The Phantom of the Opera

Factual error: Raoul is the Vicomte de Chagny and he gets called that throughout the movie, even during the auction (which shows he didn't change titles when his parents or his brother died, for example). Yet Christine's tombstone calls her a countess when it should have read viscountess - or, even better, vicomtesse.

Sereenie

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Suggested correction: When you watch "love never dies" he leaves her because the phantom won the bet, it's implied they got a "divorce" so she is still a countess.

But, in love never dies, it shows Christine dying in the year 1910, (when the whole thing was set) but on her tombstone, it shows that she died in 1913. Since Gustave is ten years old, this would make Christine in her late forties-early fifties when she had him, which is practically impossible. This is why I love LND's music, but the story is just too cheesy and inconsistent to the original for me. Since the original creator of the musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber, has chosen to call it a "stand-alone piece." and not a sequel, I would not use it as a reference for future endeavors with the trio.

Vicomtesse and Comtesse are two completely different titles. For Christine to become a Comtesse, Raoul would have had to become a Comte, but he didn't. He remained a Vicomte, therefore, Christine's tombstone should have read Vicomtesse de Chagny. It doesn't, so this mistake is valid.

Factual error: In the shot where Raoul and Christine are standing at the window of the Swarovski shop, the window shows the current Swarovski logo of a swan. In the time the movie is set, they still used the Eidelweiss as their symbol; it was not changed until the late 1980's.

Factual error: The masquerade is set on New Year's Eve. We know that because its poster reads "Bal masqué de la Saint-Sylvestre" - St. Sylvester's Day is December 31st and it's common in French to call that day by its saint's name. Firmin (or André) says that it's been "Three months of relief, of delight, of Elysian peace." This means that the events on the opera house's roof took place in late September or early October at most. When Paris gets snow, it's usually in January, the coldest month according to Météo France. With average temperatures of 15 degrees in October, and higher in September, having a good centimetre or two of snow on the rooftop at that time of year is quite implausible.

Sereenie

Factual error: In the film, most of the characters don't wear nearly enough stage makeup. In "Think of Me", when Christine is performing in front of a packed auditorium, for example, she would have needed a lot of blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, etc. just to look "normal" from the audience's perspective. Instead, as you can see by watching the film, she looks pale and washed out.

Revealing mistake: As the grating descends on Raoul, in two shots, large bubbles are flowing downwards. It's obvious, the film was reversed. (01:59:15)

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Trivia: In one of the 1919 flashback scenes, Raoul looks out of the car window at a Swarovski jewelry store. The Swarovski crystal company made the chandelier for the film, valued at over $1.3 million.

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Question: During point of no return, the phantom has no disguise on. If everyone was after him, why didn't anyone stop the performance and capture the phantom?

Answer: During "Point of No Return, " the Phantom shares a stage with the very vulnerable Christine. He is still masked, though it is a mask other than his trademark white face covering. The Phantom is well known as a murderer and an escape artist. This is the the equivalent of a hostage situation. To rush the stage might risk lives, and everyone in the know is proceeding with caution. During the song, we do get glimpses of police moving about, and Raoul and others looking concerned, subtly signaling one another and considering their next move. The stage crew seems confused. The dancers go on with the show. And law enforcement officers await the right moment to advance. It also gives us the opportunity to enjoy a dramatic musical number that rushing the stage would interrupt.

Michael Albert

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