:20:03
The studio had recovered
from going down financially
:20:07
because of Deanna's first picture,
Three Smart Girls.
:20:10
In 1941, the Phantom was to be reborn,
remade, rejuvenated once again,
:20:17
even if he must play
second fiddle to Deanna.
:20:19
Charles Laughton,
acclaimed for his portrayal of Quasimodo
:20:23
in the 1939 remake
of The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
:20:27
had just played Durbin's
surrogate father in It Started with Eve,
:20:31
for director Henry Koster.
:20:33
"Why not", thought Koster, "reunite them,
:20:36
and make Erique and Christine
father and daughter?"
:20:39
Koster told the press that his Technicolor
movie would present the backstage opera
:20:44
in tones of grey and brown,
:20:46
and then the splash of bright red blood.
:20:50
Durbin saw red, too,
and rejected the script.
:20:54
As 1941 ended,
Universal's family included
:20:57
the immensely popular
comedy team of Abbott and Costello.
:21:02
Their director, Arthur Lubin,
moved to the A roster.
:21:05
No stranger to horror, Lubin could scare
up a phantom on time and on budget.
:21:11
His producer, George Waggner,
knew something about horror,
:21:15
having produced The Wolf Man
and other chillers.
:21:18
Mr Waggner was a complex man.
He was a cowboy, basically.
:21:22
Big, you know, impressive person,
:21:26
with steely blue-grey eyes,
:21:29
and with a lot of music
and things inside him.
:21:32
And it was a great opportunity
for him to do Phantom.
:21:36
He loved music. Like most of the...
:21:39
Most of the producers at Universal
had something to do with music.
:21:44
Either it was their hobby,
or it had been their profession,
:21:47
or it still was their profession.
:21:49
Waggner also knew about the "Son
of a Thousand Faces", Lon Chaney Jnr,
:21:54
who lobbied to reprise
his father's greatest role.
:21:59
Chaney was never seriously considered,