horrific yet seductive serial killer lurking in the forgotten basement labyrinths of the Paris Opera. Lon Chaney&apos;s silent classic kept the basic elements of the novel intact--and proved one of the great box office hits of its day, a fact that prompted Universal Studios to contemplate a remake throughout most of the 1930s.

Although several proposals were considered (including one intended to feature Deanna Durbin, who despised the idea and derailed the project with a flat refusal), it wasn&apos;t until 1943 that a remake reached the screen. And when it did, it was an eye-popping Technicolor extravaganza, all talking, all singing, and dancing. The Phantom had gone musical.

In many respects this version of PHANTOM anticipates the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical, for whereas the Chaney version presented the Phantom as a truly sinister entity, this adaptation presents the character as one more sinned against than sinning--an idea that would color almost every later adaptation, and Webber&apos;s most particularly so. But it also shifts the focus of the story away from the title character, who is here really more of a supporting character than anything else. The focus is on Paris Opera star Christine Dae, played by Susanna Foster. In this version Christine is not only adored by the Phantom; she is also romantically pursued by two suitors who put aside their differences to protect her.

Directed by Universal workhorse Arthur Lubin, this version is truly eye-popping as only a 1940s Technicolor spectacular could be: the color is intensely brilliant, and Lubin makes the most of it by focusing most of his camera-time on the stage of the Paris Opera itself and splashing one operatic performance after another throughout the film. But in terms of actual story interest, the film is only so-so. Susanna Foster had a great singing voice, but she did not have a memorable screen presence, and while the supporting cast (which includes Nelson Eddy, Edgar Barrier, Leo Carrillo, and Jane Farrar) is solid enough they lack excitement. And the pace of the film often seems a bit slow, sometimes to the point of clunkiness.

The saving grace of the film--in addition to the aforementioned photography, which won an Oscar--is Claude Rains. A great artist, Rains did not make the mistake of copying Chaney, and although the script robs the Phantom of his most fearsome aspects, Rains fills the role with subtle menace that is wonderful to behold, completely transcending the film&apos;s slow pace, the lackluster script, and &quot;sanitized for your protection&quot; tone so typical of Universal Studios in the 1940s. Unless you&apos;re a die-hard Phantom fan you&apos;re likely to be unimpressed.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

The Phantom Of The Opera: Who Are You

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzM3ZjYwZTktMjVhNy00MmM3LThiNDktNGZjN2Q3MDA3ZmZlXkEyXkFqcGdeQVRoaXJkUGFydHlJbmdlc3Rpb25Xb3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg

Gaston Leroux's penny-dreadful novel was hardly the stuff of great literature, but it did manage to tap into the public consciousness with its gas-light-Gothic tale of a beautiful singer menaced by a horrific yet seductive serial killer lurking in the forgotten basement labyrinths of the Paris Opera. Lon Chaney's silent classic kept the basic elements of the novel intact--and proved one of the great box office hits of its day, a fact that prompted Universal Studios to contemplate a remake throughout most of the 1930s.

Although several proposals were considered (including one intended to feature Deanna Durbin, who despised the idea and derailed the project with a flat refusal), it wasn't until 1943 that a remake reached the screen. And when it did, it was an eye-popping Technicolor extravaganza, all talking, all singing, and dancing. The Phantom had gone musical.

In many respects this version of PHANTOM anticipates the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical, for whereas the Chaney version presented the Phantom as a truly sinister entity, this adaptation presents the character as one more sinned against than sinning--an idea that would color almost every later adaptation, and Webber's most particularly so. But it also shifts the focus of the story away from the title character, who is here really more of a supporting character than anything else. The focus is on Paris Opera star Christine Dae, played by Susanna Foster. In this version Christine is not only adored by the Phantom; she is also romantically pursued by two suitors who put aside their differences to protect her.

Directed by Universal workhorse Arthur Lubin, this version is truly eye-popping as only a 1940s Technicolor spectacular could be: the color is intensely brilliant, and Lubin makes the most of it by focusing most of his camera-time on the stage of the Paris Opera itself and splashing one operatic performance after another throughout the film. But in terms of actual story interest, the film is only so-so. Susanna Foster had a great singing voice, but she did not have a memorable screen presence, and while the supporting cast (which includes Nelson Eddy, Edgar Barrier, Leo Carrillo, and Jane Farrar) is solid enough they lack excitement. And the pace of the film often seems a bit slow, sometimes to the point of clunkiness.

The saving grace of the film--in addition to the aforementioned photography, which won an Oscar--is Claude Rains. A great artist, Rains did not make the mistake of copying Chaney, and although the script robs the Phantom of his most fearsome aspects, Rains fills the role with subtle menace that is wonderful to behold, completely transcending the film's slow pace, the lackluster script, and "sanitized for your protection" tone so typical of Universal Studios in the 1940s. Unless you're a die-hard Phantom fan you're likely to be unimpressed.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

An acid-scarred composer rises from the Paris sewers to boost his favorite opera understudy's career.

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