Sven- Phantom of the Opera (1943)

From Wiki (of course): Violinist Erique Claudin is dismissed from the Paris Opera House after revealing that he is losing the use of the fingers of his left hand. Unbeknownst to the conductor, who assumes Claudin can support himself, the musician has used all his money to help anonymously fund voice lessons for Christine Dubois, a young soprano to whom he is devoted. Meanwhile, Christine is pressured by Inspector Raoul Dubert to quit the Opera and marry him. But famed opera baritone Anatole Garron hopes to win Christine's heart despite this. Christine considers them both good friends but doesn't openly express if she loves them.  In a desperate attempt to earn money, Claudin submits a piano concerto he has written for publication. After weeks of not hearing any response about his concerto, he becomes worried and returns to the publisher, Maurice Pleyel, to ask about it. Pleyel rudely tells him to leave. Claudin hears his concerto being played in the office and is convinced that Pleyel is trying to steal it; unbeknownst to him, a visiting Franz Liszt had been playing and endorsing the concerto. Enraged, Claudin strangles Pleyel. Georgette, the publisher's assistant, throws etching acid in Claudin's face, horribly scarring him forever. Now wanted for murder, Claudin flees into the sewers of the Opera and covers his disfigurement with a prop mask stolen from the Opera house, thus becoming the Phantom. Back to me:

Boy is there a lot of opera in this movie.  I mean a lot, for a 92 minute movie.  They are great singers, for sure, but they could have cut some of it for pacing.  Claude Rains is great as the Phantom, and him thinking his music was being stolen gave him the proper, if misguided, reason to turn heel.  Of course, he also had some mental issues if he just wantonly kept killing people, right?  It is a good movie, but I don't need to see it again for a while.  I really did think I reviewed this one already.