The Phantom of the Opera

Long before Adam Sandler put in his two arias worth on SNL, Lon Chaney's Opera Man sent chills down moviegoers' spines in Rupert Julian's 1925 horror classic The Phantom of the Opera. Based on the novel by Gaston Leroux, Chaney lights up the silent screen as Erik, the horribly disfigured masked composer living in the subterranean water works beneath the Paris Opera House, who becomes deeply infatuated with a beautiful understudy named Christine (the radiant Mary Philbin), and manipulates a series of horrific events to promote her to the lead (in one of the most memorable scenes, a huge chandelier falls from the vaulted ceiling onto the crowd below). After luring Christine down to his "apartment," the Phantom pledges his love to her and, well, if you've seen or heard Andrew Lloyd Weber's smash Broadway musical you already know that Erik and Christine do not live happily ever after. Remade with Claude Rains in 1943, Herbert Lom in 1962, and parodied by Brian De Palma in 1974's Phantom of the Paradise, the silent version remains the definitive interpretation. This double-disc set from "The Milestone Collection" includes both the original 1925 release and the restored 1929 reissue (with the latter, not surprisingly, boasting the much better image), as well as a number of solid extras, including an excellent commentary track by film historian Scott MacQueen, two audio options (a new orchestral score and the 1929 synched--somewhat awkwardly--limited "talkie" soundtrack), a new video interview with Carla Laemmle (who was the prima ballerina in the film), and a 1973 audio-only interview with cinematographer Charles Van Enger. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Oct. 6, 2015—Kino, 2 discs, 78 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, the re-edited 1929 edition of the silent classic The Phantom of the Opera features a fine transfer and stereo soundtrack. Extras include the original 1925 version of the film, “20 FPS” and “24 FPS” versions of the 1929 film, audio commentary by film historian Jon C. Mirsalis, a theater organ score by Gaylord Carter, a musical setting composed by Gabriel Thibaudeau, excerpts from a 1930 sound re-issue version (54 min.), an interview with Thibaudeau (11 min.), the 1925 travel films “Paris from a Motor” (4 min.) and “A Trip on the Seine” (4 min.), the original text screenplay, and trailers. Bottom line: a silent classic gets Kino's red carpet treatment.]