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 (1986 musical) financially successful entertainment event until "The Lion King" surpassed it in 2014. By 2011, it had been seen by over 130 million people in 145 cities across 27 countries, and continues to play in London and New York. In 1984, Lloyd Webber contacted Cameron Mackintosh, the co-producer of "Cats" and "Song and Dance", to propose a new musical. He was aiming for a romantic piece, and suggested Gaston Leroux's book "The Phantom of the Opera" as a basis. They screened both the 1925 Lon Chaney and the 1943 Claude Rains motion picture versions, but neither saw any effective way to