#Phantom of the Opera (1943)

[ibrithir-was-here]

The Children of the Phantom across the years--and also Phillipe who isn't too pleased at being forcibly possessed adopted

[kingoftheclaudes]

Propaganda

Captain Louis Renault (Casablanca) - The best and most iconic character of the entire film, if not the entire movie genre. He is what makes this movie possible and I honestly couldn't imagine it without him. Claude's back must've hurt from absolutely carrying this film and according to records, he finished his filming for Now, Voyager and literally the next day, jumped right into shooting for Casablanca. That's dedication right there. I adore Renault, his stupid mustache, and he has more rizz in that right eyebrow than more people do in their entire bodies. I wouldn't need convincing in order to get an exit visa from him. He oozes charm and has the perfect velvety voice in order to carry out his orders (when he feels like it!) and plays both sides to perfection. I desire him carnally (can I put that here?) and he's such a special character and he's what brought me into the wonderful world of old movies. To me, he'll always be the true King of the Claudes!

Erique Claudin (Phantom of the Opera) - My favorite Phantom! Does it differ wildly from the book? Yes. Do I care? NO! Claudin starts the movie by BREAKING YOUR HEART IN TWO and then after the first act he gets to lean into the creep factor by murdering people who get in the way of him helping his daughter achieve her opera goals. While the father/daughter story was cut from the final film, you can 100% see it in Claude Rains' wonderful performance that this is a man so filled with regret at leaving his infant daughter 20 years ago, that he is willing to do anything to help her succeed…even if she doesn't know that he's the one helping her.

This is the final match up for The King of the Claudes Tournament! Other polls and results can be found here!

Additional Propaganda under the cut!

**Both of these fine Claudes have a lot of propaganda, so we are attaching what we can and making another separate propaganda post to include all submissions, which you can find HERE!**

Captain Louis Renault

I love him. He is a liar, a manipulator, and corrupt beyond the telling. He also has a soft spot a mile wide and a snarkiness that has genuinely become commonly used. He is a wonderful little rat-man and I. Love. Him.

Erique Claudin

This movie is gorgeous and the storytelling is a masterpiece! I don't care what anyone says, this is my favorite adaptation of Phantom and Claude sells it perfectly. He's excellent at toeing the line between a masked mad man and a caring individual and I will be forever fuming about how the father/daughter relationship wasn't official. To me, it will be! He's just the right amount of soft fondness and I was squealing because of how adorable he is when he stammers.

[cowgremlin11]

various erik doodles cus i wanna get the hang of his many masks (these are just the ones i like lol)

also i never connected the dots that a monster in paris is poto cus i watched it religiously as a child but it makes so much sense now

[mothreign]

erique claudin in his feels

just wanted to post some more pics of my phantom of the opera (1943) cosplay. this day was so fun because surprisingly a lot of people recognized who i was :,)

[professorambrius]

The Universal Studios Monsters Classic Collection

VHS covers for The Universal Studios Monsters Classic Collection.

The images were composed from two different photos. One was a portrait image of the monster, usually a promo photo and the background photo was often a scene, or a background shot from the film.

[soapylaundry]

gouache sketch of the 1943 phantom :0 I loooove his mask, it has a lot of character, and I think masks with a personality of their own help to sell the idea that the person wearing it is not only disguising themselves, but creating a whole new self on top of that. Claude rains phantom you may not be the most accurate but I love you regardless <333

[quite-elementary]

AaAAAAAAAAAaaaAAAAAaaHHhhHhhhh!!!!

phantom of the opera and dracula my beloveds...

[persnicketypomelo]

oop! sorry - i meant to ask if you would write more for the 1943 phantom 👉👈

consider this as a request to write whatever headcanons you’d like lol- im desperate for more of your great content!

This version amuses me so much, thanks for requesting as always!

Content warning: obsession, kidnapping, spoilers, jealousy Yandere 1943 Phantom of Opera Kidnapping Scenario

I'm going to loosely base this off of the previous one I wrote, but this is standalone

Let's say that this follows the plot of the original movie

In the confusion of the moment, you are swept up by Claudin who, confidently and deceptively, promises to have your best interests in mind--that he'll take care of you

In a way he does have your best interests at heart, but more-so what he believes is best for you

Let's say you're also a singer or musician that knew him before he became a wanted criminal

Perhaps he mentions that he was sent on behalf of someone you trust to deceive you

Once you've gotten below ground level your suspicions are fully peaked, however

Where is he taking you? Who is he really? What are his true intentions with you?

