The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film) The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film) 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 remains most famous for Chaney's ghastly, self-devised make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film's premiere. The film was released on November 25, 1925. The picture also features Mary Philbin,
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film) his eye sockets black, giving a skull-like impression to them. He also pulled the tip of his nose up and pinned it in place with wire, enlarged his nostrils with black paint, and put a set of jagged false teeth into his mouth to complete the ghastly, deformed look of the Phantom. When audiences first saw "The Phantom of the Opera", they were said to have screamed or fainted during the scene where Christine pulls the concealing mask away, revealing his skull-like features to the audience. Chaney's appearance as the Phantom in the film has been the most accurate depiction