The Phantom
of the Opera
Originally released in 1925
Lon Chaney as Erik the Phantom
After the success of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lon Chaney
was cast as the title role in The Phantom of the Opera because he
was sure to create a creature of horror. Universal Pictures was right
to assume this, and in 1925 Chaney's Phantom came to life. As Erik,
the phantom of the Paris Opera House who lived in the catacombs, Chaney's
make-up scared young and old movie goers alike, and the scene in which
his mask is removed to reveal his hideous face is still talked about today.
Taken from the 1911 novel by Gaston Leroux, the story tells of a phantom
that lives under the opera house and falls in love with Christine Daae,
a singer, who he eventually kidnaps and takes underground. There
the famous unmasking ensues as well as the hunt for Erik by the authorities.
L.C. Subject Headings
The following Library of Congress Subject Heading
is for use in searching the on-line catalog for materials pertaining to
The
Phantom of the Opera.
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Horror Films.
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Horror Films – Catalogs.
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Horror Films – Encyclopedias.
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Leroux, Gaston, 1868-1927.
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Leroux, Gaston, 1868-1927. Fantôme de l'Opéra.
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Phantom of the Opera.
Reviews
The New York Times Film Reviews 1913-1968.
Vol. 1, 1913-1931. New York: The New York Times & Arno
Press, 1970.
[Davis Ref: PN 1995. N4 v1]
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The Phantom of the Opera – “A Fantastic
Melodrama,” p. 274, Sept. 7, 1925; 15:3.
Variety Film Reviews 1907-1980. Vol.
2, 1921-1925. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1983.
[Davis Ref: PN 1995 .V34 v2]
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The Phantom of the Opera – Sept. 9, 1925.
Variety Film Reviews 1907-1980. Vol.
4, 1930-1933. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1983.
[Davis Ref: PN 1995 .V34 v4]
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The Phantom of the Opera – Feb. 12, 1930 (refers
to the 1929 re-release with some dialog and color)
Original Novel
Leroux, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera.
London: O'Mara, 1987. (originally published in 1911)
[Davis, 7th floor stacks: PQ2623.E6 F213 1987]
One of only two copies in Davis that
are in English, this one is the better version. Even though this
is the older copy, it keeps truer to the original story and provides the
reader with a few decent illustrations. For a very good copy that
is not in the libraries here, you can try the 1993 edition released by
Barnes and Noble.
Video
The Phantom of the Opera. New York,
N.Y.: Kino on Video, 1989.
[UL NonPrint: 65-V2391]
Where Chaney left off with The Hunchback
of Notre Dame, this movie picks right up with the “Man of a Thousand
Faces” as Erik, the phantom who lives under the Paris Opera House.
Just when everyone thought the makeup of Quasimodo could not be out done,
Chaney shocked audiences and critics alike with one of the most famous
scenes in movie history. When Erik is unmasked by his kidnapped Christine
in the bellows of the building, the grotesque face that the phantom has
is revealed, filling viewers with dread even today. Originally released
in 1925, it was put back in the theaters in 1929 with some added footage
and the famous scene with the masquerade ball, in which Chaney dons himself
as the Red Death. This scene was filmed in two-tone Technicolor and
looks unbelievable. This movie is also available on DVD.