The 1962 Hammer version of The Phantom Of The Opera stars Herbert Lom as the Phantom. It's directed by Terence Fisher and Anthony Hinds wrote the screenplay under the name John Elder. It's based on the Gaston Leroux novel of the same name. I read that book, a Dell Murder Mystery, back in the 70s. I enjoyed it then but haven't read it since. I wonder what happened to that paperback. I bet I sold it, I don't remember seeing it anytime in recent years.
Michael Gough plays a music publisher and he's the real villain here. His whole plot line is the big change from the original novel. Gough takes Dr Petrie's music to publish and puts his own name on it. Dr Petrie goes nuts and starts a fire in the printing department, he's disfigured and disappears, believed dead. He's not, he returns when Gough puts on his stolen opera. Heather Sears is the singer that the Phantom takes a liking too. Michael Ripper, Edward de Souza, Miles Malleson, John Harvey, and Patrick Troughton have parts, the rest of the cast didn't ring any bells with my memory.
I thought it was fairly entertaining but it seems to have bombed when it came out. Hammer was upset with the director Terence Fisher and didn't let him work for over a year. What dicks, huh. While may not be as good as the 1943 version with Claude Rains, it's still worth a look.
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