Erik (The Phantom of the Opera) In the 2004 film adaptation of the musical, Erik's makeup was made to look much less gruesome than previous adaptations of the story. Instead of a skull-like face, his disfigurement resembles that of a mildly malformed face, which he covers with the mask. Film critic Roger Ebert noted that Butler was more "conventionally handsome" than his predecessors "in a GQ kind of way". Onscreen, Erik has often been cast as a tragic hero but also a tragic villain, depending on the film's point of view. "See main list: The Phantom of the Opera" Erik (The Phantom of the Opera) Erik
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film) to loop Chaney's dialogue, but voiceovers by the Phantom were looped over shots of his shadow. (The voiceovers are uncredited, but were probably done by Phillips Smalley.) Because Chaney's talkie debut was eagerly anticipated by filmgoers, advertisements emphasized, "Lon Chaney's portrayal is a silent one!" The sound version of "Phantom" opened on February 16, 1930, and grossed another million dollars. This version of the film is lost, although the soundtrack discs survive. The success of "The Phantom of the Opera" inspired Universal to finance the production of a long string of horror films such as "Dracula", "Frankenstein", "The Wolf Man",