Review of Phantom of the Opera (1943) by Byron B — 01 Nov 2013
The only version I've seen with such a long exposition to explain how the Phantom comes to be scarred and living in the sewers below the Paris Opera House. Not having read the book, I'm not sure if Erique Claudin (Rains) was a violinist and amateur composer originally, or if this was a change by Universal studios.
A special feature mentioned that in the book Erique is really Christine's father. It is not because of some creepy romantic attraction that he provides voice lessons and pushes her to be the star soprano.
Yet, somewhere in the process of writing this version it was also decided to eliminate that family connection between the two lead characters. Christine (Foster) is caught in a love triangle even without the Phantom getting involved.
Anatole (Eddy) and Raoul (Barrier) infuse the drama with a little humor every time they try to one up each other to win Christine. Not only is this Universal monster movie in Technicolor, but it uses the same opera house set that was built for the Lon Chaney silent production.
Being the first version since the coming of sound, this movie has quite a few musical numbers. The songs are not from real operas, and yet this is probably the Phantom of the Opera that opera lovers like most.
This review of Phantom of the Opera (1943) was written by Byron B on 01 Nov 2013.
Phantom of the Opera has generally received positive reviews.
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