The
lowdown: 'The Phantom of the Opera' is one of the most
well-known literary works of all time. The original
novel by Gaston Leroux was
first published in serial form in 1909, and has since been dramatised many
times,
as both films and television
miniseries. The novel has also been adapted for the stage many times, but
Andrew
Lloyd Webber's musical version
is the most well-known. The 1962 film version was produced by the legendary
Hammer Films, in one of
its infrequent departures from Frankenstein and Dracula films. It stars
Herbert Lom as
The Phantom, Heather Sears
as Christine Charles, and Edward de Souza as Harry Hunter, an opera producer
who gets to the heart of
the mystery.
The year is 1900, and the
London Opera House is the venue for the opening night of a new opera written
by Lord
Ambrose D'Arcy (Michael
Gough), a lecherous man with few moral scruples. The first night is cancelled
when a
stage hand dies in tragic
circumstances, and the show's star, Maria, refuses to sing at the opera
house again.
D'Arcy auditions for a new
cast, and gives the lead role to Christine, who is one of the chorus singers.
D'Arcy
attempts to seduce Christine,
who rejects his advances and is warned about him by a mysterious voice
from the
shadows. Meanwhile, the
opera house's ratcatcher (Patrick Troughton), is brutally murdered by the
Phantom's
dwarf henchman, after offering
Christine and Harry some of his rats for a pie!
Christine eventually comes
face to face with the masked man, who takes her to his lair beneath the
opera house.
The Phantom recognises that
she has genuine talent and explains that he wants to train her to fully
realise her
potential as an opera singer
- but says she will sing only for him. Meanwhile, Harry learns the true
identity of the
Phantom - Professor Petrie,
the real author of D'Arcy's opera, who apparently died in a fire at a printer's
factory.
Assuming that Petrie was
dead, D'Arcy stole his music and claimed it as his own work. However, Petrie
survived,
but was hideously disfigured
when acid splashed in his face when he attempted to put out the fire. Petrie
has a
last confrontation with
D'Arcy, where the extent of his injuries is revealed, and he is crushed
by a chandelier.
Who
connections: Michael Gough is well-known to Doctor Who
fans, having starred as the Celestial Toymaker
during the Hartnell era,
and as Councillor Hedin in Arc of Infinity.
Video clip:
The ratcatcher 3.2mb |
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