Lovely and talented aspiring opera singer Angela Klatt (an appealing performance by the fetching Susanna Foster) gets a plumb job as the star of a opera that's being produced by a prestigious theatrical company. However, the obsessive Dr. Friedrich Hohner (an oddly low-key turn by the usually reliable Boris Karloff) tries to stop Angela from succeeding with said opera. The key problem with this film is that George Waggner's pedestrian direction and the overly talky script by Curt Siodmak and Lynn Starling crucially fail to provide much in the way of tension, excitement, and momentum. The story basically plods along sans pizazz prior to finally coming to briefly stirring life with the inevitable fiery conclusion. Granted, the opera sequences are staged with impressive grandeur and elegance. Moreover, the gorgeous cinematography by W. Howard Greene and Hal Mohr makes exquisite use of the richly saturated Technicolor format and Edward Ward's lush orchestral score does the sweeping trick. The sound cast do their best with the so-so material: Gale Sondergaard as Hohner's suspicious housekeeper Louise, Turhan Bey as Angela's likable and supportive composer fiancé Franz Munzer, Thomas Gomez as the merry Count Seabruck, Jane Farrar as stuck-up prima donna Jarmila Vadek, Ludwig Stossel as the friendly Carl Baumann, and George Dolenz as arrogant baritone Amato Roselli. But as a horror thriller this film totally fizzles, with only one murder set piece (done in flashback, no less!) and no suspense to speak of. Stately, but static.
Review of The Climax
