The Phantom of the Opera

Terence Fisher was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. He was born in Maida Vale, a district of London, England. Fisher was one of the most prominent horror directors of the second half of the 20th century. He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual... overtones and explicit horror in his films, while mild by modern standards, were unprecedented in his day. His first major gothic horror film was The Curse of Frankenstein , which launched Hammer's long association with the genre and made British actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee leading horror stars of the era. He went on to film a number of adaptations of classic horror subjects, including Dracula , The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Mummy . Given their subject matter and lurid approach, Fisher's films, though commercially successful, were largely dismissed by critics during his career. It is only in recent years that Fisher has become recognised as an auteur in his own right. His films are characterised by a blend of fairy-tale, myth and sexuality.
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Frederick William Francis BSC was an English cinematographer and film director. He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer, including winning two Academy Awards, for Sons and Lovers and Glory . As a director, he has cult status on account of his association with the British... production companies Amicus and Hammer in the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Islington in London, England, Francis was originally on the way to a career in engineering. At school, a piece he wrote about films of the future won him a scholarship to the North West London Polytechnic in Kentish Town. He left school at age 16, becoming an apprentice to a stills photographer by the name of Louis Prothero. Freddie stayed with him for six months. In this time they photograped stills for a Stanley Lupino picture made at Ealing. This led to him successively becoming a clapper boy, camera loader and focus puller. He started his career at B.I.P, then to British and Dominions. His first film as a clapper boy was The Marriage of Corbal. In 1939, Francis joined the Army, where he would spend the next seven years.
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