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Phantom of the Opera (1943 film)

Phantom of the Opera
Phantom of the Opera (1943 film).jpg
theatrical re-release poster
Directed by Arthur Lubin
Produced by George Waggner
Written by John Jacoby (adaptation)
Screenplay by Samuel Hoffenstein
Eric Taylor
Hans Jacoby
Based on The Phantom of the Opera
by Gaston Leroux
Starring Claude Rains
Nelson Eddy
Susanna Foster
Music by Edward Ward
Cinematography W. Howard Greene
Hal Mohr
Edited by Russell F. Schoengarth
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • August 12, 1943 (1943-08-12) ((LA))
  • August 27, 1943 (1943-08-27) ((US))
Running time
92 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1,750,000
Box office $1.6 million (US rentals)
2,316,416 admissions (France, 1945)

Phantom of the Opera is a 1943 Universal musical horror film starring Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster and Claude Rains, directed by Arthur Lubin, and filmed in Technicolor. The original music score was composed by Edward Ward. The movie is loosely based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux and its 1925 film adaptation starring Lon Chaney.

The auditorium set, a replica of the Opéra Garnier interior, created for the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera was reused. Other than the sets, this remake had little in common with the earlier film. The original storyline was completely revised and there was no attempt to film the masked ball sequence, although the famous falling of the chandelier was re-enacted on an epic scale, using elaborate camera set-ups. The cinematographers were Hal Mohr and W. Howard Greene. It is also the only horror film from Universal to win an Oscar. Though it is not generally considered the classic version of Universal's Phantom of the Opera it is still sometimes listed with classic Universal horror movies due to the 1925 version with Lon Chaney falling into public domain.

Erique Claudin (Claude Rains) had been a violinist at the Paris Opera House for twenty years. However he has been losing the use of the fingers of his left hand, which affects his violin-playing. He is dismissed because of this, the conductor of the opera house assuming that he has enough money to support himself. This is not the case however, for Claudin has spent it all by anonymously funding the music lessons of Christine Dubois (Susanna Foster), a young soprano whom Claudin has secretly fallen in love with.


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