Phantom of the Opera (1943)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Arthur Lubin

Writers:

Samuel Hoffenstein (writer)
John Jacoby (adaptation)

Release Date:

27 elokuu 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Music | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

In flaming Technicolor!

Plot:

This is the story of a disfigured violinist who haunts the Paris Opera House

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Paris | Music Publisher | Soprano | Murder

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Nelson Eddy	...	Anatole Garron
Susanna Foster	...	Christine Dubois
Claude Rains	...	Erique Claudin
Edgar Barrier	...	Raoul D'Aubert
Leo Carrillo	...	Signor Ferretti
Jane Farrar	...	Biancarolli
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Amiot
Fritz Feld	...	Lecours
Frank Puglia	...	Villeneuve
Steven Geray	...	Vereheres
Barbara Everest	...	The Aunt
Hume Cronyn	...	Gerard
Fritz Leiber	...	Franz Liszt
Nicki Andre	...	Lorenzi
Gladys Blake	...	Jeanne

Also Known As:

Suuren Oopperan kummitus (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Spain:13 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:G (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #9388) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Universal Studio originally planned to rewrite Phantom of the Opera as a comedy for the team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. They also considered casting Lon Chaney Jr. as "The Phantom," a role made famous by his father, and actor Jon Hall as the romantic lead.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Christine takes the mask off from Phantom's face, we see that his scar reaches the low area of his right cheek, even the right eyelid is slightly fallen. But before that during the entire film, we never see a single mark of the scar on the uncover area of the Phantom's face, not even the fallen eyelid through the mask.

Quotes:

Signor Ferretti: [FERRETTI is telling CLAUDIN that if he can no longer pay for CHRISTINE's lessons, FERRETTI will have to stop teaching her] I'm sorry, Claudin. Really sorry. If I had the time- But my expenses are great, and you must remember that many who can pay are waiting to study with me. Well, I'll let her come a few times, and, uh, then I will tell her she no longer needs me.
Enrique Claudin: B-But that isn't true.
Signor Ferretti: As a matter of fact, if you had the money, she might be launched on a career very soon. I assume that Mademoiselle Dubois has not the means to pay for her own instructions.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: Spellingg Bee (#1.2)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

LULLABY OF THE BELLS

Horror may be muted...but the music is glorious...

Before writing a film article on Claude Rains for CLASSIC IMAGES (December 2000), I took another look at 'Phantom' to appraise his performance. He's one of those rare actors who can make you feel sympathy when he plays the ill-treated violinist so that you understand why he turns into 'The Phantom'. His performance is just one asset of this handsome technicolor adaptation of the famous story. Why carp about the changes made for this version? It stands on its own as an entertaining melodrama studded with operatic sequences that give it added dimension. Nelson Eddy has never been in better voice and Susanna Foster is certainly up to the demands of her singing role. The comic aspects of the story are a bit overdone and the only weakness of the film is giving Eddy and Edgar Barrier silly routines as they compete for the hand of Foster. Aside from that, this can still be enjoyed as a horror story set against the Paris Opera background. The sets are rich and detailed. Understandably, the film won Academy Awards for color cinematography and color art direction. Edward Ward's haunting score was also nominated and contributes greatly to the overall enjoyment of the film. The horror is muted in this version--but the rich musical highlights are a compensation. Absorbing entertainment.