The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Organ Grinder

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The Phantom of the Opera: The Ultimate Edition on DVD

Halloween: my favorite time of year. For whatever reason, I still get a charge from the warm autumn air, the smell of pumpkins and cheap rubber costumes. Plus, it's time to sit down with piles and piles of horror and suspense movies on DVD, beginning with the wondrous two-disc set of The Phantom of The Opera: The Ultimate Edition (1925, Image Entertainment, $24.99) starring the indefatigable Lon Chaney in his most famous role.

Sporting his trademark ghoulish face, achieved through mysterious eye drops and a gizmo to pull his nose back, Chaney haunts the opera hall and chases after the lovely Mary Philbin. It's not the best Chaney film -- it has slow, convoluted stretches -- but it occasionally bursts into life with its peculiar atmosphere.

This disc explains much of the problem. It includes the original 1925 version, and a beautiful, but shorter, 1929 restored re-release version with sound effects, a color sequence and two musical scores (a new one by the great Carl Davis). A commentary track by Scott MacQueen explains the film's troubled production and clarifies the difference between the two versions.

Starring: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry
Written by: Elliot Clawson, Raymond Schrock, from the novel by Gaston Leroux
Directed by: Rupert Julian (with uncredited help from Edward Sedgwick, Ernst Laemmle)
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 95/107 minutes
Date: October 18, 2003