El fantasma de la opereta

"El Fastasma de la Opereta" rates as one of Tin-Tan's most inspired and hilarious outings. My only complaint is that at 90 minutes, it runs just a trifle too long. It is almost too much of a good thing. But what scenes could you cut? True, the film is perhaps a little over-loaded with musical numbers, but they're all so entertaining – either vocally and dance-wise or comically. Both of Tin-Tan's solos could go overboard without damaging the plot, but it's a treat to hear his singing, and his dancing is so amusing. You certainly can't delete any of Ana Luisa Peluffo's numbers. She is simply super-wonderful, and the best co-star Tin-Tan ever had! While lanky Vitola makes a great stooge for Tin-Tan, his brother, Ramon Valdes, instigates one of the most screamingly funny scenes in the film. Story-wise, the screenplay of course is a spoof of the Lon Chaney 1925 "Phantom of the Opera". Veteran cinematographer, Jack Draper, has clothed it in some tingling effects. Director Fernando Cortes has not only handled the movie with pace and style, but improvised some brilliant laugh-pieces on the set. There are scenes, such as the superb opening sequence in a plush nightclub, that you laugh at over and over, they are staged, photographed and edited with such vitality and artistry.

Mainly a vehicle for Tin-Tan, EL FANTASMA DE LA OPERETTA is pretty much what one would expect if they've seen his other films. However, he is pretty funny and the film has its moments.

Aldo (Tin-Tan) and his girlfriend Lucy (Peluffo) decide to reopen an abandoned theater to run operettas in. Unbeknownst to them, there's an angry Phantom haunting the place, hideously burned in a fire of his own making years earlier. Aldo starts dressing up like the Phantom to scare people for a laugh and hilarity ensues.

The movie is really loosely based on "The Phantom of the Opera", but there are some classic scenes. The Phantom plays his melody on a violin, and much of the time shadowed on the wall. The unmasking is pretty stupid, and the makeup is poorly thought out (he even has what looks like a pair of poorly-fitted fake buck teeth sticking out).

The sets are pretty neat and there are a few funny musical numbers. Rather hard to find, but worth a watch if you're a Phantom or Tin-Tan fan, but not much here for anyone else. 5/10 in my book.