“Our brilliant stage manager insists there’s a malicious ghost prowling about the Opera.”
While the 1925 silent adaptation starring Lon Chaney and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 musical might get all of the attention, 1943’s Phantom of the Opera starring Claude Rains deserves a little respect as well. Loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, the film features award winning cinematography, excellent musical sequences, and outstanding performances by many of its actors.
The film is the only Universal Horror classic to be shot entirely in color. The 1925 version has a few color sequences (all of which have been lost to time, save one), but the majority of the film is in black and white. The 1943 release is also the only Universal Horror classic to receive an Academy Award. In fact it was nominated for four Oscars and won two of them: Art Direction and Cinematography.
The film stars Claude Rains (The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, The Greatest Story Ever Told) as Erique Claudin, a violinist at the Paris Opera House who is released for his degrading playing skills. Broke due to the fact that he is secretly paying for voice lessons for Christine Dubois (Susanna Foster), with whom he is infatuated with, and no longer able to support her lessons or himself, Claudin presents one of his concertos to a publishing house hoping to cash in on it.
When Claudin returns to the publishing house to inquire about his concerto (which the publisher blows off initially), he overhears someone playing his concerto and believes that the publisher (Miles Mander) has stolen his work. In actuality, famed composer Franz Liszt (Fritz Leiber) is playing the concerto and has fallen in love with it.
Enraged and unaware of Liszt’s love for his work, Claudin murders the publisher and is splashed with acid by the publisher’s assistant. He runs out into the streets and seeks refuge in the city sewers.
Claudin, now wearing a mask to hide his disfigurement, takes up residence in the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera House. He drugs Mme. Biancarolli, the house’s prima donna, with the intent to have Christine replace her. He then starts to make demands of the house, telling them to replace Biancarolli with Christine Dubois or else there would be trouble.
He eventually murders Biancarolli and her assistant, forcing the opera house to close. The local inspector, Raoul Dubert (Edgar Barrier), who also happens to love Christine, stages an elaborate scheme in order to capture the “phantom” and reveal that it is Claudin. Unfortunately for Dubert, the plans fall apart and more people die in the process.
During a chaotic moment in the opera house, Claudin kidnaps Christine and brings her to his home beneath the opera house. He plans on having her live with him forever in the catacombs and away from the cruel world above. Dubert teams up with Anatole Garron (Nelson Eddy), another of Christine’s suitors, and they hunt down Claudin. The fight with the Phantom and literally “bring down the house.”
While this film doesn’t really follow its predecessor or the book that it’s based upon, it is still a very good film. Despite being called Phantom of the Opera, the film, at least in my opinion, is about Christine and her three suitors. Claudin’s love is more of an unhealthy infatuation. He doesn’t really know much about Christine other than the fact that she is a brilliant singer with a ton of potential and that he finds her to be beautiful. The second suitor, Inspector Dubert, wants Christine to leave the opera house and become his wife. He loves her as a person and not as a performer. The third suitor, Anatole, loves Christine for her voice and for her physical beauty. They have the most in common, as Anatole is a baritone at the opera house.
Even though Christine has three men longing for her, the best chemistry in the film comes from the relationship of Anatole and Dubert. Nelson Eddy and Edgar Barrier are hilarious as they try to impress, woo, and attract Christine. Their battle for her affection is one of the best parts of the film. Susanna Foster gives a wonderful performance as well, getting a lot of joy out of watching Dubert and Anatole vie for her love.
Claude Rains, as always, gives a stellar performance. Watching him spiral out of control over Christine and becoming a murderous monster is amazing. He commands your attention while he’s on the screen whether or not he’s wearing a mask.
As stated before, this film won Oscars for cinematography and art direction. It deserved both of them. The Technicolor treatment of the film made the colors pop on the screen and made the entire opera house come alive. Scenes in which the Phantom appeared as a shadow and a number of the shots in the film pulled the audience not only into the story, but into the opera house, the catacombs, and the streets of Paris. This film was simply beautiful to watch, but the performances kept it interesting.
This film is one of my favorite movies of all time no matter the genre. It’s a piece of art and I’ll continue to watch it until I finally exit this world. If you haven’t watched it yet, give it a chance. You’ll enjoy it.
As always, thank you for checking out my post. Claude Rains is one of my favorite actors and this film is my favorite in which he’s the star. I’ll have another horrific post tomorrow, so stay tuned!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 