Lon Chaney, Sr.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Universal Pictures, 1925. Directed by Rupert Julian.  Camera:  Milton Bridenbecker, Maurice Pivar, Gilmore Walker.  With Lon Chaney, Sr., Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Snitz Edwards, Chester Conklin.

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Christine Daae, an understudy at the Paris Opera, is guided to stardom by a mysterious and compelling voice that emanates from behind the walls of her dressing room.  The voice eventually summons her to a meeting, and she discovers a sinister man whose face is covered by a mask.

He demands that she give up her fiancée, Raoul, and devote herself to her music and her mentor. She agrees, and he allows her to sing again.

Realizing that she is going back on her word, The Phantom kidnaps Christine, takes her to his underground chambers, and is revealed, when his mask is removed, to be hideous beyond description.

Raoul and Ledoux (of the secret police) follow The Phantom, and he traps them in an infernal device.  A mob follows, and The Phantom flees.  Raoul and Ledoux escape, rescuing Christine.  The mob forces The Phantom into the Seine, where he drowns, grotesquely defiant to the last.

American Film Institute Catalog

Additional photos courtesy of Gary