The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film) was working in the French film industry. Laemmle mentioned to Leroux that he admired the Paris Opera House. Leroux gave Laemmle a copy of his 1910 novel "The Phantom of the Opera". Laemmle read the book in one night and bought the film rights as a vehicle for actor Lon Chaney, Sr.. Production started in late 1924 at Universal Studios. French artist, Ben Caray, whom had worked at the Paris Opera House, was brought in to design the backstage and cellars which Universal could not replicate; and although his English limited, Caray was able to speak clearly with his charcoal
The Phantom of the Opera day readers of the book, Sean Fitzpatrick and Cathleen Myers, the novel is praiseworthy for its drama, but overall it does not rise to the standards of great literature. Fitzpatrick claims that ""The Phantom of the Opera" is not a great book, but it is a great read." He digresses that even though the book is not good enough to be in the canon of great literature, there are many aspects of it that make it fun to read such as the drama of the "whodunnit" plot, the investigative styling of the book which pretends to pull from real life