The Phantom of the Opera (1983)

The Phantom of the Opera (1983) (DVD) (*)

$20.99

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
96 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1983 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Robert Markowitz

Written By:
Gaston Leroux
Sherman Yellen

Actors:
Maximilian Schell ..... Sándor Korvin / The Phantom of the Opera
Jane Seymour ..... Maria Gianelli
Michael York ..... Michael Hartnell
Jeremy Kemp ..... Baron Hunyadi
Diana Quick ..... Madame Bianchi
Philip Stone ..... Kraus
Paul Brooke ..... Inspector
Andras Miko ..... Balas
Gellért Raksányi ..... Lajos
László Németh ..... Tony
Jenö Kis ..... Fodor
László Soós ..... Willi
Dénes Ujlaky ..... Footman of Hunyadi
Teréz Bod ..... 1st Cleaning Lady
Ágnes Dávid ..... 2nd Cleaning Lady

Synopsis:

Sándor Korvin, the conductor of the Budapest Opera House tutors his wife Elena as Marguerite in FAUST. She drowns herself after a bad review rigged by the sinister Baron Hunyadi, whose affections she spurned. When confronting Kraus, the critic, Korvin gets into a fight and a fire is started. Korvin kills the critic, only to have his face burned beyond recognition with acid that falls from a shelf above. He is saved from the inferno by a rat catcher, who takes him to a lair underneath the opera. Five years later, he becomes The Phantom of the Opera, a masked figure who causes havoc among the cast. Korvin spots Maria Gianelli, a chorus girl who bears a remarkable resemblance to his dead wife. He tutors her by day, while Maria's love interest, however, is with Hartnell, who has taken over as director of FAUST. Korvin then executes his plan to exact revenge on the Baron and terrorize those who stand in the way of Maria's triumph.

This 1983 TV adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1908 novel Phantom of the Opera was the fourth film version of the vintage chiller--and the one with perhaps the highest rate of digression from the original novel. This version is set in Budapest (where it was filmed) rather than Paris, obliging scripter Sherman Yellen to change all the character names. Protagonist Maximillian Schell is an orchestra leader whose singer wife Jane Seymour commits suicide after receiving a devastatingly bad review. Assaulting the critic, Schell is burned with acid, and scurries away to the catacombs beneath the Budapest opera house. Years later, he has become the never-seen Phantom of the Opera, and from his shadowy "home" he is coaching an aspiring young singer--who is the living image of his late wife (Jane Seymour essays both roles). Not so much a remake as a revision, this 1983 Phantom of the Opera is perhaps the most obscure of all the versions, overshadowed by the 1990 two-part TV adaptation starring Michael Caine, as well as the smash Broadway musical.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 29 April, 2015.