Review of The Phantom of the Opera (1925) by Shawn R — 04 Oct 2009

I am forced to confess I preferred the Joel Schumacher version of this story over this silent interpretation. And as a Batman fan, having to admit I prefer the Joel Schumacher version of ANYTHING is tough to swallow (save for Lost Boys, which is still awesome).

Not to say that this was terrible, but a great silent film for me is one that is so engaging that I forget that the lack of sound is a big deal, because the story is big enough and powerful enough without it.

This film, while possessing several strong qualities, lulled for me at moments. Lon Chaney though, doesn't deserve any criticism for any of this admittedly decent films weaknesses. His ability to emote as the tortured phantom could be perceived as comical if done incorrectly, but Chaney sells the figure well and had a real talent with the very physical art of silent film acting.

The color choices for the film were odd too; the film is in black and white for the most part, but several scenes doused the frames with colors, like red to represent a really hot room, and a purplish color to elevate the spookiness of a black river.

There is also a costume party that was in full color in the film, which was an interesting choice. The Phantom is often held up as one of the famous movie monsters (though he isn't truly that monstrous in many ways), but his story, while interesting, didn't compel me the way, say The Invisible Man or Frankenstein did.