Review(s): DVD The Phantom of the Opera - The Ultimate Edition (1925 Original Version and 1929 Restored Version)
Troubling transfers: 2003 2-disc Milestone or 1997 Image
The silent PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has probably been available in dozens of VHS and DVD editions over the years. Virtually all are based on the very heavily re-worked 1929 reissue, the version almost everyone knows--probably even unaware that it isn't the original release and how unlike the original film it is. In fact, the original 1925 version doesn't seem to exist any longer in a decent print: only scratchy, blurred, grainy "play-at-home" 16mm prints survive. Sadly, the original version contained better camera set-ups, better editing, a more coherent story, more consistent acting and direction, and it runs 107 minutes to the reissue's 92 (at the same 20 frames-per-second projection speed of the period).
Most of the many versions around on DVD now are awful. There are only two somewhat serious contenders. The 2003 2-disc Milestone PHANTOM's greatest asset is its second disc, which contains the original 1925 general release from one of those few surviving poor 16mm prints. It's the only 1925 version available and probably--if frustratingly--in the best condition we will ever have. The organ score, written and performed by Jon Mirsalis, is quite fine. The second disc also has story continuities from the Los Angeles and San Francisco premieres, using interspersed stills that show yet other, very different, films. The fact is that THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has always been a bit of a mess, and the producers didn't know what to do with it. Its only real assets are Lon Chaney's astonishing performance and make-up, as well as its place in history as the first American horror film. Remember, however, that the far superior German NOSFERATU by great director F.W. Murnau, based on the novel DRACULA, was produced three years earlier in 1922, and the German expressionist CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI appeared three years before that in 1919.
The more highly touted aspect of the Milestone set is its first disc, which contains the 1929 reissue transferred from the 1996 British Photoplay restoration made from a brilliant copy in the George Eastman Archive. There is a fine orchestral score by BBC composer Carl Davis. Additionally, 1930 sound excerpts are available on a separate synchronized audio track; there is a commentary track by film historian Scott MacQueen; and every scrap of historical data in existence is included as extras.
However, the Milestone DVD of the 1929 PHANTOM reissue is seriously degraded. Because of the PAL to NTSC transfer, it runs slow: 94 minutes to Photoplay's original 90. With a silent film, this is not so serious, but with a synchronized orchestral score, it becomes a problem: the music is a semi-tone flat in Davis' score; and all other sound, including the bits of synchronized 1930-reissue dialogue, has been *slowed down* and flattened in pitch to match the inaccurate projection speed of the picture: some of the 1930 dialogue appears in the bonus features at the right speed so it's easy to tell. Even worse is the picture's continuous "motion blur," a jerky, multi-ghosting effect that distorts all movement and gives the viewer a headache; even still frames are slightly blurred. No other version is afflicted with this horrible defect, including the original 1996 Photoplay restoration. That Milestone should have considered these problems to be acceptable for a "definitive" release is disgraceful.
Photoplay itself made some strange decisions, omitting the 2-minute prologue with the "lantern man" that appears in every print of the 1929 reissue, on the assumption that it dated from 1930 and was intended for synchronized sound, which doesn't exist: there is no evidence for such an assumption. Even silent, the scene sets the mood, and casually deleting it amounts to historical vandalism. Milestone's "ultimate" DVD edition doesn't even bother to include it as one of its countless bonus features: Scott MacQueen merely mumbles something about its absence on the commentary track. (Strangely, a few seconds of the scene, with slightly altered shots, appears in the *1925 version* on Disc 2, where it certainly doesn't belong!) Further, the Photoplay version inexplicably omits the closing repetition of the cast list, which Universal certainly wanted "at the request of patrons" as indicated, a completely irresponsible move from Photoplay/Milestone.
The Milestone 2-DVD version is only valuable for the 1925 version--it is the only place to get it now, and for the copious historical extras. The low-pitch, motion-blurred 1929 transfer of the already cut 1996 Photoplay restoration is worthless.
