This black and white silent film was made in 1925 and stars Lon Chaney, Sr. and Mary Philbin. It was Hollywood's first attempt to capture Erik's tale on film.
At first, my childhood memory of seeing and being terrified by this movie almost dissuaded me from seeing ALW's Phantom. However, having since entered into the state of being a Phan, I decided there was no escaping a second viewing of the film.
Although a great horror movie, especially considering when it was made, I found this film unsatisfactory as an adaptation of Phantom. The story is too condensed; the film runs only 79 minutes. I also had a few issues with the characterizations, which I will now sum up.
Lon Chaney's interpretation of Erik leans more toward half-mad-animated-skeleton than toward aesthetically-challenged-emotionally-scarred-genius. The stance he is so famous for, with his hands frozen like claws, is hardly an accurate portrayal of Erik's grace and stealth.
I found Mary Pickford's Christine fairly good, but a little too shrinking. I never got the indication from Leroux that Christine was that visibly frightened by Erik.
I also thought Raoul was too suave, and thought the change in the Persian's character was unnecessary. Also unnecessary in my opinion was the chase scene at the end where a mob clubs Erik to death and throws his body in the Siene. Even Webber spares the audience from seeing Erik perish at the hands of a mob.
I had nothing against the movie itself; on its own merit, the film is quite good and did properly horrify me. I can understand its status as a classic. But as a Phantom, I felt it fell short.