The Phantom of the Opera (1962)

Finishing up our look at manifestations of The Phantom of the Opera we have the 1962 remake by Hammer Films. It's a very different film that strays a long way from the previous two incarnations as well as the original novel, though it does recreate the atmosphere of the book much better while dodging some of the more insane melodramatic bits about flooding dungeons and stores of explosives primed to go off at any second. Where the 1943 version concentrated on the music with the Phantom as essentially a framing device for Nelson Eddy's arias, the 1962 version is more of a Hammer's brand of horror as morality play that centers around betrayal and redemption.

The screenplay is a bit of a Chinese post office exercise; based on the 1943 version, which based on the 1925 version, which is based on the novel. Herbert Lom gives an excellent performance as a Phantom who is clearly insane (as in stumbling about his lair babbling to himself crazy), though oddly not at all evil. Okay, there is lots of hangings and eye-stabbings, but that's due to the Phantom's overachieving servant. Before you think that Hammer all of sudden went soft, bear in mind that the 1962 version was written especially for Cary Grant, who was dead keen on playing the title role until his agent vetoed the idea.

The Christine, on the other hand, seems, at first to be ill cast. Her personality isn't that strong and she seems a bit jowly in Victorian dress, but when she's on stage as Joan of Arc you can see why she got the part. More interesting for horror fans is Edward De Souza as Our Hero, who Radio 4 listeners will remember as The Man in Black from Fear on Four. And then there's Michael Gough having a very good time as a villain who one suspects spends his evening kicking puppies and tearing the last chapter out of Agatha Christie novels.

This production has a much more British feel to it–not surprising when the action is moved from Paris to London. It lacks the spectacle of the 1943 version, which may disappoint some, but it allows the plot to take centre stage and the opera within the story has the much more intimate feel that you'd expect on a London stage with music that is much more dramatic and intended to support the story rather than an end to itself. Amazingly, some real romance is even allowed to intrude. And there's even an actual confrontation between the Phantom and Our Hero, which is usually lacking in other versions.

And, yes, the famous chandelier scene is there, though with a rather unexpected victim getting caught under it.

Well worth a butchers.