Phantom of the Opera

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An ersatz Russian opera based on
Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony,

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The Masked Prince of Caucasia,
provided an opportunity

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to rekindle audiences' memories
of the original masked ball,

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and an opportunity for the phantom
to hide among the cast of the opera,

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who were also wearing masks.

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This becomes the backdrop for
the climactic fall of the chandelier,

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which, like the unmasking scene, is one
of the great set pieces of the Leroux story.

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Just starting a contract
at Universal was Hume Cronyn,

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in a thankless part as a junior policeman.

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He's already given his best line.

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That was his other line.

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Madame Lorenzi is played
by Nicole "Nicki" Andre,

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a French Czech who had scrubbed streets
in Vienna by Nazi order

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before escaping from Europe.

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Nicki did not sing. She was dubbed
in Phantom by Marina Koshetz,

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who brought down the chandelier.

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Nicki was never seen again
after Phantom.

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Cronyn was cast in substantial parts
by Alfred Hitchcock

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in Shadow of a Doubt and Lifeboat,

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ending his Universal contract
with a breathtaking performance

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as the sadistic prison boss who achieves
ecstasy with whippings and Wagner

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in Brute Force.

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Phantom of the Opera is often criticised
for containing too much opera.

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Producer George Waggner in 1943

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justified his bloodless opera ghost
to the Los Angeles Daily News

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by downsizing the Lon Chaney original:

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"I thought I'd better see
the original picture."

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"It was a real surprise" said Waggner.
"There wasn't any plot,

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only a horrible-Iooking old boy swinging
around the chandelier, scaring kiddies."

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At that point the producer confided to
the reporter that the new phantom was