Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera

The 1925 film version of The Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney, Sr., and directed by Rupert Julian, is one of the more influential adaptations of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera, in which a disfigured phantom haunts the Paris Opera House, trying to force the people who run it to make the woman he loves a star. It contained several scenes in two strip color, and is especially famous for Lon Chaney's intentionally horrific, self-applied makeup which was kept a studio secret until the film's premier. Image of Lon Chaney, Sr. ... 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Categories: Stub | 1883 births | 1930 deaths ... Rupert Julian (January 25, 1889 - December 27, 1943) was a cinema actor, director, writer and producer. ... Gaston Leroux (May 6, 1868, Paris – April 15, 1927, Nice) was a French journalist and novelist. ... The title character as depicted by Lon Chaney, Sr. ... Exterior of the Palais Garnier. ...

In addition to Chaney, the film also stars Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, John St. Polis and Snitz Edwards.

The movie was adapted by Elliott J. Clawson, Frank M. McCormack (uncredited), Tom Reed (titles) and Raymond L. Schrock. It was directed by Edward Sedgwick (uncredited), Lon Chaney (uncredited), and Rupert Julian.

The restored print is a 1929 re-release version that was re-edited, eliminating some scenes and inserting new material shot after the 1925 version was finished. These included a sound sequence with opera star Mary Fabian singing in the role of Carlotta. In the re-edited version, Virginia Pearson, who played Carlotta in the silent 1925 version, is credited and referred to as "Carlotta's Mother" instead. 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The restored print retains only one scene in two-strip colour, of a masked ball. Some other sections are coloured by tints, and in the original print the phantom's cape was hand painted in one scene. This effect has been replicated in a 1997 print by computer editing. Since the NTSC color television standard is susceptible to color errors, there is a tint control on NTSC television sets, which allows the image hue to be corrected. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Library of Congress, Jefferson building The Library of Congress is the unofficial national library of the United States. ... The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ...