The Phantom of the Opera

Rating:
Summary: Behold! She is singing to bring down the chandelier!
Review: Ah, yes! How could I, as Amazon's horror hostess, avoid discussing this haunting silent film classic? Released way back in 1925, "The Phantom of the Opera" displays the extravagance of live theatre, a delightful feast for the eyes. Set in the Paris Opera, the film stands out in its grand opulence; its lavish sets include the wide staircase, endless statue carvings, a full orchestra pit, the building's five tiers, and a chorus of petite ballet girls leaping in starch-white linen. Let's not forget the immense crystal chandelier which falls upon the terrified audience, triggering a spread of screams and terror. The Masquerade Ball is stained in Technicolor and shows the coquettish merriment of 19th century aristocrats. Even actress Mary Philbin is granted a gorgeous introduction as the tale's beautiful chorus girl, Christine Daae; crowned with golden curls that cascade down to her waist, she rises above the stage on angel's wings during her aria in "Faust." Despite a few plot alterations (including its violent ending), most of the film is drawn from Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel. The cast itself is quite extraordinary to watch; Norman Kelly's role as Christine's lover, Raoul de Chagney, reflects that of a hero drawn forward by curiosity and concern. Arthur Edmund Carewe's Ledoux (a substitute for Leroux's Persian character) is mysterious enough to make viewers wonder who's side he takes, until it's finally revealed that he works for the Secret Police. Virginia Pearson performs her role as Carlotta's Mother with a prima donna gusto; fiercely determined to boost her daughter's career, she's a woman who will won't let an Opera Ghost get in her way. Speaking of the Opera Ghost, no actor can bring the grotesque and somber Erik to life like Lon Chaney, the Man of 1000 Faces. His love for Christine twists into a deadly obsession, and viewers will pity his cursed existence. Interestingly, before this movie premiered, Chaney insured a contractual obligation that forbid photographers from revealing his makeup. In the scene when Christine first exposes The Phantom's grotesque face (with its bulging eyes, gnarled teeth, and protruding cheekbones), old women fainted in the audience and were revived with smelling salts! Obviously, he took great care to match the description given by the doomed stagehand Joseph Buquet (Bernard Siegel): Erik's was said to look like a hollow skull with yellow parchment skin.
I don't want to bore you with any extraneous detail. I just want to say that this film is the BEST version you can see of "Phantom of the Opera." It's a chilling and melodramatic piece of cinematic art.

Rating:
Summary: Great film, lousy video quality
Review: Well, the other reviews have said it - this is a FANTASTIC restoration, and the availability of the 1925 version makes it even better. You get TWO prints of the film for the price of one.

But, the ghosting effect on the restored version is simply awful. Folks, there is not a SINGLE clear frame in the whole film! Every frame is a composite of two films frames, and the whole thing makes the film look very clear but very blurred at the same time.

It's an incredible shame that this wasn't handled correctly. There is NO excuse for a film of this high quality to be spoiled by poor transfer to video. None.

But then, some people will watch this and not notice anything wrong. Your mileage may vary.

The other features on the two-disc set are absolutely worthwhile, and having the choice of soundtracks is fantastic.

So, caveat emptor on this one. There's much to recommend, but a big disappointment as well.

Rating:
Summary: A Revelation!
Review: This collector's edition provided my first opportunity to see the original 1925 release version. Wow! I had no idea how badly Universal mutilated the film for the 1929 sound re-issue - the version we're all familiar with! Most of the annoying continuity problems and other flaws I had assumed were caused by all the post-production tinkering Phantom went through before its general release were apparently inflicted on the film at the time of the re-issue. The 1925 version follows the novel more closely, scenes flow together more naturally, the characters' motivations are far more believable - heck, even the unmasking scene works better! Despite the less-than pristine visual quality of the source material, the 1925 version in this collection is by far the superior film.
That said, it was still a treat (in a campy kind of way) hearing the original sound track with the 1929 version, and the extra features are plentiful and worthwhile. The Ultimate Edition belongs in every Chaney/Phantom fan's collection.

Rating:
Summary: An extra "ghost" in box 5 on the Milestone 2-disc set
Review: For starters, I agree with all the positive things said about this 2-disc set.