You try to resist, but he merely pulls you along with a strength you wouldn't have expected

He finally drops the facade and tells you, wrapped in his own warped delusions, that he's saving you

He tells you he's taking you away from a world that wants to poison your mind and corrupt you, that the staff of the opera house--no the whole of the world only wants to take advantage of you

But he will protect you , he promises you

Down here, protected by the lulling numb of darkness, he will help you improve your music, without concern for the money-hungry whims of managers

Speaking of which, he could either take a platonic or romantic interest in you

In a platonic way, he sees himself as a father figure of sorts to you, no matter how young you are

He is protective of you as he sees you and your music as an extension of his own musical legacy

Erique here is like a controlling parent who thinks he knows what's best for you, but is really just projecting his own fears and insecurities onto you

In a romantic sense, I think it would be far more sinister

There's already a protective streak from being your mentor, but also the nasty, possessive edge of wanting to be your lover

I think in a romantic scenario he would be far more overbearing and difficult to coexist with

For whatever reason, I don't really see him as adept at courtship

His attempts to woo you would be bearing over you, pulling you close, and saying what are meant to be romantic platitudes (but from him are ominous threats)

Escape attempts will be curbed, but I see more room for leniency in a platonic scenario--like convincing a parent that you're not as helpless as they think

If you accept or lean into that guardian-like relationship, it would mellow his control

However, in a romantic sense, Erique will be much more restrictive, and especially if you have someone who may be interested you back on the surface

If that's the case, it's best to hide it

Lest his jealousy keeps you from ever seeing the light of day again

[contentabnormal]

Claude Rains as Eric Claudin in Phantom Of The Opera (1943)

Watercolors on Paper, 8.5" x 11", 2025

By Josh Ryals

[erique-petrie]

[strangelittlelad]

So I was thinking about it and-

[kingoftheclaudes]

Claude Rains, Phantom of the Opera (1943)

[elphabaoftheopera]

thinking about the ACTUAL best love story to come out of Phantom of the Opera today.

Raoul and Anatole from the Phantom of the Opera (1943) dir. Arthur Lubin

[mothreign]

that moment when you get acid thrown at your face😞

heres a pic of me in my phantom of the opera (1943) cosplay for a convention i went to months ago. hes my absolute favorite phantom so of course i had to cosplay him duhh!!!!!

[blackghostm2o]

I was reading the Hays code out of curiosity and it made me think of why PotO ‘43 and ‘62 aren’t really compelling adaptations.

Let’s look at this excerpt:

“That evil is not presented alluringly. Even if later on the evil is condemned or punished, it must not be allowed to appear so attractive that the emotions are drawn to desire or approve”

“evil and good are never confused and that evil is always recognized clearly as evil.”

“That in the end the audience feels that evil is wrong and good is right.”

Now let’s take these 2 Phantoms in consideration (both of them become the phantom because of some acid got on their faces: in ‘62 an accident while committing arson, in ‘43 they throw it at him after he murdered someone):

The ‘62 one (Prof Petrie) is the more ‘gentle’ of the two: he acted “evil”, but he wasn’t the one making the killings (a mute was)

The ‘43 one (Enrique Claudin) went on a murder spree (consider that during the movie he killed more people than ALW!Phantom during the musical).

Both of them get punished (showing how evil is wrong and recognising evil as such), but with a difference:

- Petrie got killed in a self sacrificing act to save Christine (was this here name here? Maybe Maria?… Idk). The chandelier was falling on Christine (let’s call her like that) and he shoved her away getting crushed by it. So maybe this man was not completely bad (remember that he doesn’t kill here).

- Enrique Claudin gets crushed when the cellar crumbles on itself, while the 2 heroes and the damsel in distress run away. No redemption and a pretty horrible way to die (they recognise his musical genius tho, iirc).

You could argue that Petrie got his redemption, like Lerik did, but the thing is that they made him “more chill” (notice how slapping Christine was not a really big deal here), because otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to redeem him, his actions would’ve been too heinous to do that.

Now bear with me a little… Ik that PotO 1925 was pre-code (it has started being seriously enforced in 1934), but the Erik shown there (a demented criminal, who killed multiple people) got an ending that is very in line with these policies. Was it because the test audience were probably people like the ones who made the code? Maybe some higher ups of Universal or other influential people who had to ‘uphold morality’ etc ? Idk, but it makes me wonder.

Now… The alluring part… The musical surely shows that (maybe the novel on a lesser extent), here is totally absent:

- On ‘62 there’s no element of love between the Phantom and ‘Christine’, no romantic triangle (one of the key elements of the story they were adapting) and the Phantom is such a jerk to Christine, full on slapping her when singing like shit etc…

- On ‘43 he’s just plain creepy (ik that you could say that Lerik is creepy too, but this has a different vibe, especially considering that Claudin was living normally before the acid) and his interest for Christine are barely elaborated on. On ‘43 you could also argue that the multiple changes to the story didn’t help.

Maybe the restrictions of the code made these 2 adaptations fall flat compared to others.

(This doesn’t really have anything to do with the previous stuff that I said, but I want to point it out)

In the Hays code they were making sure to cancel every instance of sexual freedom, or, for example, having something like an independent and strong woman; this makes me think about the ‘43 ending. In PotO ‘43 Christine decides to pursue her career, Anatole and Raoul decide to go out for dinner together arm in arm.

Was it a way to safely (during the film they mostly have the typical male/female roles and this is at the very end) stretch the boundaries of the code (being a bit against the whole family and woman/men roles thing)? Or was it just for the shits and giggles? The same 2 questions go for the relationship between the two men throughout the whole movie.

Idk… Just wondering