David Copperfield: Secret of the Phantom of the Opera

Magician David Copperfield travels to Paris to uncover the secrets of the Palais Garnier and its most famous resident, the Phantom.

This rare television special aired on Canadian television in the late 80s, at the height of "Phantom mania". Clearly an attempt to cash in on the success of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, it features numerous clips from the Lon Chaney silent film, as well as the 1943 film starring Claude Rains, Susanna Foster, and Nelson Eddy. Unfortunately, due to YouTube's content ID I've had to remove all portions with the '43 film.

Information about the special is scarce online. For years I've hunted for a copy only to come up short every time. It does not appear to be listed on IMDB and I can only find a few references on various fan sites.

I recently rediscovered my own personal copy, which I have transferred and preserved here. This recording was from a re-broadcast on July 12 1992 on CTV (likely the CKCO affiliate in Kitchener, Ontario). I have edited out the original commercials, as well as done minimal restoration work.

Anyone who can shed more light on this rare special please feel free to do so in the comments. In the meantime, grab your mask, sit back, and enjoy.

------

David Copperfield as Himself
Heath Lamberts as Gaston Leroux
Dominique Vallee as Christine Daae

Executive Producers
W. Paterson Ferns
Dennis E. Doty
Jean Chalopin

Based on an Original Concept by Jean Chalopin & Don Taffner
Story by John McGreevy
Screenplay by Peter Blow
Directed by John McGreevy

------

00:00 - Act 01
05:17 - Act 02
10:53 - Act 03
19:10 - Act 04
26:14 - Act 05
36:50 - Act 06

------