How others will see it. This well known silent classic is certain to be of interest to silent film students who haven't yet gotten around to seeing it. It provides the most famous role for one of the silent era's biggest stars, Lon Chaney. It is also the earliest of Universal's landmark horror films.
Film buffs will also be fascinated by its color sequence. Color cameras and film, and their prodigious lighting requirements, were prohibitively expensive, yet this marquis production used a color scene to generate buzz, and show off its colossal opera house sound stage.
Besides the sets, the pastel color scene, and the fame of its production and star, The Phantom of the Opera has yet more going for it: suspense. True, it is predicated upon a stock theme, the pure blond beauty in peril from villain, a cliche that preceded cinema. But the theme is overused precisely because it is effective, especially since some of us take the pervese attitude of cheering for the villain.
If anyone is offended, it might be those mindful of the woman's role in society. An early scene features dozens of childlike ballerinas fascinated by and fearful of the Phantom. Worse, our heroine, Christine leaves much to be desired in terms of character.
While the unseen Phantom is advancing her career, she cheerfully follows his intruction, even spurning her 'lover', the heroic and humorless Raoul. If her rival Carlotta is killed, so much the better, for the sake of her own career.
But once Christine learns how ugly her new boyfriend actually is, all she can do is cower in fear. Only late in the film, when she pleads to the Phantom to spare Raoul, does she show concern for someone other than her fair-skinned self. If this is how men regarded women, no wonder it took so long for them to get the vote.
How I felt about it. Like many silent film fans, I find The Phantom of the Opera fascinating. For some reason, Chaney reminds me of Boris Karloff. Both were homely men known for villainous roles. I liked the character of secret policeman Ledoux (Arthur Edmund Carewe), who spends most of the film as an apparition nearly as creepy as the Phantom.
Yes, it does seem unlikely that The Phantom would have a palatial private apartment (and lake) all to himself, beneath the opera house. True, he has to live without cable television, and his cell phone won't work that far underground, but he doesn't have to pay rent or property taxes. Still, it must have been difficult to get the movers to deliver the bed, coffin, and pipe organ.