I love them all. Sometime in the early nineties, I went to a screening of Chaney's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) downtown at a historic theatre and Mary "Christine Daae" Philbin showed up to take a bow a year or so before she died. I appreciate Lon Chaney's performance (as well as James Cagney's performance in the 1957 Chaney bio-pic). I find Anthony Quinn's (1956) rugged portrayal a stark representation of the times the novel is set in. Anthony Hopkins' (1982) performance illustrated a more conscious Quasimodo, more sensitive than melodramatic. Of course, I was raised on the romantic Claude Rains (1943) version. It showed up routinely on the local broadcast channel's afternoon movie. I was out of school at 3 p.m. and the "Early Show" started at 4 p.m. But, all in all, I also enjoy Herbert Lom's (1962) performance. He's as hammy as Chaney, as romantic as Rains, as tortured as Quinn, and as neurotic as Hopkins.
Many fans know of Herbert Lom (born 1917 in Prague) from the PINK PANTHER films. Although I found the first engaging, the sequels I found tedious at best. I would have preferred 90 minutes with the purple cat. However, I knew of Herbert Lom from his performances as the "Phantom" in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962) and as "Captain Nemo" in MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961). Later on in film school, I would see his work in THE LADYKILLERS (1955) and SPARTACUS (1960). He was an actor whose mere presence captured your immediate attention.
Happy Birthday!
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