The 1997 Image DVD of the 1929 reissue made by David Shepherd for a 1992 laser disc, does not come from such a pristine original print. Also, the tinting, though supposedly done according to a "Universal Pictures cutting continuity," is problematic. Dark tints, especially red, are over-saturated and degrade the picture's clarity badly even when the TV's color level is set to zero. But at least, unlike the Milestone version, there are no random cuts, and the projection speed and pitch are accurate. The Gabriel Thibaudeaux score for the older Image disc is more minimal and perhaps a bit more effective than the lush Carl Davis score in the Milestone edition. Both versions letterbox the picture on the sides: early frames were more square than the later 4:3, so it was a wise move to ensure that nothing is lost when seen on a TV screen.
It is difficult to recommend either version, but between the two, the 1997 Image version, though imperfect, at least contains a usable 1929 reissue, while the second disc of the Milestone set is the only source for the 1925 original--in however poor surviving condition. I'm still waiting for a really decent restoration, at least for the 1929 PHANTOM reissue: it just can't be that hard!
Lon Chaney's Finest Hour
Despite a history of production troubles and extensive re-editing, "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925) has survived as a landmark of the silent era -- thanks largely to Lon Chaney's classic performance in the title role. It's a stylish melodrama with serial-style thrills and some genuinely horrific moments. The DVD "ultimate edition" features plenty of extras and a memorable Carl Davis score. Remakes come and go, but the original reigns supreme.
I'm Reviewing The Kino Video Tape.
I have never read Gaston Leroux's novel that this movie is based on, I have the novel but haven't gotten around to reading it yet but I have seen this movie which is the first silent movie I have ever watched and I really liked it and thought that Lon Chaney was great as the Phantom. According to information on the back cover of my Kino video tape they used the original organ music score that was originally played live by an organist in theaters when people were watching the movie and I liked that! I have really enjoyed watching this tape but tapes wear out easily and I will have to think of buying the movie on DVD!
Related DVD's The Phantom of the Opera - The Ultimate Edition (1925 Original Version and 1929 Restored Version)
Lon Chaney, the man of a thousand faces, was best known for playing Quasimodo and the Phantom of the Opera. But the former role was clearly the most ambitious of his illustrious career, full of such longing and anguish. It's as though his entire being was consumed by this ugly outcast with a heart as big and beautiful as Notre Dame itself. And the makeup is still astonishing. The rest of this unrequited love story is pretty effective as well, with the re-creation of medieval Paris a standout for its lavishness. Like all great silent films, it delivers a poetry of life that is abstract and tangible at the same time. --Bill DesowitzMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Lon Chaney - Patsy Ruth Miller Director(s): Wallace Worsley DVD Release Date: Released the 19 February 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This 1943 version of the horror story is more Technicolor musical than scare piece. Claude Rains plays the unfortunate, masked anti-hero, but he doesn't get the room to showcase a promising and sympathetic performance. Susanna Foster and Nelson Eddy, on the other hand, get plenty of screen time to warble. Well worth a visit just for the look of the film, which won an Oscar for cinematography. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Arthur Lubin DVD Release Date: Released the 12 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Although it's not as bold as Oscar darling Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera continues the resuscitation of the movie musical with a faithful adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster stage musical. Emmy Rossum glows in a breakout role as opera ingénue Christine Daae, and if phantom Gerard Butler isn't Rossum's match vocally, he does convey menace and sensuality in such numbers as "The Music of the Night." The most experienced musical theater veteran in the cast, romantic lead Patrick Wilson, sings sweetly but seems wooden. The biggest name in the cast, Minnie Driver, hams it up as diva Carlotta, and she's the only principal whose voice was dubbed (though she does sing the closing-credit number, "Learn to Be Lonely," which is also the only new song).
Trading tragic romance for Faustian malevolence, the 1989 version of The Phantom of the Opera is a surprisingly good example of '80s horror. It was dismissed as gory trash by most critics (no doubt because Kevin Yagher's gruesome makeup effects are effectively revolting), but horror buffs will be more forgiving of this lush production, which ranks well above average for horror films of its time. Set in Victorian London and shot mostly in Budapest, Hungary (for period architecture), the film reunites director Dwight Little (Halloween 4) with "Freddie Krueger" himself, Robert Englund, who had worked together on the Nightmare on Elm Street-based TV series Freddie's Nightmares. It's a good pairing, as Englund does some of his finest work as the Phantom, seen here... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Robert Englund - Jill Schoelen Director(s): Dwight H. Little DVD Release Date: Released the 07 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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