1:23:02
without the actor being aware of it.
1:23:06
These subsequent shots of Claudin
reacting as Raoul and the Inspector arrive
1:23:10
are severely underexposed and poorly lit,
1:23:13
suggesting that
they were not lit to camera,
1:23:15
and they appear to be the shots Mr Lubin
is referring to, taken by a second camera.
1:23:23
Claudin has killed a number of people,
even though he's a sympathetic nice guy,
1:23:27
and the Production Code
demanded a penalty.
1:23:30
Now, D'Aubert and Raoul can't just
walk in and shoot the poor old fella.
1:23:37
They have to believe he's threatening
with a sword, and pull a gun...
1:23:41
And of course Nelson
has to then jockey Barrier's arm,
1:23:44
so that the shots accidentally make
the catacombs come in.
1:23:49
You wonder what's happening in the tier
boxes, with the underpinnings giving way.
1:23:58
With this fabulous black lake
in the surrounding room,
1:24:01
it's unfortunate that the idea
of the boat or the gondola
1:24:04
crossing the black lake, like a River Styx,
1:24:07
was not employed in this film,
as it was in the Lon Chaney silent.
1:24:11
Susanna Foster remembers clearly
that the day this was shot,
1:24:14
both Nelson Eddy and Edgar Barrier
were supplied stunt doubles,
1:24:18
whereas she, the frail 18-year-old girl,
1:24:21
had to run through
all the muck and the mire herself.
1:24:25
"They probably wanted the day off"
she said.
1:24:28
They also probably had agents
who knew how to get them that day off.
1:24:34
At a sneak preview
at Riverside, California,
1:24:36
the studio heads didn't think
Phantom stood a chance.
1:24:39
But the initial reviews were sensational,
and the public embraced it,
1:24:43
despite The Hollywood Reporter's
observation
1:24:46
that the opening-day audience
in Chicago laughed their heads off.
1:24:52
Following Phantom's world premiere
on August 19
1:24:55
at the Palace Theater in Cincinnati, Ohio,
1:24:57
the picture became Universal's
biggest attraction of the season,