Phantom of the Opera

Set in Paris, this film follows Erique Claudin, a violinist at the Opera who has secretly paid for the singing lessons of Christine Dubois, a young soprano he admires from a distance. When he believes his own composition has been taken from him, a violent confrontation leaves his face disfigured by acid, and he retreats into the catacombs beneath the opera house. From there he takes on the guise of a phantom, using fear and threats to advance Christine's career and to strike back at those he holds responsible, while she is courted by the opera singer Anatole Garron and the police inspector Raoul D'Aubert.

Arthur Lubin directed the film, which was released by Universal Pictures in 1943 and runs 89 minutes. It came after a run of comedies and musicals he made in the early 1940s, including Buck Privates, Hold That Ghost and Ride 'Em Cowboy. The screenplay is by Samuel Hoffenstein and Eric Taylor, and George Waggner produced. Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster and Claude Rains lead a credited cast of 51, with Edgar Barrier, Leo Carrillo and Jane Farrar among the supporting players.

The film mixes drama, horror and romance, and its reported budget of two million dollars made it an expensive production for its time. Audiences rate it moderately: it holds a 6.4 out of 10 on IMDb from around 9,300 votes, and a 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller pool of 225 votes. The two scores sit close together, suggesting a similar, middling response across both audiences.