I would like to solicit the opinions of CHFB'ers as to why in the world Lon Chaney Jr. (at the height of his being groomed as a horror star, no less),
couldn't catch a break with the powers-that-be at Universal to recreate his dad's famous role as the Phantom in the 1943 remake, but his pal
Brod Crawford (who was easily as much of a screen "galoot" as Lon Jr. and, unlike him, totally lacking in any
previous horror characterizations), apparently was seriously considered for the role before it went to Claude Rains???
I am completely mystified as to the mentality behind this Crawford-over-Chaney decision! I mean, after all, by 1943 Lon Jr. had been entrusted to play pretty
much the entire lineup of Universal's monsters -- Wolf Man, Frankenstein monster, Dracula (or his son) and the Mummy -- but somehow the Phantom was thought
to be beyond his reach and, even more incredibly, thought to be within Crawford's???
