The Phantom of the Opera

"Feast your eyes - glut your soul, on my accursed ugliness!"

If I had to pick one silent film to recommend to those who had never seen a silent film then I would probably say The Phantom of the Opera. It's fast-paced, scary, and features the first iconic horror star in (arguably) his most famous role. Featuring an arresting string score, the film has a real sense of momentum that drives towards an exciting climax, exploring the idea of the Phantom as an urban legend of his time. The Phantom is a wonderful 'monster' too, urbane and grotesque but also sympathetic despite his capacity for murder... he ranks up there as the noble grandfather of horror movie monsters.

The Phantom of the Opera opens on the sale of a haunted oepra house. The new owners scoff at the suggestion of a resident 'ghost', and the first 15 minutes of the film are devoted to introducing the legend of the Phantom (Lon Chaney) via the gossiping staff of the Paris Opera House. After this the plot starts - the mother (Virginia Pearson) of the famous oepra singer Carlotta (Mary Fabian) demands that her daughter performs on Wednesday night, but the Phantom works from behind the scenes to orchestrate the debut performance of Christine (Mary Philbin), a girl he has been coaching from behind the walls (literally). Christine is ambitious and romanticises the Phantom as a secret admirer. Meanwhile, she also has to deal with the attentions of Raoul (Norman Kerry), a more traditional suitor.

In reality, the Phantom is Erik, a deformed but educated figure who lives in the Parisian catacombs under the Opera House. Born in a massacre and implied to be the offspring of a raped woman, his disfigured face is a mark of trauma and symbolic of an evil, corrupt soul. Our first impression of the Phantom is that he is a machiavellian monster, with Christine his unsuspecting victim. But as the film progresses it becomes clear that Christine is so ambitious and greedy for recognition that she uses Erik to become an opera star. When they first meet face-to-face Christine is reluctant to embrace the Phantom as her lover but overcomes her initial disgust due to his charisma and talent. The little good that remains in Erik appeals for her love but she rejects any physical relationship with him, and so he is left with only hate and evil in his heart. She lies to him, uses him and ultimately betrays him -something that pushes this poor, unstable man towards atrocity.


It's a very visually memorable film... we see the Phantom's menacing silhouette behind the intertitles and there's a lot of effective use of shadows. We also get great symbolic scenes like the Phantom punting on the underground ferry like some sort of ferryman to Hell, or his emergence into a public fancy dress party as the legendary 'Red Death' (the film's famous colour-tinted sequence). Chaney's performance as the Phantom is a big part of the monster's appeal, a lot of our sympathy comes due to his tortured performance and frighteningly contorted skull-like face. It's a riveting and hypnotic piece of horror filmmaking, especially in the way that the last twenty minutes use tension and action to build to a big climax (much like an opera).

HIGHLIGHTS: The cliche/trope of the villain playing an elaborate pipe organ originates with this film. This sequence is used to physically introduce the Phantom to us (and Christine), and has hence been used many times in other films and TV shows to introduce all manner of dastardly rogues.

DIRECTOR: Rupert Julian
WRITER/SOURCE: About eight different writers worked on the screenplay and intertitles for the film. Based on the classic novel by Gaston Leroux.
KEY ACTORS: Lon Chaney, May Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland.

RELATED TEXTS:
- The novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, first published in serial form in 1910.
- There have been many other adaptations, the second most famous of which (after this silent film) is probably the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
- Other adaptations include: The Phantom of the Opera (1943) starring Claude Raines, The Phantom of the Opera (1962) a Hammer version starring Herbert Lom, The Phantom of the Opera (1983) a telemovie starring Maximilian Schell, The Phantom of the Opera (1989) starring Robert Englund, The Phantom of the Opera (1998) directed by the Italian horror legend Dario Argento and The Phantom of the Opera (2004) a film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
- See also Phantom of the Paradise, a 70s rock opera by Brian De Palma, and other sympathetic 'monster' films such as The Man Who Laughs and the various versions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.