Phantom Of The Opera (1943)

Starring Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, Claude Rains, Edgar Barrier, Leo Carrillo
Directed by Arthur Lubin
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The Paris Opera House is terrorized by a masked phantom, a former musician in the orchestra who is ready to kill to ensure his young protege becomes the Opera's lead soprano.

Although often grouped and sold with the other Universal horror classics, this film is so different it doesn't really fit, a lavish color production with an emphasis on grand staging of the Opera's musical numbers.  It certainly looks spectacular, with elaborate costumes, countless performers on the stage, and although I'm far from able to judge the quality of the sonics, I'd conjecture they are of high quality.  Although Rains is given the key role of the Phantom, and excels in bringing forth a magnetic characterization, this isn't his film like the silent version was Lon Chaney's, although Gaston Leroux's original story has been re-written to give his character a traumatic origin which is quite well staged.  In another revision to Leroux, Christine's paramour Raoul is split into two characters, performer Anatole (played by Eddy) and policeman Raoul (played by Barrier), with neither making a strong impact, although Eddy is showcased in several musical scenes.  As for Foster, I presume she sings well, but can't judge the merits of her voice with only a fleeting knowledge of opera.  Her acting is competent, and her personality likable, but it just seemed to me she lacked the screen presence to really push the film over the top.

Black Friday (1940)

Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Stanley Ridges, Anne Nagel, Anne Gwynne
Directed by Arthur Lubin
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A doctor uses a gangster's brain tissue in a life-saving transplant for a dear friend, but when he sees traces of the gangster's memories in the man's mind, he tries to unlock them to find a hidden fortune. 

The final teaming of Karloff and Lugosi for Universal is an entertaining film, but disappointing as the two horror icons are on far from equal terms, as Lugosi plays the minor role of a rival gangster.  I've heard Lugosi originally was to play Karloff's part as the doctor before Karloff decided to take over that role, and Universal must not have had enough confidence in the actor to give him the part of the dual-minded college professor, eventually played by Ridges.  I think it would have been fascinating to have seen Lugosi play either of those roles instead of the one he does play, but it's still good to see him here.  Despite all this, Ridges gives a fine performance, convincingly creating two different characters, with a little help from the makeup department, and Boris is always fun to watch, even if this is not one of his better parts.  The film's story is not all that unique, borrowing from both Jekyll And Hyde and The Hands Of Orlac to a certain degree, but the cinematography is well-polished and it certainly moves at a snappy pace.