Watch the Film

Coming out in the same year as screen classics like THE GOLD RUSH and BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA doesn’t match the quality of those films, because it’s not trying to be those films. What the film succeeds in doing is taking a fairly simple story with thin-characters and lifting the material to another level with iconic imagery and action. The film isn’t about emotional subtlety, but grand notions. You could say it’s one of the first truly great popcorn flicks.

Much of its success lies in the hands of Lon Chaney (LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH) as the Phantom. Having done his own make-up, Chaney creates one of the greatest character design feats in cinema history. Because the face of the Phantom has become an icon of pop culture, the lead up to the big reveal is not nearly as shocking as it was in 1925, however we still anticipate it with eagerness. The filmmakers (created director is Rupert Julian, uncredited directors have included Ernst Laemmle, Edward Sedgwick and even Chaney) knew exactly how to play that moment. They even filmed it with flare, having the camera go out of focus like its scared of the Phantom’s hideousness and to enhance the skull-like look of the creature.

The story is the most faithful to Gaston Leroux’s novel. The Phantom haunts the gothic catacombs underneath the opera house where he was tortured during the Revolution. He desires the pretty young singer Christine Daae (Mary Philbin, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS), hoping that if he makes her a star; he can make her love him and regain some of his humanity. Christine desires to be famous even shunning her fiancée Vicomte Raoul de Chagny (Norman Kerry, THE UNKNOWN) for the call of the Phantom. However, upon seeing the Phantom’s deformed face, Christine runs back to the arms of her former lover. This enrages the Phantom, spurring him to go to any length to possess Christine.

Chaney’s performance is perfectly over-the-top, but not more so than some other superhero film villains. Like many great movie monsters, we sympathize with the character for we understand the torment society has thrust upon them. The Phantom is a fascinating character, because he wants what we all want and that’s to be loved, however his demons have made him unable to go about seeking love in any normal way.

As any big spectacle of today, this film uses the most cutting-edge technology of its day. Stylistically the film tints many of its scenes to add to the mood of the settings, which includes the River Styx-like catacombs, which have inspired set designers for decades. For the big masquerade ball, the film utilized early two-strip color, which makes the Phantom even more grand when he enters wearing a skull mask and deep red cape. The shot of the Phantom on the statue overlooking Christine and Raoul is wonderful.

Unlike some ironic early horror monsters like Bela Lugosi’s Dracula or Boris Karloff’s Mummy, this film holds up well with its good pacing and grand style. This film was a huge event in its day. It was booked in one theater in New York with only two showings a day. The Phantom’s face was purposely kept a secret. The film isn’t cinema art like NOSFERATU, but that’s because it wasn’t trying to be. It was trying to be entertainment and in doing so has become a great example of what pop art can attain.