Third in the line of Phantoms onscreen, the great Herbert Lom brings both darker and more sympathetic shadings to the iconic role as he dons the mask for another teaming of Fisher and screenwriter John Elder. Struggling composer Lom is cheated out of his oeuvre by Michael Gough and then physically scarred for life; plotting revenge in the shadows of the London Opera House, his obsessions are amplified once he beholds aspiring soprano Heather Sears.