Unfortunately, there a couple of things about the discs that just spoiled the whole experience for me and may do so with you.

First, there is a "motion blur" or "ghosting" artifact that runs throughout the 1929/30 restoration. It looks similar to what a transfer from PAL video format to NTSC video format looks like only more exaggerated (images appear to be overlapped or double--sometimes triple--exposed). During the unmasking, Chaney's face is unnecessarily blurred, even when using freeze frame and stepping through the scene frame by frame.

Milestone has acknowledged the "ghosting", attributing it to adjusting the frame rate of the film during transfer from video master to video master. Incidentally, the original video master was in PAL format and was converted to NTSC for US, but Milestone claims PAL to NTSC was not the cause. Since they performed the additional restoration/picture cleaning on the overly "ghosted" transfer, it became a trade-off as to whether to present the cleaned up version or the "unghosted" version. Why such extensive restoration was done to a video master with excessive motion blur is beyond me.

For some folks, this will be a minor thing. For others, it will be very distracting and cast a dark cloud over what looks like to be the cleanest 'print' of this movie in existence. I will be keeping the other Image DVD edition with the David Shepherd restoration.

Secondly, for the special features, the pause, fast forward, and reverse functions have been disabled. This can be a bit of a nuisance. For example, there is a 21 minute "restored version" of the films' original premiere utilizing stills and expository text. This I was excited about. However, unless you are a speed reader, you won't be able to read everything in one viewing. You can't pause it, or "rewind" to read what you missed. It is like trying to enjoy a book (both text and pictures) with someone else turning the pages for you. If you miss something, you have to start over from page one and go through again.

Again, some of you won't care about the motion blur one iota. Others will feel as I do: This disc should've been a contender but instead, it feels like a missed opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: best 1929 restoration,ever,ever,ever
Review: This 2 disc-set of milestone by far not only the best edition for the phantom of the opera,but also the finest restoration I have ever seen in my life for a movie. First,the 1929 version-Allow me to say it's tinting is great,the sharpness of the picture is by far the best I've ever seen,the orchestral score by carl davis makes you thrilled enough,and,of course-the 1929 soundtrack,makes this movie much more alive then ever.I admire the phantom's shdow voice quite much.the opera sequences are perfect,among everything else.I am so relieved now that I could finally hear the 1929 surviving soundtrack,he really is worth all the set.And as for the movie,allow me to say,best silent horror movie ever made,from the very reason that it's a horror film that also persents the hero not only as an eager beast,thanks to Lon Chnaey,the god of horror films ever,who knew how to bring life and soul to erik.

The 1925 version,allow me to say,shocked me.It was so fabolous!
There were such a wroth-watching scenes that it's a shame they were removed in 1929.This version,however,is closet to the book,has more plot,and looks much more intresting.Every phantom fan must have the 1925 original version.that is to say.

"THE MASTER SHALL LEAVE YOU YET-TO HIGHT OF IMMORTAL GLORY. THENCEFORTH-YOUR LIFE BELONGS TO HIM."

Rating:
Summary: I Liked this Movie!
Review: Like other reviewers after I saw the terrific Broadway musical based on Gaston Leroux's novel I decided to watch the movie versions and this is the only silent movie I have seen and I liked it a lot and this video is great and I like that they took the original organ score played in the theaters and dubbed it on to the audio track on the video as I think it sounds rather spooky and adds to the atmosphere of the movie. A previous video I had bought didn't have the score and was also a poorly made tape made by a company that makes low-priced but crummy tapes so when I bought the better video I gave the old one to someone I know who liked the movie but didn't have it on tape. Though I have this movie on video it is now kind of old and worn so I will probably replace it with the DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Finally! The True 1925 Version on DVD
Review: Most videotapes, DVDs, and even LaserDiscs are silent prints of the 1929 reissue. Here we finally see the true original 1925 version. The 1925 version only exists in this DVD set and an old LaserDisc from Blackhawk Films. Also, we finally hear the audio for the reissue - the first time for this to be available anywhere.

