:03:02
than in Universal's
The Phantom of the Opera,
:03:06
first made in 1925 with Lon Chaney,
:03:10
followed by
an Oscar-winning remake in 1943,
:03:14
featuring Claude Rains as the Phantom,
:03:16
and remade once again in 1962,
:03:19
with Herbert Lom
as the disfigured music master,
:03:23
whose story has become one of the most
popular narratives of the 20th century.
:03:28
The thing about
The Phantom of the Opera
:03:31
is the romantic quality that it has.
:03:36
The appeal of The Phantom of the Opera
:03:38
is one of those perennial things
where you have a character
:03:43
who also has a tragic element.
:03:45
It's so intriguing and mysterious.
:03:48
The mystery of it all,
it fascinates people.
:03:52
I think the thing
that sticks in everybody's mind
:03:56
is the removal of the mask.
:04:06
Take off that ridiculous mask
when you speak to me. Do you hear me?
:04:12
Take it off!
:04:22
The Opera Ghost was the creation
of a Frenchman, Gaston Leroux:
:04:27
lawyer, journalist,
author of many fantastic novels,
:04:30
but none so enduring
as The Phantom of the Opera.
:04:34
First published in 1910,
Phantom became a popular success.
:04:39
It told the story of Erique,
a horribly disfigured musician
:04:42
who dwells in the catacombs
beneath the Paris Opera House,
:04:46
and his unrequited love
for a singer named Christine.
:04:50
When his passion is thwarted,
a reign of terror ensues.
:04:54
A primary inspiration for
Leroux's book was an earlier novel,
:04:58
George Du Maurier's Trilby.