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The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film)

1962 film by Terence Fisher

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ1170215 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Phantom of the Opera is a 1962 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Herbert Lom, Heather Sears, Michael Gough and Edward de Souza. The screenplay was by Anthony Hinds (as John Elder) loosely adapted from the 1910 novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux. The film was made by Hammer Film Productions but was a financial failure. The British prints were in Technicolor, while the U.S. prints were in Eastman Color.

Plot

In 1900, at the London Opera House, a new opera by Lord Ambrose D'Arcy opens. However, the theatre is not completely sold out. No one will sit in Box #5, which is believed to be haunted. When the body of a murdered stagehand swings out of the wings during the first aria of Maria, the show's star, pandemonium ensues.

With the show postponed and Maria refusing to perform again, producer Harry Hunter auditions new singers. He finds a promising star in Christine Charles, one of the chorus girls.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film)” as 1962 film by Terence Fisher. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Phantom, Opera and film.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1962, 1910, 1900—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1962-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Phantom, Opera and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film)”, the useful work is to connect “1962 film by Terence Fisher” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1170215. The Library of Congress control number is no2018093826. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1962, 1910 and 1900.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film) primary sources, The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film) archive and Phantom research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film)”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.