Phantom of the Opera (1943) - Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection – Universal Pictures (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1943
Director: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, Claude Rains, Edgar Barrier, Leo Carrillo, Jane Farrar, J. Edward Bromberg, Fritz Feld, Frank Puglia, Steven Geray, Barbara Everest, Hume Cronyn, Fritz Leiber

Release Date: October 11th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 92 Minutes 38 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD Mono French, DTS-HD Mono German, DTS-HD Mono Italian
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $79.99 (Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection)

"Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin transforms into a masked phantom who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine Dubois (Susanna Foster) the star of the opera and wreak revenge on those who stole his music. A heroic baritone (Nelson Eddy) tries to win the affections of Christine as he tracks down the disfigured "monster" who has begun murdering those who resist his mad demands." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Phantom of the Opera (1943) comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD. 

Disc Size: 78.1 GB

Feature: 67.1 GB

When Universal Pictures released Phantom of the Opera (1943) on Blu-ray in 2013, the source used for that transfer looked fantastic. For this new release, Universal uses that transfer as its source.

For a seventy-nine year old film, Phantom of the Opera (1943), the source used for this transfer looks exceptionally good. This is easily the best that Phantom of the Opera (1943) has ever looked on home video. Shot in technicolor, the nicely saturated colors at times look vivid, the image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English), 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with five audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English; a DTS-HD mono mix in English; a DTS-HD mono mix in French; a DTS-HD mono mix in German; and a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian. For this review, I listened to the DTS-HD mono English track and the DTS-HD 5.1 English track. The DTS-HD 5.1 track spreads things out too thinly. The DTS-HD mono track is in great shape; dialog always comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced and robust when it should. Removable English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background titled Production Photographs (posters/lobby cards/stills), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 11 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian subtitles), a featurette titled 100 Years of Universal: The Lot (9 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian subtitles), a featurette titled The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked (51 minutes 15 seconds Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian subtitles), and an audio commentary with film historian Scott MacQueen.

Included with this release is a Blu-ray that has all the extras that are on the 4K UHD. Also, the Blu-ray only comes with two audio options: DTS-HD mono English and DTS-HD mono French. There are only two subtitle options: English SDH and Spanish.

Also, the Blu-ray is the same as Universal’s 2013 Blu-ray.

Phantom of the Opera (1943) is part of Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection, a box set that also has The Mummy (1932), The Bride of Frankenstein and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Summary:

Whether it is Gaston Leroux's novel or the numerous film adaptations, The Phantom of the Opera is a name that just about everyone is familiar with. Though there have been many film adaptations of The Phantom of the Opera, they all live in the shadow of the 1925 film adaptation, which starred Lon Chaney in the role of The Phantom.

This brings us to the Universal Pictures 1943 adaptation, which stars Claude Rains (Notorious) in the role of The Phantom. Though Universal Pictures had planned a remake of Lon Chaney’s The Phantom of the Opera as early as 1935, it would take eight more years before the film would come to fruition.

Trying to fill the shoes of Lon Chaney in a role that he made iconic is a monumental feat. And fortunately, instead of mimicking Lon Chaney’s performance, the 1943 adaptation goes in a completely different direction. That said, tone-wise, the 1925 and the 1943 adaptations are like night and day. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to the dynamic between The Phantom and Christine in each film.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Phantom of the Opera (1943) is the casting of Claude Rains in the role of a violinist named Erique Claudin, aka The Phantom. Though he delivers a good performance, it pales in every way to Lon Chaney’s take on The Phantom. Also, though the Phantom is the main attraction, this character takes a back seat to an opera singer named Christine and her interactions with two male suitors.

From a production standpoint, Phantom of the Opera (1943) has all the markings of a lavish big-budget Hollywood spectacle. The shot is in technicolor, which greatly enhances the exquisite set and costume designs. And though there tends to be too much of a focus on musical numbers and the humor that arises from Christine’s love triangle, when the narrative shifts more towards The Phantom and his story, that is when things excel. Also, The Phantom of the Opera is thought of as a horror film, but Phantom of the Opera (1943) is best described as a melodrama with some horror elements thrown in for good measure.

Phantom of the Opera (1943) gets a solid 4K upgrade, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer