1974 - THE PHANTOM OF HOLLYWOOD, filming the collapse of Hollywood, literally.

Evil studio head James T. Aubrey was the person who presided over the sale and demolition of MGM studios in the 1970's.  Either Aubrey or someone got the clever idea to remake the Phantom of the Opera and set it at MGM studio while bulldozers were busy knocking down the studios sets.

The Phantom of Hollywood is not a very good TV film, but it s loaded with lots of film buff junk to keep even the biggest movie nut entertained for a little over an hour.  The cast is about as old as some of the sets that are being torn down in the film.  John Ireland, Peter Lawford, Jackie Coogan and the great Broderick Crawford.  Throw in a little nepotism by casting Aubrey's daughter Skye as the maiden in distress and you have, well something I guess.

One time Broadway star and very hammy actor Jack Cassidy got to play the phantom and he is about as silly as you can get.  Even by 1974, the Shakespearean quoting crazy guy was a big trope but then again Cassidy was kind of a trope himself, with his matinee idol looks.

James "The Smiling Cobra" Aubrey's daughter, Skye.

The film was directed by Gene Levitt who was associated with such TV classics, like Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-O, and Fantasy Island.  Probably the perfect guy for this crummy but interesting TV movie.

74 minutes