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The Climax originally was
an old show from New York from the '20s,
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that had one horrible song in it.
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Not horrible. The songs in the movie The
Climax were more operetta than opera.
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It had all the ingredients for success,
including a solid cast.
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In The Climax, I played
a young Viennese boy called Franz,
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who was a musician
in love with Susie Foster,
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who realises what an evil influence
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the Boris Karloff character
had on this girl.
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By 1944, Boris Karloff
had become such an indelible horror icon
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that his simple presence
in a film signified shudders.
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Boris Karloff, the classic horror actor.
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He did very little with his voice.
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He did very little with his face.
He just let it be there.
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And the eyes are so expressive.
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I don't know whether you remember the
close-ups of Boris Karloff in The Climax.
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They were masterpieces. I think it was the
first time that Boris had a chance to play
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an elegant man.
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And when he came dressed in his tails
and his wonderful hat, he was beautiful.
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Once again, audiences
were treated to the Phantom stage
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and Hal Mohr's Technicolor camera work.
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But Universal's hope to repeat
Phantom's success went up in flames.
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The Climax didn't have the name
"Phantom of the Opera".
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With that name alone you were safe.
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The Climax proved more
of an anticlimax at the box office.
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Following World War Il,
the Phantom lurked quietly at Universal,
:38:56
unmasked again for a cameo
in William Castle's 1951 Hollywood Story.