His Phantom, the nightmare-faced Freddie Krueger. Perhaps Paris accents weren't a la mode for Supernatural Phantom haunting the London Opera House. Moguls are scrambling aboard from every direction.Ĭharacteristically first up was horror flicks producer Menahem Golan with a version that has a Remakes followed in 1943, with Claude Rains, and in 1962, with Herbert Lorn.Ī classic theme, the Phantom has given Hollywood a new, money-spinning bandwagon and movie Still regarded by some as the best, that celluloid version starred Lon 'Man of a Thousand Faces' Chaney. It is a story that has fired the public imagination since the first silent film version in 1925. The television mini-series sticks strictly to the original Gaston Leroux story of a disfigured creature who lurks in the caves and underground lakes of the opera house and falls in love with the voice of a singer. Since Webber's stage hit is still running hot in Los Angeles, we may see his film version before we see the live production.

Robert Englund, of Nightmare On Elm Street fame, has already completed a slasher version, andĪndrew Lloyd Webber is working on a plan to bring his musical to the screen. The race is on between film and TV companies to cash in on the resurgence of interest in the story of the Phantom.

He is the star of a lavish, four-hour mini-series being made by an American TV network. With a floor-length black cloak swirling around his tall frame, there is menace in every step he takes down the sweeping staircase of the - Paris Opera House. Never has the mask of the Phantom Of The Opera looked more deadly than on Charles Dance. Dance of the Phantom Article from New Idea - 17/2/90

Charles dance phantom of the opera cast