The Climax
5.4 /10 1 Votes5.4
Director George Waggner Music director Edward Ward | 5.2/10 IMDb Genre Horror, Musical, Thriller Duration Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Writer Curt Siodmak , Edward Locke Release date October 20, 1944 (1944-10-20) Film series Universal horror Film Series Cast Boris Karloff (Dr. Friedrich Hohner), Susanna Foster (Angela Klatt), Turhan Bey (Franz Munzer), Gale Sondergaard (Luise), Thomas Gomez (Count Seebruck), June Vincent (Marcellina)Similar movies Mad Max: Fury Road , Jurassic World , John Wick , Furious 7 , Taken 3 , Blackhat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An opera-house doctor (Boris Karloff) tries to silence a soprano (Susanna Foster) who looks like one he strangled years earlier.
Contents
The Climax is a horror film produced by Universal Pictures, first released in the United States in 1944. The credits state this is based on the play of the same name by Edward Locke, but the plot has little connection to Lockes play.
Originally intended to be a sequel to Universals Phantom of the Opera, it featured new characters and a new plot. Susanna Foster was the only member of the cast to star in the new film.
A theatre physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, is obsessed with a young star.
Plot
The physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, Dr. Hohner (Karloff) murders his fiancee, a prima donna, out of obsession and jealousy. Ten years later, he hears another young singer (Foster) who reminds him of the late diva, and is determined to make her sing only for him, even if it means silencing her forever.
Cast
Production
The film was originally conceived as a sequel to Phantom of the Opera (1943). The Climax was made using the sets of the 1943 Phantom of the Opera, which was in turn used Universals set for Phantom of the Opera (1925).
Choreography was made by Lester Horton.
The film was also nominated for an Academy Award in 1944 for Best Art Direction (John B. Goodman, Alexander Golitzen, Russell A. Gausman, Ira Webb).
Reception
The Climax was a box office disappointment.
Home Video Release
This film, along with Night Key, Tower of London, The Strange Door and The Black Castle, was released on DVD in 2006 by Universal Studios as part of The Boris Karloff Collection.
References
The Climax WikipediaThe Climax IMDb The Climax themoviedb.org