Uploaded January 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
We have launched a crowdfunding campaign to finance Marceline Day's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You have the unique opportunity to take part in this historic undertaking! Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution and don't fail to spread the word about this campaign so we can make it a glorious success!
donorbox.org/sponsor-marceline-day-for-a-star-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame
Silent Hall of Fame has created a Silent Gems Collection of rare and for the first time available films with our stars, as well as other silent masterpieces. These are high quality films that are hard to find anywhere else. Please use the link below to see the Silent Gems Collection of rare films on DVD.
ebay.com/sch/yorkmba99/m.html?item=131684404495&ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562
"The Phantom of the Opera" (1925) is a horror drama starring Lon Chaney and featuring Snitz Edwards, a star of Silent Hall of Fame.
Here is a review of the film, written by Zach Snow.
One of the first of the classic Universal horror films, "The Phantom of the Opera" remains chilling almost a hundred years later. Taken from the literary classic, the film deals with a deformed man who falls in love with an aspiring opera singer and will do anything to obtain her.
Produced by Universal at a time before horror became the fledgling studio’s forte, the project was given to Rupert Julian; one of the underappreciated talents of the silent era. He virtually created the Universal horror film in a little over an hour’s screen time; using shadow, a sense of claustrophobia, dark atmosphere, and large doses of suspense to terrify his audience. Julian also provided the first great horror moment in the unmasking of the Phantom, a moment that gripped back in its day, continues to scare in face of modern day gore and effects, and will probably maintain its ability to build suspense for years to come.
This was also one of the first horror films to sympathize with its “monster,” thanks in no small degree to the poignant, gripping performance of silent superstar Lon Chaney in his trademark role. With sunken eyes, no nose, and a skeleton like appearance; Chaney can nevertheless express every emotion flawlessly, developing a creature far more complex and tragic than the people he’s up against. Though he seems more sad than horrifying today, during the unmasking Chaney can still send chills up the spine of anyone; proving why the ‘man of a thousand faces’ was so highly regarded in his day and still has a sizeable following.
Mary Philbin is typically pure and innocent as the opera singer he falls for, Norman Kerry is her love interest. Gibson Gowland, of Greed, has a brief role, as does the renowned silent character actor Snitz Edwards. This is Chaney’s show all the way, though, and he managed to catapult it from traditional melodrama to the realms of horror classics; its still one of the most famous and influential films the genre has produced.
The film is ranked number 20 in the list of The Top 100 Silent Era Films of the influential website Silent Era.
"The Phantom of the Opera" was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 1998.
Directed by Rupert Julian
Produced by Carl Laemmle
Scenario by Raymond L. Schrock and Elliott J. Clawson from the novel by Gaston Leroux
Starring Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Gibson Gowland, Snitz Edwards
Cinematography Virgil Miller
Distributed by Universal Pictures Corporation
Release date November 15, 1925
Running time 107 min.
Country Universal Pictures Corporation
Language Silent film, English intertitles
You can see a slideshow of stills from this film and other interesting stuff on our website silent-hall-of-fame.org. Please support the legacy of silent movie stars by making a tax deductible contribution.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976:
"Allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
We have launched a crowdfunding campaign to finance Marceline Day's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You have the unique opportunity to take part in this historic undertaking! Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution and don't fail to spread the word about this campaign so we can make it a glorious success!
donorbox.org/sponsor-marceline-day-for-a-star-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame
Silent Hall of Fame has created a Silent Gems Collection of rare and for the first time available films with our stars, as well as other silent masterpieces. These are high quality films that are hard to find anywhere else. Please use the link below to see the Silent Gems Collection of rare films on DVD.
ebay.com/sch/yorkmba99/m.html?item=131684404495&ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562
"The Phantom of the Opera" (1925) is a horror drama starring Lon Chaney and featuring Snitz Edwards, a star of Silent Hall of Fame.
Here is a review of the film, written by Zach Snow.
One of the first of the classic Universal horror films, "The Phantom of the Opera" remains chilling almost a hundred years later. Taken from the literary classic, the film deals with a deformed man who falls in love with an aspiring opera singer and will do anything to obtain her.
Produced by Universal at a time before horror became the fledgling studio’s forte, the project was given to Rupert Julian; one of the underappreciated talents of the silent era. He virtually created the Universal horror film in a little over an hour’s screen time; using shadow, a sense of claustrophobia, dark atmosphere, and large doses of suspense to terrify his audience. Julian also provided the first great horror moment in the unmasking of the Phantom, a moment that gripped back in its day, continues to scare in face of modern day gore and effects, and will probably maintain its ability to build suspense for years to come.
This was also one of the first horror films to sympathize with its “monster,” thanks in no small degree to the poignant, gripping performance of silent superstar Lon Chaney in his trademark role. With sunken eyes, no nose, and a skeleton like appearance; Chaney can nevertheless express every emotion flawlessly, developing a creature far more complex and tragic than the people he’s up against. Though he seems more sad than horrifying today, during the unmasking Chaney can still send chills up the spine of anyone; proving why the ‘man of a thousand faces’ was so highly regarded in his day and still has a sizeable following.
Mary Philbin is typically pure and innocent as the opera singer he falls for, Norman Kerry is her love interest. Gibson Gowland, of Greed, has a brief role, as does the renowned silent character actor Snitz Edwards. This is Chaney’s show all the way, though, and he managed to catapult it from traditional melodrama to the realms of horror classics; its still one of the most famous and influential films the genre has produced.
The film is ranked number 20 in the list of The Top 100 Silent Era Films of the influential website Silent Era.
"The Phantom of the Opera" was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 1998.
Directed by Rupert Julian
Produced by Carl Laemmle
Scenario by Raymond L. Schrock and Elliott J. Clawson from the novel by Gaston Leroux
Starring Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Gibson Gowland, Snitz Edwards
Cinematography Virgil Miller
Distributed by Universal Pictures Corporation
Release date November 15, 1925
Running time 107 min.
Country Universal Pictures Corporation
Language Silent film, English intertitles
You can see a slideshow of stills from this film and other interesting stuff on our website silent-hall-of-fame.org. Please support the legacy of silent movie stars by making a tax deductible contribution.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976:
"Allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
