The Reese Project Silent Film Series 

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925)

Starring Lon Chaney, directed by Rupert Julian

Undeniably Chaney's most famous role. Lon Chaney, an American actor, was known as "the man of a thousand faces," due to his ground-breaking artistry with make-up. The film has inspired five remakes (in 1943, 1962, 1983, 1989, and 1990), numerous rip-offs, and the blockbuster Andrew Lloyd Weber musical. It is listed by most historians as one of the 10 greatest films of all time.

When the film debuted in 1925 The New York Times wrote:  "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is an ultra fantastic melodrama, an ambitious production in which there is much to marvel at in the scenic effects...Lon Chaney impersonates the Phantom.  It is a role suited to his liking, and one which he handles with a certain skill, a little exaggerated at times, but none the less compelling...The most dramatic touch is where Christine in the cellar abode is listening to the masked Phantom as he plays the organ.  Then she steals up behind him and...suddenly snatches the mask from the Phantom's face...In the theatre last night a woman behind us stifled a scream when this happened."  - New York Times, 1925

The film takes place in the 1890's in Paris, France. The masked and facially disfigured 'Phantom' haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force the management to make the woman he loves (Christine, played by Mary Philbin) a star. It is most famous for Lon Chaney's intentionally horrific, self-applied makeup which was kept a studio secret until the film's premier.

Plot: 

The film takes place in 1890s Paris, France. It is a mystery with romantic and horror overtones.

The film opens with the debut of the new season at the Paris Opera House, with a production of Gounod's Faust. Comte Philip de Chagny and his brother, the Vicomte Raoul (Norman Kerry) are in attendance. Raoul attends only in the hope of hearing his sweetheart Christine Daee (Mary Philbin) sing. Christine, under the tuition of an unknown and mysterious coach, has made a sudden rise from the chorus to understudy of the prima donna. Raoul wishes for Christine to resign and marry him, but she refuses their relationship to get into the way of her career.

At the height of the most prosperous season in the Opera's history, the management suddenly resigns. As they leave, they tell the new managers of the Opera Ghost, a phantom who asks for opera box #5, among other things. The new managers laugh it off as a joke, but the old management leave troubled.

In the cellars of the Opera House, during a dress rehearsal, the corps de ballet scurry around after having caught a glimpse of the Phantom. Florine Papillon (Snitz Edwards), a stage hand, follows them reluctantly, shuddering at the thought of a ghost.

Meanwhile, Mme. Carlotta (Virginia Pearson), the prima donna of the Paris Grand Opera, barges into the managers office enraged. She has received a letter from "The Phantom," demanding that Christine sing the role of Marguerite the following night, threatening dire consequences if his demands are not met.

The ballet girls are disturbed by the sight of a mysterious man (Arthur Edmund Carewe), who dwells in the cellars. Arguing whether or not he is the Phantom, they decide to ask Joseph Bouqet, a stagehand who has actually seen the ghost's face. Bouquet describes a ghastly sight of a living skeleton to the girls, who are then startled by a shadow cast on the wall. Papillon's antics do not amuse Joseph's brother, Simon (Gibson Gowland), who chases him off.

In Christine's dressing room, an angelic voice calls to her from beyond the wall. He announces to her that she will sing Marguerite in Faust and that all of Paris will worship her, but that she must forget all worldly things and think only of her master.

The following day, in a garden near the Opera House, Christine and Raoul meet. Christine explains to Raoul that he must forget her and that her master has told her that she must devote her life to her art. Raoul baffled, Christine explains that the Spirit of Music that her father had promised would visit her has materialized and given her the gift of song, and although she has never seen him, she must obey him. Thinking that it is someone playing a joke on her, Raoul laughs and offends Christine, who runs off.

The following night, Carlotta is taken ill and Christine sings as Marguerite. During the performance, the managers go to Box 5 to see exactly who has taken it. The keeper of the box does not know who it is, as she has never seen his face. The two managers enter the box and are startled to see a shadowy figure seated. They run out of the box and compose themselves, but when they enter the box again, the person is gone.

Christine reaches her triumph during the finale of the performance, and receives a standing ovation from the audience. Exhausted, she faints on stage. When Raoul visits her in her dressing room, she pretends not to recognize him, because unbeknownst to the rest there, the Spirit is also there. Raoul spends the evening outside her door, and after the others have left, just as he is about to enter, he hears a man's voice within the room. He overhears the voice make his intentions to Christine: "Soon, Christine, this spirit will take form and will demand your love!" When Christine leaves her room alone, Raoul breaks in to find it empty.

Carlotta receives another discordant note from the Phantom. Once again, it demands that she take ill and let Christine have her part. The managers also get a note, reiterating that if Christine does not sing, they will present "Faust" in a house with a curse on it.

The same day, the mysterious man from the cellars visits the Prefect of Police in an attempt to keep Mlle. Carlotta from singing. "For the present, my identity must remain a secret," he tells the Prefect.

The following evening, in spite of every warning, Carlotta appears as Marguerite. At first, the performance goes well, but soon the Phantom's curse takes its effect, causing the great, glass chandelier to crash down onto the audience. After taking over the leading role from Carlotta, who has now taken ill, Christine is entranced by a mysterious voice through a secret door behind the mirror in her dressing room, descending, in a dream-like sequence, semi-conscious on horseback by a winding staircase into the lower depths of the Opera. She is then taken by gondola over a subterranean lake by the masked Phantom into his lair.

Here, in one of the most famous moments in silent film, she makes the mistake of unmasking the Phantom (Chaney) as he plays on the organ, thus revealing his hideous deformity...

Released from the underground dungeon, Christine makes a rendezvous with Raoul on the Opera roof, observed, however, by an unseen jealous Phantom perching on a statue. A masked-ball at the Opera is then graced with the Phantom in the guise of the 'Red-Death' - from the Edgar Allan Poe tale of the same name. Raoul and inspector Ledoux are then lured into the Phantom's underground death-trap as he kidnaps Christine. However, in the final sequence, he is pursued and killed by a mob on the streets of Paris.