The Climax (1944)

Director:

George Waggner

Writers:

Edward Locke (play)
Curt Siodmak (adaptation)

Release Date:

20 October 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The screen's classic of suspense!

Plot:

Dr. Hohner (Karloff), theatre physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, murders his mistress, the star...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Opera | King | Hypnosis | Flashback Sequence

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

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
Lotte Stein	...	Mama Hinzl
Scotty Beckett	...	The King
William Edmunds	...	Leon - theater concierge
Maxwell Hayes	...	Count Romburg - King's aide
Dorothy Lawrence	...	Miss Metzger

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated | Sweden:15

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Although he had been appearing in motion pictures for 25 years, this 1944 release was Boris Karloff's first film in color.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: 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.

Quotes:

Dr. Hohner: You don't want to ruin that voice, do you? It isn't yours, remember? Now tell me, whose voice is it?... Tell me!
Angela: Marcellina's!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked (2000) (V)

THE CLIMAX (George Waggner, 1944) **1/2

This much-maligned Boris Karloff vehicle is actually not too bad; then again, the 1943 version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - for which this was a follow-up, conveniently filmed on the same expensive sets - isn't very popular with horror fans either.

Many have stated that Karloff sleepwalks through his role here: true, it doesn't really extend his range but, given that he was headlining a super-production and being the consummate professional that he was, I hardly believe he could afford to be indifferent about it (and, in any case, it returned him to territory he had already covered in CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA [1936])! It's fairly enjoyable in itself, if not a little silly (Karloff demanding that his sweetheart stop her glorious singing career merely because he's jealous of all the admiration she's getting, his hypnotic control over the Susanna Foster character being exercised by means of a flask of atomizer {throat spray}!), and the lavishly colorful production is certainly attractive. The musical numbers are more 'modern' than those in PHANTOM, though there are still too many of them (remaining, in any case, a matter of taste!).

Foster does okay by her role but I agree that Turhan Bey is totally miscast and almost sinks the film; however, the supporting cast is pretty good - above all Gale Sondergaard (in a surprisingly sympathetic role), Thomas Gomez and Ludwig Stossel.The film's best sequences would have to be the murder of Karloff's wife, the hypnotism sessions (highlighting Karloff's glaring eyes in close-up) and the fiery climax {sic} (as in THE BLACK CAT [1934], Karloff keeps the body of his dead wife embalmed in a secret room) - in essence, all the horrific elements there are.

P.S. According to the "Classic Horror Film Board", as was the case with Universal's initial DVD release of Dracula (1931), this film is missing the underscoring during the opening sequence (not having watched THE CLIMAX previously, I couldn't have known about this) - how the hell does something like this happen...?!