Cool News
One of the Phantom's Christines is gone... Susanna Foster has fallen...
Hey folks, Harry here again... Back in the pre-VHS days, my parents collected 16mm - it wasn't at all like the way we folks collect DVDs or even the VHS days - it was such a costly hobby that you collected what was available when you saw it. My parents had reels upon reels of trailers and one of the trailers that truly stood out was Claude Rains' PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Why? Well, it was found on our second reel of horror/sci-fi trailers. The actual film print stock itself was IB TECH, which to those of you that don't know... it's kinda like imagine watching a VHS tape on an HD set, when suddenly something comes on in Blu-Ray quality. It just popped. In addition, this was my very first exposure to operatic singing... so when I saw Nelson Eddy and the absolutely stunning Susanna Foster... they leapt out from the screen singing in epic voices - in the midst of Horror & Sci Fi.
My mother was a Nelson Eddy addict, so I've seen the classic PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with Nelson so many times. At first I didn't appreciate the opera parts, but over the years as my tastes have matured, I'd say... about age 17 or so, I really began to appreciate just how wonderful the whole film is. Of course... PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is really a story of two characters... The Phantom and the beautiful Christine, here... Susanna Foster glowed on screen. The Technicolor giving her skin an otherworldly glow. Truly beautiful, the exact sort of innocence that you hope the Phantom doesn't tarnish.
Watch this great scene between the two of them...
And here's that trailer... You probably can't quite imagine just how much more intense this trailer looked in IB TECH, than on YouTube, but perhaps you can.... And it thrilled me, here you go:
The only other film of Ms Foster's that I saw was Boris Karloff's THE CLIMAX from 1944, which actually was nominated for an Oscar for Art Direction. But isn't a great film. Susanna's story isn't exactly a happy one, she spent her final years at The Lillian Booth Actor's Home in Englewood, New Jersey. She apparently developed severe mental problems, had been kicked off welfare, living in her car and finally a fan let her live with them for a while. Such a tragedy for someone so incredibly talented.
Our thoughts go out to her son Michael and to everyone that knew and cared for her.
Our thoughts go out to her son Michael and to everyone that knew and cared for her.
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I just know someone is gonna yell khan
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Not many can say that. The pioneers are all fading away and soon all generations will know are copies of remakes to sequals of prequals. Rest in Peace, you Earned it.
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hate to say it, but color made this story anything but horrible..and they totally toned down the phantoms burns...good nite beautiful lady
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Sorry to hear about this, I loved Susanna's performance in POTO, she was an amazing singer. Check out this review I found of the Claude Rains movie at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RtY44cSD_f8 which shows her amazing G over high C. I doubt if any singer alive could hit a note like that without resorting to digital "enhancement"
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How old was Susanna in that first Phantom clip you posted? Lovely woman but it's hard to tell how old she was at the time.
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ScotinDC - I think she was only 16 or 17 in Phantom.
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does AICN feel that it is required to write an obit for every single person in film? It seems as though lately there has been almost as many "...is gone" stories than "... is in theaters" news. I am sorry that she passed away, as I am whenever anyone does, however is it really necessary to highlight so many (especially fringe contributors to film? Paul Newman, Forrest J Ackerman, Ricardo Montalbán - of course, Martin Patterson "Pat" Hingle - perhaps, Susanna Foster - maybe not so much. While I am at it - if she had a living son (who as you indicate "cared for her"), why did she end up living in her car and later a fans home? I would never allow my mother to live in her car, or rely upon strangers to care for her if she was ill (mentally or otherwise). That is just plain weird!
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another obit is on the way...
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Im working on a theory.
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http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=348339>1=28103 Mind the spaces.
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Seems like people have been dying alot lately. I'm starting to fear the media. No news is good news.
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I had seen the film, and I liked her as Christine. Although the whole 'love trapezoid' (I clearly wouldn't call it a triangle as it's four people) was the thing I loved about that POTO. I hope if DePalma was smart, he'd put that into his POTP remake. Of course, there is that pwnage she does to Raoul and doucebag cop at the end of that film which puts a smile on my face. :) But so sad that her later years were anything but stellar. :(
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This is sad news indeed.
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LOL!!! hahahahahahahaha :-)
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You'd been banned and no one gives a fuck.
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Why did Stan Gable get banned??? I really didn't think what he said was that offensive - I actually found part of it pretty funny. Also it wasn't any worse that things I have heard on the XM comedy channel... I bet if Dickblood would have said it, he would not have been banned... then again I don't think this site would (or should) ever ban a chap like DGDB :-)
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I checked out the trailer that Harry posted and while, I'm sure it was state of the art and gripping in the day, now it came off as corny and laughable, a parody of sorts. That should not diminish Harry's enjoyment of the piece, nor should it be seen as a critique of Ms. Foster, but simply an observation of how times and tastes change.
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How sad
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