Lon Chaney as Erik, the Phantom, in The Phantom of the Opera.Image via Universal Pictures
By
Lloyd Farley
Published 11 minutes ago
Lloyd 'Happy Trails' Farley: the man, the myth, the legend. What can be said about this amazing - and humble - man that hasn't been said before? Or, more accurately, what can be said in public? Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Lloyd is a master of puns and a humorist, who has authored one pun book to date - Pun and Grimeish Mint - and is working on a second. His time with Collider has allowed Lloyd's passion for writing to explode, with nearly 1,000 articles to his name that have been published on the site, with his favorite articles being the ones that allow for his sense of humor to shine. Lloyd also holds fast to the belief that all of life's problems can be answered by The Simpsons, Star Wars, and/or The Lion King. You can read more about Lloyd on his website, or follow his Facebook page and join the Llama Llegion. Happy trails!
Sign in to your Collider account
Summary
Generate a summary of this story
follow
Follow
followed
Followed
Like
Like
Thread
Log in
Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:
Try something different:
Show me the facts
Explain it like I’m 5
Give me a lighthearted recap
French author Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera was released in 1910, based on rumors he'd heard about the Palais Garnier, the Paris opera house, one about a fire in the roof of the opera house that resulted in the chandelier falling to the ground, injuring many and killing one, and another about a ghost in its walls. Six years later, Germany's Das Phantom der Oper became the first film adaptation of the novel, although the film itself has been lost to time. Since then, Leroux's novel has been adapted numerous times, most famously as a long-running Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, which opened in London's West End in 1986, and a subsequent film adaptation of the musical in 2004, helmed by Batman & Robin director Joel Schumacher. But the best version of Leroux's famed novel hit movie theaters 100 years ago, 1925's The Phantom of the Opera, as powerful today as it was then.
1925's 'The Phantom of the Opera' Is a Horror Masterpiece
The road to The Phantom of the Opera began with an initial script treatment, submitted to the studio on October 12, 1923, by writers Bernard McConville and James Spearing. From there, the film endured multiple rewrites – less horror, more romance, more comedy, less romance – and several scenes and endings that were filmed but never used, either falling prey to the ever-changing script direction or to negative feedback during screenings (one ending had Christine (Mary Philbin) give Erik (Lon Chaney) a compassionate kiss on his face, sending him into tears, having never known a woman's kiss, not even his own mother's, and sends Christine and Raoul (Norman Kerry) away as he dies quietly, alone). The final cut of the film was a mashup of scenes from director Rupert Julian's original shoot and reshoots directed by Edward Sedgwick (per American Cinematographer).
The road may have been rocky, but the destination was worth it. The editing eventually brought a rough cut of four hours of footage down to a taut 107 minutes, unrelenting in its focus on the titular Phantom and his machinations to bring Christine to the top and win, or force, her love. By focusing on the Phantom and the horror element, the film uses all the tricks of the trade to heighten that experience. A soundtrack that perfectly embodies the moments. The yin of the Paris opera house, with its grand opulence and towering walls against the yang of the Phantom's lair, a dark, suffocating realm in the catacombs below. The touch of red in the Phantom's cloak in his guise as the Red Death, a presence at odds with the partygoers that back away from him, unsure of whom, or what, he is. That infamous jump scare, which, no matter how many times you've seen it, is, in the context of the film, as terrifying and chilling as it was when it sent moviegoers screaming and running out of the theater... if they hadn't already fainted, that is (per Collider). But the film succeeds on the back of its star, Lon Chaney, the "man of 1,000 faces." Chaney's iconic, ghoulish makeup, a nightmarish sight, paired with his uncanny ability to say so much without uttering a word, communicating menace, yearning, sorrow, and anger effortlessly, is simply awe-inspiring to watch.
