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,
1:25:01
grossing $51,000 the first week
in Los Angeles, at two theatres.
1:25:08
It was the number one film
in New York City,
1:25:10
where its opening week gross
was $85,000,
1:25:14
the best the theatre had done in 12 years.
1:25:17
So encouraging were the returns, that
on August 23, four days after the opening,
1:25:22
Universal announced The Climax
as a sequel to Phantom,
1:25:25
reuniting the cast and production team.
1:25:28
Claude Rains was to return as
the phantom, along with Foster, Eddy,
1:25:32
director Arthur Lubin,
producer George Waggner.
1:25:36
Excited by the prospect, Eddy clipped the
trade announcement for his scrapbook,
1:25:40
scribbling "Looking forward"
in the margin.
1:25:43
As an aside, you'll notice here
the blonde wig the maid is carrying
1:25:47
suggests something that has not been
hinted at before, and the white gown.
1:25:51
Christine has just debuted
as Marguerite in Faust,
1:25:54
and we'll see some more evidence
of that later.
1:25:57
The opera maybe could not be cleared,
but Lubin knew the value of the image.