The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1925 Version in HD) | Silent Horror Film | Old Movie

“The Phantom of the Opera” is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel “Le Fantôme de l'Opéra”, directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star. The film was released on September 6, 1925, premiering at the Astor Theatre in New York. The film's final budget was $632,357.

Plot

At the Paris Opera House, Comte Philippe de Chagny and his brother, the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny attend a production of Faust, where the latter's sweetheart, Christine Daaé, may sing. Raoul wishes for Christine to resign and marry him, but she prioritizes her career over their relationship.

Meanwhile, the former management have sold the opera house. While leaving, they tell the new managers about the Opera Ghost, a phantom who is "the occupant of box No. 5".

Mme. Carlotta, the prima donna receives a letter from "The Phantom," demanding that Christine replace her the following night, threatening dire consequences if this does not happen. In Christine's dressing room, a voice tells her she must take Carlotta's place and think only of her career and her master.

The following day, Christine reveals to Raoul that she has been tutored by a mysterious voice, the "Spirit of Music," and it is now impossible to stop her career. Raoul says someone is probably playing a joke on her, and she storms off in anger.

That evening, Christine substitutes for Carlotta. During the performance, the managers are startled to see, seated in Box 5, a figure who later disappears. Simon Buquet then finds the body of his brother, stagehand Joseph Buquet, hanging by a noose and vows vengeance. Once again, a note from the Phantom demands Carlotta to say she is ill and let Christine replace her. The managers get a similar note, reiterating that if Christine does not sing, they will present Faust in a cursed house.

The following evening, a defiant Carlotta sings. During the performance, the Phantom drops the chandelier hanging from the ceiling onto the audience, killing people. Christine enters a secret door behind the mirror in her dressing room, descending into the lower depths of the Opera. She meets the Phantom, who introduces himself as Erik and declares his love; Christine faints and he carries her to an underground suite fabricated for her comfort. The next day, she finds a note from Erik telling her that she must never look behind his mask. As he is preoccupied playing his organ, Christine playfully tears off his mask, revealing his deformed face. Enraged, the Phantom declares she is now his prisoner. She begs him to let her sing, and he relents, allowing her to visit the surface one last time if she promises not to see Raoul again.

Released, Christine meets with Raoul at the annual masked-ball, where the Phantom appears disguised as the "Red-Death". At the roof of the Opera House, Christine tells Raoul about her experiences. Unbeknownst to them, the Phantom is listening nearby. Raoul swears to whisk Christine away to London following her next performance. As they leave the roof, a man with a fez approaches them. Aware that the Phantom awaits downstairs, he leads Christine and Raoul to another exit.

The next night, during her performance, Christine is kidnapped. Raoul rushes to her dressing room and meets the man in the fez again. He is actually Inspector Ledoux, a secret policeman who has been tracking Erik since he escaped as a prisoner from Devil's Island. After finding the secret door in Christine's room, the two men enter the Phantom's lair. They end up in a torture chamber of his design. Philippe also finds his way into the catacombs looking for his brother but is eventually drowned by Erik.

The Phantom subjects Raoul and Ledoux to intense heat. He then locks them in with barrels of gunpowder and causes the room to flood. Christine begs Erik to save Raoul, promising him anything in return, even becoming his wife. This causes the Phantom to save Raoul and Ledoux.

A mob led by Simon Buquet infiltrates Erik's lair. As they approach, the Phantom attempts to flee with Christine. Raoul saves Christine while Erik, in one last act of twisted showmanship, frightens the crowd by pretending to hold some kind of lethal entity in his clenched fist only to reveal an empty palm before he is swarmed and killed by the mob and thrown into the Seine. Raoul and Christine later go on their honeymoon in Viroflay.

The film is in the Public Domain.