A demented physician becomes obsessed with a young singer whose voice sounds similar to his late mistress.
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Title: The Climax (1944)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Boris Karloff | ... | Dr. Friedrich Hohner | |
| Susanna Foster | ... | Angela Klatt | |
| Turhan Bey | ... | Franz Munzer | |
| Gale Sondergaard | ... | Luise | |
| Thomas Gomez | ... | Count Seebruck | |
| June Vincent | ... | Marcellina | |
| George Dolenz | ... | Amato Roselli | |
| Ludwig Stössel | ... | Carl Baumann | |
| Jane Farrar | ... | Jarmila Vadek | |
| Ernö Verebes | ... | Brunn (as Erno Verebes) | |
| Lotte Stein | ... | Mama Hinzl | |
| Scotty Beckett | ... | The King | |
 |
William Edmunds | ... | Leon - theater concierge |
|
|
Maxwell Hayes | ... | Count Romburg - King's aide |
|
|
Dorothy Lawrence | ... | Miss Metzger |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Dr. Hohner (Karloff), theatre physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, murders his mistress, the star soprano when his jealousy drives him to the point of mad obsession. Ten years later, another young singer (Foster) reminds Hohner of the late diva, and his old mania kicks in. Hohner wants to prevent her from singing for anyone but him, even if it means silencing her forever. The singer's fiancée (Bey) rushes to save her in the film's climax. Written by Stephen Cooke <am082@ccn.cs.dal.ca>
Taglines:
Greater than "The PHANTOM of the OPERA" See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
20 October 1944 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
El ruiseñor y el cuervo See more »Company Credits
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
This film was shot on the lavish sets created for Phantom of the Opera (1943) in an attempt to recoup the large budget of that film. The opera house set had been built for the original The Phantom of the Opera (1925) starring Lon Chaney, and this extraordinary set still exists on the Universal Studios lot. It is the oldest surviving movie set in the world. See more »Goofs
In the rehearsal sequence in which Angela loses her voice at the sight of Dr. Hohner, she closes her mouth a split second before the playback of her voice stops. See more »Quotes
Dr. Hohner: [after strangling Marcellina] We'll always be together now. Your voice will never come between us again.See more »
"The Climax" provides Boris Karloff not only with his first Technicolor film, but audiences with a handsome, humdinger of a mustache-twisting Victorian melodrama.
True, the story is not supernatural, but what does that matter when Boris keeps his deceased girl friend preserved beneath a gauze shroud in a secret room? If this is not sufficient, then just savor the mouth watering color photography, art direction and costumes.
This is one of the most visually handsome color films from the 40's, and ranks favorably against Minnelli's "Meet Me in St. Louis" in the warmth, depth, and clarity of its chromatic range, whilst simultaneously recalling Twentieth Century Fox's lighting schemes from "The Little Princess," and anticipating "Blanche Fury" in its tonal subtleties.
The settings are both sumptuous and historically accurate, (sharp eyed viewers will note that some of the same props show up later in Ulmer's "Bluebeard,") and provide the perfect background for the cloak and dagger theatrics.
Not to be outdistanced are Vera West's (one of Hollywood's most undervalued designers) late Victorian gowns--each a marvel of velvet, chiffon, plumes, and various embroideries, not to mention being a testament to the lost art of dressmaking.
Susanna Foster not only wears them charmingly, but sings like an angel, until Boris hypnotizes her. Thereafter, she is a bit somnambulistic--something of a problem given an impending operatic engagement.
Not to worry though, a turban-less Turhan Bey will save the day, in a nick of time, allowing Susanna to hit her high C on opening night, as scowling villain Karloff rushes off to a succulent fate.
That fate, as depicted, with Uncle Boris collapsing on a curtained bier that is laden with the corpse of his long dead (though still photogenic) inamorata, as they both go up in flames, is as aesthetically and dramatically delicious as they come.
One can almost imagine the the whoops of the popcorn patrons as they cheered this pyrotechnic finale in the Rialto's of yesteryear.
Not to be missed.