Rainey Dawn According to the Wiki: The Climax was "Originally intended to be a sequel to Universal's Phantom of the Opera..." This film is really nothing like "Phantom" but it does have a dark charm of it's own dealing with an opera house and singer.I realize that this film is not a favorite among some Karloff fans but some of us do find this film has an appeal of it's own. I for one enjoyed the movie.Boris plays Dr. Friedrich Hohner a man obsessed with the memory of his dead girlfriend Marcellina and keeps her body preserved in a hidden chamber. He is determined that no one shall sing Marcellina's songs - NO ONE. It's a sinister role that Karloff plays and quite good too.Franz Munzer (Turhan Bey) and Angela Klatt (Susanna Foster) are a couple in love. Angela is the target of Dr. Hohner anger because she sounds very much like his beloved Marcellina. Franz is a man out to find out what is going on with Angela. -- You will have to watch the film to find out more!! Turhan Bey really steals the show in this movie to me. The cutest scene is when Angela (Susanna) is on stage singing and Franz (Turhan) is chewing on the paper of the opera program... LOL that was quite funny. Let's just say Franz really is deeply in-love with Angela! :D This is also the first Boris Karloff movie that is in colour. The colour film shows us a reasonably ruggedly handsome man! He is very photogenic and the colour really brings that to light. The movie is a good Victorian thriller. It is a horror film but I find the film more of a dramatic thriller.7/10

gavin6942 A demented physician (Boris Karloff) becomes obsessed with a young singer (Susanna Foster) whose voice sounds similar to his late mistress (June Vincent).Something about this film went horribly wrong. The script comes from the writer of "The Wolf Man", and the director was also from "The Wolf Man". Off to a good start. Then you cast Boris Karloff, possibly the best of the Universal horror actors. And the set is from "Phantom of the Opera", a very impressive background.But then the creators seemed like they wanted to mix opera with horror, and went a bit too heavy on the opera. This mix works, as both "Phantom" and Dario Argento's "Opera" have proved. But horror fans want horror, not song and dance numbers, and this never delivers the goods. Those who like singing may greatly enjoy this, but those were not the people who the film was marketed to.

mark.waltz All the archetypes of "The Phantom of the Opera" are there in this attempt to cash in the success of the 1943 version of that classic. There's the sweet chanteuse who rises from chorus to leading lady, a jealous diva, and the darkly dressed, seemingly darkly souled servant, a love-starved hero, and of course, the various artists surrounding the opera. But what's missing here is an interesting villain. Boris Karloff is a sinister doctor, inside and out, seen killing his obsession, Marcellina (June Vincent), then driven to further craziness ten years later when rising opera star Susannah Foster shows up with the same voice. He tries to shutter that, but his plot is in danger of being thwarted by the young man (Turhan Bey) who loves her and Marcelina's devoted companion (Gale Sondergaard) who now works for him.This is all tightly wrapped up in a Technicolor package, but ultimately, it is artificial and predictable. A few amusing moments (mostly provided by Ludwig Stossel as the conductor and Lotte Stein as a feisty maid) and an interesting characterization by Gale Sondergaard are the best moments in the film. Sondergaard gets the most convincing dramatic moment when her motivations are revealed after spending the first half of the film being a dour, dark presence with little to do but look sinister.I must mention the amazing resemblance in this film between Karloff and veteran actor Jack Betts who would play Karloff in "Gods and Monsters". Betts once played a similar doctor character on "One Life to Live" in a plot line very similar to the one here, his obsession being with a living character (played by Judith Light) rather than a dead one.

mggbikeluvr I understand that "The Climax" isn't necessarily a well received" movie among Boris Karloff fans. The plot isn't much, i'll admit that, and some of the musical number "particularly the one in which Jane Farrar was the prima donna) were quite painful. But Susanna Foster's voice saves the day. This movies is no "Phantom of the Opera", but it was fun to watch. The Technicolor was magnificent, and the set design was gorgeous. Turhan Bey was an alright leading man for Foster. But he didn't seem "strong" enough, I suppose. Boris Karloff is fantastic as a menacing figure, hovering over Foster in an aura of mystery and horror. The film isn't scary enough to be considered a horror film, but too ominous to be considered a musical. There isn't a real genre for it. But it's enjoyable to watch and I liked it. I'm a big Susanna Foster fan, so it was joy to hear her sing, and I'm becoming a Boris Karloff fan, after seeing "Frankenstein" and "The Climax".So, all in all, "The Climax" is good enough, but it could be better.