A big budget disappointment for Hammer films, despite sumptuous art direction and the presence of Terence Fisher. The main reason would have to be the script, which shows a remarkable inclination for making the wrong choices.
It’s set in London rather than Paris; the bulk of the villainy is given to a nasty aristocrat rather than the Phantom; that villain is ignored pretty much for the last third of the film (he turns up to be scared - he isn't even killed on screen); the last act consists primarily of a flashback to how the Phantom got injured (taken from the 1943 film) and an opera; the Phantom’s love for Christine is totally downplayed - I don't think it exists at all (all he seems to care about is his music – there’s no jealousy, for instance, for her suitor); the Phantom has little mystery or menace; the chandelier fall happens at the very end of the film… and it’s not because of the Phantom indeed the Phantom throws himself under it to save the day (and it just falls because of an accident too - not anyone being bad).
Let's take a walk on the sunny side for a moment – it looks great, the opera is fine, Heather Sears is pretty and likeable as Christine, Herbert Lom is effective as the phantom (though Christopher Lee was entitled to be annoyed at being overlooked); I didn’t mind Edward de Souza as the romantic lead; Michael Gough offers decent villainy. You just wished they let Jimmy Sangster write it. Or someone who understood dramatic structure.
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