The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Director:

Rupert Julian
(more)

Writer:

Gaston Leroux (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

15 November 1925 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

The greatest horror film of modern cinema!

Plot:

A mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer.

Plot Keywords:

Phantom | Singer | Opera | Catacombs | Opera Singer

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lon Chaney	...	Erik, The Phantom
Mary Philbin	...	Christine Daae
Norman Kerry	...	Vicomte Raoul de Chagny
Arthur Edmund Carewe	...	Ledoux
Gibson Gowland	...	Simon Buquet
John St. Polis	...	Comte Philip de Chagny (as John Sainpolis)
Snitz Edwards	...	Florine Papillon
Mary Fabian	...	Carlotta (1929 re-edited version only)
Virginia Pearson	...	Carlotta / Carlotta's mother (1929 re-edited version)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Olive Ann Alcorn	...	La Sorelli (uncredited)
Joseph Belmont	...	Stage manager (uncredited)
Alexander Bevani	...	Mephistopheles (uncredited)
Earl Gordon Bostwick	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Edward Cecil	...	Faust (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford	...	Ballerina (uncredited)
Chester Conklin	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Roy Coulson	...	The jester (uncredited)
Bruce Covington	...	M. Moncharmin (uncredited)
Ward Crane	...	Count Ruboff (uncredited)
George Davis	...	Guard at Christine's door (uncredited)
Madame Fiorenza	...	Mame Giry, keeper of the box (uncredited)
Cesare Gravina	...	Manager (uncredited)
William Humphrey	...	M. Debienne (uncredited)
Carla Laemmle	...	Prima ballerina (uncredited)
Edward Martindel	...	Comte Philip de Chagny (1929 re-edited version) (uncredited)
Grace Marvin	...	Martha (uncredited)
John Miljan	...	Valentin (uncredited)
Rolfe Sedan	...	Undetermined role (uncredited)
Bernard Siegel	...	Joseph Buquet (uncredited)
William Tracy	...	Ratcatcher, messenger from the shadows (uncredited)
William Tyroler	...	Director of opera orchestra (uncredited)
Vola Vale	...	Ballerina (uncredited)
Anton Vaverka	...	Prompter (uncredited)
George B. Williams	...	M. Ricard (uncredited)
Edith Yorke	...	Mama Valerius (uncredited)

Directed by
Rupert Julian
Lon Chaney		(uncredited)
Ernst Laemmle		(uncredited)
Edward Sedgwick		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Gaston Leroux		(novel "Le Fantôme de l'Opera")
Walter Anthony		titles (uncredited)
Elliott J. Clawson		adaptation (uncredited)
Bernard McConville		treatment (uncredited)
Frank M. McCormack		uncredited
Tom Reed		titles (uncredited)
Raymond L. Schrock		adaptation (uncredited)
Jasper Spearing		treatment (uncredited)
Richard Wallace		additional comedy material (uncredited)

Produced by
Carl Laemmle	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Roy Budd		(1993)
Carl Davis		(1996)
Gustav Hinrichs
Gabriel Thibaudeau		(1990)
Rick Wakeman		(1990)
Sam Perry		(1929 sound re-release) (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Milton Bridenbecker		(uncredited)
Virgil Miller		(uncredited)
Charles Van Enger		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Edward Curtiss		(uncredited)
Maurice Pivar		(uncredited)
Gilmore Walker		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Ben Carré		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Charles D. Hall		(uncredited)
Elmer Sheeley		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Lon Chaney	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Raymond L. Schrock	....	executive production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joe Pasternak	....	assistant director (uncredtied)

Art Department
Ben Carré	....	consulting artist (uncredited)
Charles A. Logue	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jack Foley	....	foley artist: re-issue (uncredited)
C. Roy Hunter	....	recording supervisor: re-issue (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Trey Freeman	....	digital artist: digital restoration and color correction (restored version)
Jerome Ash	....	visual effects supervisor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Edward T. Estabrook	....	supervisor: color photography (uncredited)
Roman Freulich	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Joseph Cherniavsky	....	synchronization (1929 re-release) (uncredited)

Music Department
David Broekman	....	composer: additional music (1929 re-release) (uncredited)
William Schiller	....	composer: additional music (1929 re-release) (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
Carl Laemmle	....	president: Universal Pictures Corp.
Ernest Belcher	....	ballet master (uncredited)
Lon Chaney	....	mask maker: his own mask (uncredited)
Edwards Davis	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Archie Hall	....	technical director (uncredited)
Fay Holderness	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Ernst Laemmle	....	director: sound sequences (uncredited)
Jack Lawton	....	title designer: notes (uncredited)
Robert Ross	....	assistant: Mr. Julian (uncredited)
Edward Sedgwick	....	supplementary director (uncredited)
Ralph Slosser	....	set production assistant (uncredited)
Phillips Smalley	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Miss Starkey	....	secretary (uncredited)
Meta Stern	....	researcher (uncredited)
William von Wymetal	....	choreographer (uncredited)
Aileen Webster	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Max Winkler	....	cue sheet compiler (uncredited)

Thanks
Kevin Phelan	....	special thanks: FilmTel supervisor (1999 restoration)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (Jewel)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1925) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Milestone Film & Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Sunrise Silents (2004) (worldwide) (DVD)
• SBP (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2006) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Bach Films (2009) (France) (DVD)
• Catcom Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Channel 4 Television Corporation (1987) (UK) (TV)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Divisa Home Video (2009) (Spain) (DVD)
• Kartes Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Photoplay Productions (????) (USA) (TV)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Runtime:

93 min | UK:101 min (original release) | USA:92 min (1995 version) | USA:107 min (DVD version) | Canada:106 min (Ontario) | 95 min (1929 re-release)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White | Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (talking sequences, musical score and sound effects) (1929 re-release) | Silent

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Ben Carré was called in to design the sets, and although he had worked at the Paris Opera House, he had already been living in California for some time doing sets.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Christine first interprets the role of "Marguerite" in "Faust", we see her in the costume used for the ending of Act 5 of "Faust" (the finale of the opera). However, when Raoul comes around to her dressing room, after the opera has finished, we find Christine in the braided wig and outfit worn during "The Jewel Song" which is in Act 3 of the opera.

Quotes:

Erik: She is singing to bring down the chandelier!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Muppet Babies: Muppetland (#4.1)" (1987)

The pathos of Lon Chaney gave the Phantom its dimension...

Lon Chaney was the first of the long line of Phantoms and the one against whom all his successors had to be measured…

The story, despite all its alternatives, is the familiar one of the musician avoiding the world because of his disfigurement and retreating to a hideout beneath the Opera House, from where he emerges to terrorize singers and audience alike…

He kidnaps a young girl singer – perhaps to teach her to become a great star; certainly because, in his grotesque and pathetic way, he loves her – and carries her off to a boudoir he has prepared far underground…

There was melodrama in plenty: in the first version, for example, two would-be rescuers found themselves trapped in an uncomfortable mirrored room the Phantom had prepared, where they first got a heat treatment and then were flooded…

But, beyond all the heightened effects, it was the pathos of the Phantom underscoring his lonely menace which gave the character a dimension, and the isolation of the captor and his captive, imprisoned to a literal underworld, which gave the suspense of the whole film its power…