:04:00
and worked as an actor at Universal,
:04:02
including His People,
a melodrama of Jewish life.
:04:05
He then worked as assistant
to William LeBaron at Paramount.
:04:09
Lubin told me "They'd go on location, I'd
go out to the location with the company."
:04:13
"LeBaron was so wealthy,
he didn't give a shit,
:04:15
and I would report in every hour
the progress that was being made."
:04:18
At Paramount, he became close
with stars like Mae West.
:04:21
He directed at Monogram
and Republic in the early '30s,
:04:24
and was the first director signed by
Charles Rogers for Universal in 1936.
:04:28
A caution to Hollywood hopefuls:
as you climb the ladder,
:04:31
remember to always be nice
to assistants, their wives,
:04:34
their husbands,
boyfriends and girlfriends.
:04:37
Rogers' assistant's wife
took a liking to Lubin -
:04:40
not physically or romantically -
:04:42
and her recommendation
got him his contract.
:04:45
Lubin's greatest legacy to the business
was his discovery of Clint Eastwood,
:04:49
who he placed under contract and
featured in 1957's Escapade in Japan.
:04:54
We're five minutes into the picture
and there has been no dialogue.
:04:58
But visually, Lubin has set up
the main characters and their dynamics.
:05:02
He may not have been Orson Welles,
but Lubin had a talent for storytelling.
:05:07
We're listening to "Heaven Protect Thee"
:05:09
from the third act of von Flotow's
1847 German opera, Martha.
:05:14
It's the only genuine opera in the film,
used because it was in the public domain.
:05:18
It was the one opera staged by Lubin, who
told me that it was within his experience.
:05:23
Tudor Williams is the bass.
:05:24
He also sang in How Green Was My
Valley, Maytime and Citizen Kane.
:05:28
Anthony Marlowe is the tenor
with the annoying vibrato.
:05:32
William Tyroler was the choral director.
:05:34
He had been the operatic consultant
on the 1925 Phantom
:05:37
and would also handle the choruses
on Phantom's follow-up, The Climax.
:05:41
He worked for the Chicago Civic Opera,
the San Francisco Opera and the Met.
:05:46
Gaston Leroux's novel and the 1925
Chaney film use Charles Gounod's Faust,
:05:50
with its diabolic theme
of a deal with the devil,
:05:53
to counterpoint the story of Erique
as the fallen Lucifer.
:05:56
Getting real operas that would be suitable
for 1943 audiences was a problem