Here’s a little something to haunt your dreams…
“The Phantom of the Opera” is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force the management to make the woman he loves a star. It is most famous for Lon Chaney’s intentionally horrific, self-applied make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film’s premiere. The film was adapted by Elliott J. Clawson, Frank M. McCormack, Tom Reed and Raymond L. Schrock. It was directed by Rupert Julian, with supplemental direction by Lon Chaney, Edward Sedgwick and Ernst Laemmle. The film also features Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, John St. Polis, and Snitz Edwards. The only surviving cast member is Carla Laemmle (born 1909), niece of producer Carl Laemmle, who played a small role as “prima ballerina” in the film when she was about 15.
Directed by Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney, Edward Sedgwick and Ernst Laemmle, produced by Carl Laemmle, screenplay by Elliott J. Clawson, Raymond L. Schrock, Bernard McConville, Jasper Spearing, Richard Wallace, Walter Anthony, Tom Reed and Frank M. McCormack, based on “The Phantom of the Opera” by Gaston Leroux, starring Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe and Gibson Gowland.
Note: The video above is from the Timeless Classic Movies channel on YouTube. It is not the version restored by Joe Rinaudo.
