The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

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

Directors:

Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney (uncredited)

Writer:

Gaston Leroux (from the 1910 celebrated novel by)

Stars:

Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lon Chaney	...	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
Virginia Pearson	...	Carlotta / Carlotta's Mother

Storyline

At the Opera of Paris, a mysterious phantom threatens a famous lyric singer, Carlotta, and forces her to give up her role (Marguerite in Faust) for unknown Christine Daae. Christine meets this phantom (a masked man) in the catacombs, where he lives. What's his goal? What's his secret?

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Plot Keywords:

opera | singer | underground | opera house | mask | 

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Taglines:

The greatest horror film of modern cinema!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Assuming its copyright has not lapsed already, this film and all others produced in 1925 enter the U.S. public domain in 2021.

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Goofs

The mask Erik was wearing has disappeared during the unmasking.

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Quotes

The Phantom: [title card] Did you hear voices?
[Christine shakes her head]
The Phantom: [title card] Perhaps we have more callers.
Title Card: Heat - Intolerable heat!

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Crazy Credits

In 1925 (and for many years afterwards), credits used to appear at the beginning of movies. In The Phantom of the Opera (1925), the credits do appear at the beginning and also are repeated at the end, preceded by the following caption: "This is repeated at the request of picture patrons who desire to check the names of performers whose work has pleased them."

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Alternate Versions

Also available in a computer colorized version.

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Connections

Referenced in Wheel of Fortune: Season Premiere from Las Vegas 3 (2009)

User Reviews

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…

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Release Date:

15 November 1925 (USA)

Also Known As:

El fantasma de la ópera

Filming Locations:

Stage 28, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,751,476

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,360,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 101 min (original) 92 min (1995) 107 min (DVD) 106 min (Ontario) 95 min (1929 re-release)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Black and White Color (some sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1