I've spoken today with my mother. She has had a very busy week, and she attended a wedding in upstate South Carolina yesterday. She's in good spirits and enjoyed my Mother's Day gifts (one was a white rosebud corsage to wear to church. It used to be a Mother's Day tradition in the South for folks to wear white rosebuds if their mother's were deceased and red rosebuds if their mother's were living. I sent one to my Mother and maternal Aunt).
On DVD this weekend, I've watched "Please Don't Eat the Daisies," "Billy Rose's 'Jumbo'", and "Phantom of the Opera."
POTO was sumptuous -- a feast for the senses. Such splendid art direction, set decoration, costume design and overall production design is a rare treat. The movie delighted me from start to finish. A rare treat not hampered by preconceptions or comparisons to a theatrical presentation. There are quibbles, to be sure -- some of the vocals should have gotten a bit of dubbing help, and one might have wished for a stronger soprano voice -- but no quibble matters so much that one should dismiss the film as a whole. There are far too many films lauded by musical lovers that have many more failings than does POTO. Overall, the performances are marvelous. Gerard Butler is a moving Phantom, all things considered. He's certainly a "romantic" figure, which is what the movie needed. If the Phantom is to cast a spell on Christine, you need, on film, a romantic image. Crawford never would have been such an image, and none of the other cinema phantoms I've seen (including Raines) was anything other than menacing...never the romantic spell-weaver of Lloyd Webber's tale.
I highly recommend it to all and sundry...especially those who have declared they'll never watch it.
