Phantom of the Opera series

(On Cable TV, December 2022) Somewhere between the 1925 Universal Horror take on Gaston Leroux’s classic novel and the modern Andrew Lloyd Weber musical (filmed in 2004) whose title song you can probably hear in your mind right now is the 1943 treatment of Phantom of the Opera. It may very well be the most faithful—Despite coming from the Universal stable, it doesn’t really insist on the horror aspect like most versions, and obviously comes decades too soon to rely on the familiar Broadway romantic musical either. Claude Rains plays the Phantom, which further helps establish this take as a more straightforward drama than others. Whether that’s desirable is something else—some versions of the story have the Phantom slashing victims like a regular psychopath while others see him as a tragic romantic figure. What the 1943 version does better than most, however, falls in the “costume drama” category: lavish costumes, very good sets and impressive early-colour cinematography. (It remains the only Universal Horror film to have won Academy Awards, in cinematography and art direction.)  Sure, the chandelier falls from the ceiling and kills a few people, but that aspect is underplayed compared to the dramatic quality that Rains is able to give to the Phantom. Accordingly, this version of The Phantom of the Opera hangs slightly under the must-see tier—it’s technically proficient, but a bit slow and arguably can’t quite deliver either the horror of the Phantom or the romance of the Opera.