Disc 1 has the 1930 reissue which has at least one difference from all of the other versions. There is no man with a lantern at the beginning. For me, that was how I used to identify the reissue. The Blackhawk Films and Alpha DVDs (as well as every videotape edition I've seen) have a scene with a man holding a lantern supposedly giving a prologue speech - with no audio track. This scene is not on this DVD from Milestone. This scene is not necessary so we aren't missing much. The box claims this is the 1929 edition. The commentary says this is the 1930 international version, which could explain the difference. Since the commentary is done by a film expert, I tend to trust that source more.

The image quality seems better than any other edition of this movie. The color tinting is nicely done. You have the options to listen to the restored audio of the reissue, a nice score by Carl Davis, or commentary by Scott MacQueen.

It's nice to finally hear the reissue as it was intended. Although it was probably interesting to audiences at the time, it comes across as a bit cheesy. It's almost camp. Most of the spoken dialogue is unnecessary and simply rephrase some of the titles. It almost turns it into a B-movie. It seems no different from all of these other, more recent movies getting updated with CGI effects. Here Universal was trying to cash in on the new technology of "talkies" by simply updating a hit movie from a few years earlier.

Disc 1 also has all of the usual extras such as trailers and photo galleries. The photos are not still frames. It is a presentation with each photo appearing on screen for a set time. There are also photo reconstructions of the Los Angeles and San Francisco premier versions. The reconstructions are a series of still images used to show what these versions may have been like. It's not on the same level as the reconstruction of London After Midnight shown on TCM. These are very basic.

Disc 2 has the 1925 domestic, general release version originally shown in New York. (There are three different 1925 editions.) I can only compare this to my Blackhawk Films LaserDisc. Ironicly, this DVD has a man holding a lantern at the beginning after the opening titles. This scene was not on the Blackhawk Films' LaserDisc. However, there are titles for his speech. There are no wonderful prints of the original 1925 edition so this version doesn't have the same sharp image as the prints of the reissue. This is about as good as you're going to see. The 1925 version has more titles and more plot. It does have a longer running time. You're told more about each character, while in 1929, you mainly just got the name and a very brief description. This is the only video edition of the 1925 version with a musical score. (The LaserDisc provided the 1925 print as an extra with no sound.)

The Lon Chaney version of Phantom of the Opera is the only film version to follow the original novel fairly closely. The Persian becomes Ledoux of the Secret Police in this movie, and the ending is very different. There were remakes produced in 1943 with Claude Rains, 1962 with Herbert Lom, 1983 with Maximilian Schell, 1989 with Robert England, 1991 with Charles Dance, and 1999 with Julian Sands.

It's amazing how many times this movie has been remade, but for me, the Lon Chaney version remains the best. This DVD gives you the best presentation of Chaney's version that I have found to date. I would recommend this DVD set to any fan of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Review of the 2-DVD Milestone release
Review: Not to repeat another reviewer's long but precise review, I want to add my recommendation of this most recent version of what is arguably Chaney's best work. What many fans don't realize is that the great unmasking scene was also filmed in color and is now missing. Stills of the original 1925 B&W unmasking show it from a slighly different angle. Chaney rejected the color version because the hot lights made the adhesive between his forehead and headpiece start to separate. But, ironically, it is the B&W version of the color footage that survives in both the 1925 and 1929 editions. It is a pity that the missing footage wasn't found fot his restoration. Maybe someday we'll get the version with sound dubbed in (except for Chaney who had died as well as no longer being with Universal). This set could have given us more of that while using the beautifully clear 1929 print. All in all, an excellent effort. If you have the past ones, this is better just as Kino's recent "Metropolis" is the one to have. Now it's time to settle back and enjoy the restored "The Man Who Laughs."

Rating:
Summary: how to ruin a great movie
Review: The Phantom of the Opera is a great movie. My only bone to pick is the horrendous score in the alpha video edition. TPotO is a dark tale, it's a horror story for crying out loud and the score is happy, repetitive, and inappropriate. It sounds as if someone took a greatest classical hits cd and slapped on the movie. I can't complain too much because of the price, but still someone could have put a little thought and effort into it. The picture is amazing though. I enjoy the fullscreen version and the original black and white with the color masquerade scene.
bottom line: great movie, but find the best version.

