Phantom of the Opera, The (Hammer 1962)
Hammer’s version of The Phantom of the Opera enjoyed its UK premiere on the 7th of June, 1962, double-billed with Captain Clegg. It is one of the studio’s most fascinating “what if” stories – a film conceived for a Hollywood legend, reshaped into a tender tragedy, and then blunted on the cutting-room floor before it ever reached British audiences.
A remake built around Cary Grant
Hammer had been weighing up a remake of Gaston Leroux‘s celebrated 1909 novel since early 1961, pencilling in a budget of around £150,000. The project caught fire when Cary Grant dropped into Hammer House one day, entirely out of the blue, and announced that he had long wanted to appear in a Hammer horror film. James Carreras and Anthony Hinds were electrified: here was a chance, they believed, to achieve true greatness.
Writing under his usual pseudonym of John Elder, Hinds tailored the script to Grant’s persona. Leroux’s murderous central figure was transformed into a gentle, lovelorn, masked tragi-hero – the unpleasant business of murder handed instead to an ugly dwarf sidekick. Breaths were bated. But Grant never contacted the company again, and the dream evaporated as quietly as it had arrived.
Herbert Lom’s tragic Phantom at his organ in the catacombs beneath the London Opera House.
Herbert Lom takes the mask
With Grant gone, the role of the Phantom passed to 44-year-old Herbert Lom. Initially unsure, Lom was won over by the quality of the script and by his own reading of the character: “I saw this Phantom as a human, pathetic, broken creature, as a hideous outcast and a figure of tragedy in the highest sense. The man’s horror was incidental.”
That interpretation sits at the very heart of the film. As Professor Petrie – the disfigured composer whose life’s work has been stolen from him – Lom gives one of the most sympathetic performances in any Phantom adaptation, a portrayal many fans still consider the definitive version of the character.
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Terence Fisher and a love story in the shadows
Terence Fisher, Hammer’s most celebrated director, was brought in to helm the picture, and made the bold choice to emphasise the love story over the horror – a decision that splits audiences to this day. The budget was raised to £180,000 in pursuit of a genuinely high-quality production. Room at the Top star Heather Sears was cast as Christine, her singing voice dubbed by Pat Clark, while 29-year-old Edward de Souza took his first major film role as Harry Hunter. Michael Gough relished the part of the loathsome Lord Ambrose d’Arcy, the true villain of the piece.
Heather Sears as Christine and Edward de Souza as Harry Hunter, the heart of the film’s love story.
The mask that was made in five minutes
The Phantom’s mask was considered crucial to the film, and the job of creating it was handed to an outside contractor. None of their designs proved remotely satisfactory, and filming began with no mask in existence at all. In desperation, make-up artist Roy Ashton was finally asked to improvise one on the very day it was needed: “I got a piece of rag, some tape, bits of string and rubber and in about five minutes I had a mask…” That hurried piece of craftsmanship became one of the film’s most enduring images.
The mask Roy Ashton famously improvised in about five minutes from rag, tape, string and rubber.
A troubled release – and an American triumph
With the shoot complete, disaster struck in the editing suite. British distributor Rank insisted the film attain an A certificate for general release, despite having been conceived as a full-blooded, X-rated Hammer Horror. Brutal cuts followed, and the film lost much of its bite – even Lom’s acid-scarred make-up was reduced to the briefest of glimpses. The savagery of the edit was too much for a Hammer-hungry public, and the UK box-office take was disappointing.
No such treachery was practised across the Atlantic. In America, where the Phantom was seen in all his gory glory, the film proved a considerable success. The double bill with Captain Clegg went on general UK release on the 25th of June, 1962.
A reputation reclaimed
For years, Hammer’s Phantom was dismissed as a misfire – too gentle for horror fans, too macabre for everyone else. Time has been far kinder. Today it is widely appreciated as a handsome, heartfelt and quietly moving entry in the Hammer canon, distinguished by Fisher’s elegant direction, Edwin Astley’s score, and above all by Herbert Lom’s deeply human Phantom. It remains essential viewing for anyone exploring the studio’s remarkable early-1960s output.
Our Phantom of the Opera 1962 Ultimate Guide tells the full story of the film across 36 luxurious full-colour pages – production history, cast and crew biographies, and a wealth of beautifully restored stills. Get your copy in the shop →
This was a GREAT FILM!
HERBERT LOM’S PORTRAYAL OF THE ONCE HANDSOME PHANTOM WAS BRILLIANT!I CAN FIND NO FAULT WITH THE FILM!PITY THOUGH THAT CHRISTINE DID NOT RUN OFF WITH THE PHANTOM LEAVING POOR HARRY HUNTER IN THE LUURCH! THE PHANTOM DESERVED SOME HAPPINESS!
IWAS VEEY IMPRESSED BY THE WONDERFUL OPERA MUSIC AND SCENES! WHAT BECAME OF THE DWARF?THE PHANTOM WAS A HERO! I HOPE OTHER PEOPLE WILL BE READING MY COMMENTS! THEY DON’T HAVE AGREE WITH ME BUT A BITT OF FEEDBACK WOULD BE NICE!
I was introduced to Hammer’s PHANTOM when I was young by local tv broadcasts in the USA (complete with the added scenes of the detective characters.) It is definitely my favorite film version of the story and Herbert Lom ‘s portrayal of the Phantom is my favorite version of the character.
HAPPY 60TH ANNIVERSARY 25TH JUNE 1962-2022 TO THE HAMMER FILM THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.