:24:02
Jack Pierce was a marvellous make-up
man, and the best in the business.
:24:07
Pierce had to keep simplifying
the Phantom's face of fire
:24:10
until it met with Rains' approval.
:24:12
Sensitivity to returning combat veterans,
many of them disfigured,
:24:17
also caused the producers
to tread carefully.
:24:25
As late as December 1942,
:24:28
Universal's junior songbird
Gloria Jean seemed to have the part.
:24:32
But when prerecording
started before Christmas,
:24:34
the role of Christine
was being played by Susanna Foster,
:24:37
a 17-year-old singing prodigy
from the Midwest.
:24:42
Susanna had grown up in awe
of Hollywood singer Jeanette MacDonald.
:24:46
She rivalled her idol
in beauty and star presence.
:24:50
Christine, you're going to be
a great and famous singer.
:24:54
The kind of a star Susie Foster is,
:24:56
is somebody that you feel
is absolutely sincere in what she does.
:25:02
She also had a voice of crystal clarity
and incredible range.
:25:22
I could not stand these Cs
above the high Cs.
:25:26
It was a pain in the ear for me,
but it was a great piece of art.
:25:32
It made her famous, and she
was the only one who could do it.
:25:35
Five years in Hollywood without
a starring role, it was a dream come true
:25:39
when she was selected to play Christine
opposite Jeanette MacDonald's co-star,
:25:44
baritone Nelson Eddy.
:25:46
Nelson was thrilled about the prospect,
:25:48
until Arthur Lubin told him
he would have to die his blond hair.
:25:53
He accepted the role only when Jack
Pierce developed a special black hair dye
:25:57
that would wash out each night.