Where 1925's 'The Phantom of the Opera' Excels Over Its Followers
1925's The Phantom of the Opera is astounding on its own merits, but when compared to the host of other adaptations, its excellence becomes even more pronounced. The 1943 version makes the mistake of making the Phantom, played by Claude Rains, a secondary character in his own movie, second-billed after Nelson Eddy, actor and baritone singer. It also leans away from the horror and more into the romantic melodramatic elements, adds comedic subplots, and slows the film down with opera numbers, unable to focus as pointedly as the original as a result. 1962's version from Hammer Films relocated the story from Paris to London, but commits the same sins with lengthy musical sequences, and its Phantom is more sympathetic, given flashbacks to his origins (the bane of any once-great villain) and a heroic ending, with Herbert Lom's Phantom dying after saving Christine from the falling chandelier, moved to the end of the film. 1989's The Phantom of the Opera goes way, way too far the other way, focusing too much on the horror element and adding a Faustian twist in a gore-filled adaptation that resembles 1925 largely in name only, with Robert Englund as a "Freddy-fied" Phantom.
Related
Cinema Will Forever Be Haunted by the Iconic Horror Movie No One Alive Has Seen
Lon Chaney transformed himself into one of his scariest monsters that has inspired a modern horror icon.
Posts 7 By Chris Sasaguay Mar 23, 2025Now it may not be entirely fair to compare the 1925 original with 2004's The Phantom of the Opera, given that the latter is an adaptation of the Broadway musical as opposed to the novel itself, and as such embraces the music and the romantic drama element as opposed to horror. But it does highlight the biggest reason why 1925's The Phantom of the Opera reigns supreme: the role of the Phantom himself. From Claude Rains down to Gerard Butler's 2004 iteration, the Phantom hasn't embraced the ugliness of the character the way Chaney did. Butler is barely scarred, seemingly a deliberate act so that the rugged handsomeness of Butler isn't hidden too much, and thus, surrendering ticket sales to female moviegoers.
Chaney, though, was fearless, going all in on the Phantom through a rigorous makeup routine (per American Cinematographer) that accentuated the idea of being a living skull. That fearlessness carried through to his performance, allowing him to embody the horror of the character, and any sympathy directed toward the Phantom – and there is some – is a testimony to his ability to elicit emotion through the makeup and prosthetics. Other adaptations make it clear that the more focused it is on the romantic elements, the less ugly its Phantom can be, naturally inhibiting the horror. Chaney embraced it, and in doing so, his Phantom is the most focused and fearful of them all, elevating his own work and the film by extension, with that brevity.
The Phantom of the Opera is available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.
The Phantom of the Opera
Like Passed Drama Horror Release Date September 22, 1925 Runtime 107 minutes Director Ernst Laemmle Producers Carl LaemmleCast
See All-
Lon Chaney
Erik, The Phantom
-
Norman Kerry
Vicomte Raoul de Chagny
-
Mary Philbin
Christine Daae
-
Arthur Edmund Carewe
Ledoux
Expand
Collapse
-
Horror
We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.
Be the first to post Images Attachment(s) Please respect our community guidelines. No links, inappropriate language, or spam.Your comment has not been saved
Send confirmation emailThis thread is open for discussion.
Be the first to post your thoughts.
- Terms
- Privacy
- Feedback
Nov 14, 2025
8 Years Where the Best Movie Belonged to the Horror Genre
2 days ago
The 10 Heaviest Movies of All Time, Ranked
4 days ago
10 Martial Arts Movies That Are 10/10, No Notes
3 days ago
10 Thrilling Movies Where Everybody Dies
What To Watch
July 20, 2025
The 72 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now
Trending Now
Richard Linklater’s ‘Nouvelle Vague’ Fixes All the Usual Biopic Problems
James Gunn Should Absolutely Find Space for Pierce Brosnan’s Dr. Fate in His DCU
'IT: Welcome to Derry’s Jovan Adepo and Taylour Paige Tease the “Well-Earned” Finale for Stephen King’s Horror Series
