The Climax (1944)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

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:

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.

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)

Visually sumptuous but the story is an empty shell...

Edward Ward wrote the score (as in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), George Waggner directed (he was producer of PHANTOM), JANE FARRAR again plays a rival singer jealous of the new diva, and SUSANNA FOSTER is the lovely singer terrified of co-star BORIS KARLOFF, instead of Claude Rains. Other than that, any similarity between THE CLIMAX and POTO is strictly coincidental.

The story is pretty lifeless, dealing as it does with the old chestnut about an older gentleman, the opera's resident doctor (BORIS KARLOFF) who killed his opera sweetheart years ago and is resentful when a new singer is engaged to sing the former diva's greatest role. He hypnotizes her in an attempt to silence her voice but doesn't count on interception from her romantic interest (TURHAN BEY) and the help of his housekeeper (GALE SONDERGAARD in a sympathetic role).

It was justifiably honored with Oscar nominations for Set Decoration and Art Direction, but failed to become the profitable hit Universal was obviously reaching for. The main reason is the plot doesn't hold enough interest with its cardboard characters. Even the role of the mad doctor is played in very low-key style by BORIS KARLOFF, one of the screen's great horror stars. A little more menace would have been a wise thing and would have heightened whatever suspense there is.

The supporting cast is a pleasant one, with JUNE VINCENT as the unfortunate opera diva Karloff murders, LUDWIG STOSSEL, THOMAS GOMEZ and SCOTTY BECKETT. The most obvious holdover from POTO is JANE FARRAR who practically repeats her role as a jealous diva, but even her tantrums were more credible in the former film.

Edward Ward's score is attractive but not as impressive as his work on PHANTOM, and Susanna's higher register sounds a bit strained at times, although overall her vocal performance is a good one.

Not likely to please fans of horror films with too much music and too little plot.