The Climax (1944)
The Climax (1944)
Were you a fan of the 1943 Universal Pictures remake of The Phantom Of The Opera, and did you know that they intended in 1944 to make a sequel to the Phantom Of The Opera? The Climax, released in 1944 was originally intended to be a sequel to the 1943 remake of Phantom Of The Opera, but only featured one actress from the previous film, the beautiful Susanna Foster. The film tells the story of Dr. Hohner who was in love with an opera singer, and was jealous of her voice, and murdered her, and kept her body entombed in his house. Then ten years later he hears a beautiful new singer named Angela Klatt singing a song that his love Marcellina was the last to sing. Hohner who is also the Royal Theater's physician, hypnotizes Angela and tries to silence her from being able to sing again. But will she be able to find her voice, and expose the evil Dr Hohner for his crimes?
The Climax was directed by Produced, directed, and co-written by George Waggner. Curt Siodmak and Lynn Starling also co-wrote the screenplay for the film. The Climax is inspired by the 1909 play of the same name by Edward Locke, though little of Locke's original play remains. The film has a beautiful soundtrack by Edward Ward, and like Phantom Of The Opera features beautiful opera singing and performing as a centerpiece of the film. The Climax was distributed by Universal Pictures in 1944, and though it won an award for its art direction, it was considered as a box office disappointment. The film was however filmed on some of the same sets as both the previous Universal versions of The Phantom Of The Opera were filmed on.
The Climax stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Friedrich Hohner, Susanna Foster as Angela Klatt, Turhan Bey as Franz Munzer, Gale Sondergaard as Luise, Thomas Gomez as Count Seebruck, June Vincent as Marcellina, George Dolenz as Amato Roselli, Ludwig Stössel as Carl Baumann, and Jane Farrar as Jarmila Vadek. The film has a wonderful cast of characters, Boris Karloff is enchantingly evil as Dr Hohner, who has clearly lost his mind with his obsession for Marcellina. Also Susanna Foster as the beautiful innocent Angela Klatt, just lights up the screen with her performance, and Turhan Bey as Franz, is beautiful he plays the youthful love of Angela so very well. Turhan and Karloff are great, because one portrays true love, that is pure and alive, and the other portrays the dark and cold possessive obsession that is confused for feelings of love. The love that Franz has for Angela is beautiful, wholesome, and something to strive for. Whereas the "love" that Dr. Hohner has for Marcellina isn't love, it is cruelty, it is abusive obsession, and possessiveness. This film shows that love is not something that can be possessed, controlled, or forced, that the forced, possessive, obsession is evil, and makes Dr. Hohner an evil monster. This might be one of Karloff's darker roles, he is more of a monster as Dr. Hohner, than he was in either Frankenstein or The Mummy. Karloff plays the role so perfectly as no one else really could.
If you have not yet seen The Climax, I highly recommend it. Be forewarned, there is a lot of singing and dancing, and scenes of the opera, and if that is not your cup of tea, then this isn't the film for you. However if you loved Phantom of the Opera, then I highly highly recommend checking this film out. I would honestly say that this is a must see film from 1940's era of horror, and the beautiful technicolor really brings the film alive, and makes the beautiful singing performances, all the more vibrant and colourful. So if you can find a copy of The Climax from 1944, I highly highly recommend checking it out.
The Climax was directed by Produced, directed, and co-written by George Waggner. Curt Siodmak and Lynn Starling also co-wrote the screenplay for the film. The Climax is inspired by the 1909 play of the same name by Edward Locke, though little of Locke's original play remains. The film has a beautiful soundtrack by Edward Ward, and like Phantom Of The Opera features beautiful opera singing and performing as a centerpiece of the film. The Climax was distributed by Universal Pictures in 1944, and though it won an award for its art direction, it was considered as a box office disappointment. The film was however filmed on some of the same sets as both the previous Universal versions of The Phantom Of The Opera were filmed on.
The Climax stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Friedrich Hohner, Susanna Foster as Angela Klatt, Turhan Bey as Franz Munzer, Gale Sondergaard as Luise, Thomas Gomez as Count Seebruck, June Vincent as Marcellina, George Dolenz as Amato Roselli, Ludwig Stössel as Carl Baumann, and Jane Farrar as Jarmila Vadek. The film has a wonderful cast of characters, Boris Karloff is enchantingly evil as Dr Hohner, who has clearly lost his mind with his obsession for Marcellina. Also Susanna Foster as the beautiful innocent Angela Klatt, just lights up the screen with her performance, and Turhan Bey as Franz, is beautiful he plays the youthful love of Angela so very well. Turhan and Karloff are great, because one portrays true love, that is pure and alive, and the other portrays the dark and cold possessive obsession that is confused for feelings of love. The love that Franz has for Angela is beautiful, wholesome, and something to strive for. Whereas the "love" that Dr. Hohner has for Marcellina isn't love, it is cruelty, it is abusive obsession, and possessiveness. This film shows that love is not something that can be possessed, controlled, or forced, that the forced, possessive, obsession is evil, and makes Dr. Hohner an evil monster. This might be one of Karloff's darker roles, he is more of a monster as Dr. Hohner, than he was in either Frankenstein or The Mummy. Karloff plays the role so perfectly as no one else really could.
If you have not yet seen The Climax, I highly recommend it. Be forewarned, there is a lot of singing and dancing, and scenes of the opera, and if that is not your cup of tea, then this isn't the film for you. However if you loved Phantom of the Opera, then I highly highly recommend checking this film out. I would honestly say that this is a must see film from 1940's era of horror, and the beautiful technicolor really brings the film alive, and makes the beautiful singing performances, all the more vibrant and colourful. So if you can find a copy of The Climax from 1944, I highly highly recommend checking it out.
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