The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

1925 directed by Rupert Julian starring Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry and Arthur Edmund Carewe with Gibson Gowland, John st. Polis, Snitz Edwards, Mary Fabian and Virginia Pearson. A disfigured escapee from the Prison for the Criminally insane lives in the old cellars beneath the Paris Opera House and becomes obsessed with a young singer. Soundtrack is original. This version has the color sequence at the Bal Masque.

Producer Laemmle met author Gaston Leroux in Paris and Leroux gave him a copy of his novel.

Due to poor reviews and reactions, the January release was pulled. On advice from Chaney and others, Universal told Julian to re-shoot most of the picture and change the style, as it was feared that a Gothic melodrama would not recoup the film's massive budget. Julian eventually walked out.

Edward Sedgwick (later director of Buster Keaton's 1928 film The Cameraman) was then assigned by producer Carl Laemmle to re-shoot and redirect the bulk of the film. Raymond L. Schrock and original screenwriter Elliot Clawson wrote new scenes at the request of Sedgewick. The film was then changed into more of a romantic comedy with action elements than the dramatic thriller that was originally made. Most of the newly added scenes depicted added subplots, with Chester Conklin and Vola Vale as comedic relief to the heroes and Ward Crane as the Russian, "Count Ruboff" dueling with Raoul for Christine's affection. This version was previewed in San Francisco on April 26, 1925, and did not do well at all, with the audience booing it off of the screen. "The story drags to the point of nauseam", one reviewer stated.

The third and final version was the result of Universal hold-overs Maurice Pivar and Lois Weber, who edited the production down to nine reels. Most of the Sedgwick material was deleted, though notably the ending, with the Phantom being hunted by a mob and then being thrown into the Seine River, remained. Some of Julian's material was edited back in.