Rating:
Summary: Review of the Milestone 2-disc DVD version
Review: Although marred by static direction and stilted acting, the 1925 silent film THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is known primarily for the memorable contribution by Lon Chaney as an actor and makeup artist. His moving portrayal of the disfigured escaped convict who haunts Paris Opera House is perhaps the sole reason to watch this film. And his talent as a makeup artist helped create one of the most indelible images in film history: the skull-like head of the phantom that conveys sadness, anger, and horror at the same time. This Region-1-only 2-disc DVD set from The Milestone Company includes two versions of this classic film: the 1925 version that was premiered in New York, and the 1929 re-edited silent version that is most often seen today. The DVD also contains excellent supplements that give us a good overview of the film's rather remarkable history.

The rarely seen 1925 New York premiere version included on this DVD is untinted, runs 107 minutes, and was transferred from the only surviving 16mm reduction print. Its video quality is understandably poor; sharpness and clarity are never satisfactory, and blemishes abound. There are some notable differences between this version and the shorter, 93-min, 1929 re-edited version. In the 1925 version, actors are introduced via their own title cards. There is no "Carlotta's mother" character. Carlotta is played by Virginia Pearson in both the opera and the dramatic scenes. The chandelier sequence is edited more competently and thus played out a little more effectively. There are more scenes in Christine's dressing room, so adequate suspense is built up before she meets the phantom. There is also one crucial scene in a garden that explains why Christine is so enamored to the mysterious voice she hears. In my opinion, the 1925 version is the superior version; it seems more complete and satisfying narratively than the edited 1929 version.

The 1929 edited silent version included on this DVD was transferred from a restored, re-tinted print made by the renowned film restoration company Photoplay Productions. This is the best-looking version of PHANTOM to date. It also looks much sharper and cleaner than the 1997 Image DVD. Both DVDs offer the speed-corrected 1929 version, but the '97 Image DVD opens with a shot of a man holding a lantern walking past the camera, while the Milestone DVD, curiously, omits this so-called "lantern man" shot and opens at the opera house. On both DVDs, the "Bal Masque" scene is shown in two-strip Technicolor, with the color on the Milestone disc looking a little more realistic. Also, in order to duplicate the original film as much as possible, some of the color scenes on the Milestone disc were actually digitally colored (such as the phantom's red cape at the roof of the opera house), because there is no existing color footage for them. On the '97 Image DVD, no digital coloring was used.

There was a "talkie" version of PHANTOM made in 1929, but unfortunately the print of that version was lost. The dialogs and sound effects recorded for that version, however, survived. To give the viewer a taste of the sound version, the Milestone DVD offers something interesting to accompany the 1929 silent version: a soundtrack composed of fragments of existing recordings of the sound version pieced together to fit the silent version as much as possible. The result is still far from being a "talkie" track. It has plenty of sound effects and spoken dialogs, but it has almost no synchronized talking. Inter-titles are still present (because this is still the silent version). There is, however, one opera sequence where the singing of actress Mary Fabian (who did her own singing) is perfectly synchronized with the picture, which is a wonder to watch. The DVD also includes audio-only supplements of recorded dialogs, which give us further glimpses of the talkie version -- and of its rather incompetent voice acting.

Also accompanying the 1929 version is a superb audio commentary by PHANTOM expert Scott MacQueen. He provides a wealth of information about the production history, the backgrounds of the cast and crew, the various versions of the film, the use of color, and the use of sound. He deplores the incompetence of director Rupert Julian, and emphasizes that the true auteurs of the film were Chaney and set designer Ben Carré. He points out that contemporary reviews indicate that the 1925 version contains Technicolor sequences in not only the Bal Masque scene, but also the opera sequences and the auditorium scenes (the extensive use of color must have been quite a spectacle for a silent film back then). He recounts in great details (while speaking at a pretty fast pace) how the various versions of PHANTOM survived over the years -- the existing 1925 version originated from the so-called "Show-at-home" 16mm versions which Universal made for private collectors in the 1930s, while the surviving 1929 version was obtained by a Jim Card at Universal in the 1950s, and the Technicolor sequences was obtained from a 1930 dye transfer copy by restorationist David Shepherd.

To add even more value to an already superb package, the Milestone DVD also includes still-frame reconstructions of the Los Angeles and San Francisco premiere versions of PHANTOM. These were the very first public showings of the film. The Los Angeles version ended not with a chase scene as in later versions, but with the phantom dying alone at his piano.