(1925) - B&W - 102 min
The LikeTelevision™ movie channel proudly presents - The Phantom of the Opera. This early silent film made in 1925 stars Lon Chaney as the Phantom, also known as Eric who is a musical genius, but alas - butt ugly. Unlike the 1962 version with Herbert Lom, we do not get any background as to what happened to Erik - that made him so disfigured. (In the 1962 version - he is burned in a fire by some chemicals as he tries to retrieve his stolen music from a shady publisher.) This is the first film version of the Gaston Leroux novel, so please don't expect anyone will break into song. This is not the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version released in 2004. Directed by Rupert Julian with Mary Philbin as Christine Daae (no relation to Regis), and Norman Kerry as Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, Christine's boyfriend. Kerry also stars as the swashbuckling hero of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Lon Chaney as the Phantom and Mary Philbin as Christine

Lon Chaney's role as the Phantom really shows off his mastery of make-up and disguise. Known as the man of a thousand faces, Chaney's face as the Phantom is very scary. Also of interest - the wild quasi-color scene w/ Lon Chaney dressed up as the Red Death at the costume has been nicely restored. In addition - we shortened the duration of many of the text plates - because they were so long, they often proved to be annoying. Enjoy the show - and by all means - this is a terrific film to play your own cool music mix - make sure you add an excerpt of J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor or perhaps Charles Gounod's Faust.

Raoul, played by Norman Kerry and Christine Daae played by Mary Philbin

Part one
Intro, B&W, opening credits etc. Our story begins at the Paris Opera House - where some guys are buying the opera house from the old owners, who tell them about Phantom, and how the Opera House is haunted. The current diva, Carlotta gets a letter from the Phantom that advises her to be sick, so Christine Daae the understudy can play the lead.

Part two
And indeed - Christine get the nod. WOW - she is fabulous, everyone agrees. But wait - Carlotta and her mom will not give up the diva spot so easily. Carlotta performs the next night and has a chance encounter with the chandelier. Christine then goes underground and meets the strange man with the mask named Erik.

Part three
Christine goes deep into the lair of the notorious Phantom - on a horse, on a boat and finally to his secret chamber where he tells Christine of his deep love for her. Christine wants to be a star and thinks Erik could further her career - but she thinks he's pretty weird. And then - she decides to pull off his mask - arrrrrgh!

Phantom of the Opera, The Message Board

the bizarre and sneaky Inspector Ledoux played by Arthur Edmund Carewe

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Lon Chaney as the Red Death

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