The rarely seen 1925 New York premiere version included on this DVD is untinted, runs 107 minutes, and was transferred from the only surviving 16mm reduction print. Its video quality is understandably poor; sharpness and clarity are never satisfactory, and blemishes abound. There are some notable differences between this version and the shorter, 93-min, 1929 re-edited version. In the 1925 version, actors are introduced via their own title cards. There is no "Carlotta's mother" character. Carlotta is played by Virginia Pearson in both the opera and the dramatic scenes. The chandelier sequence is edited more competently and thus played out a little more effectively. There are more scenes in Christine's dressing room, so adequate suspense is built up before she meets the phantom. There is also one crucial scene in a garden that explains why Christine is so enamored to the mysterious voice she hears. In my opinion, the 1925 version is the superior version; it seems more complete and satisfying narratively than the edited 1929 version.

The 1929 edited silent version included on this DVD was transferred from a restored, re-tinted print made by the renowned film restoration company Photoplay Productions. This is the best-looking version of PHANTOM to date. It also looks much sharper and cleaner than the 1997 Image DVD. Both DVDs offer the speed-corrected 1929 version, but the '97 Image DVD opens with a shot of a man holding a lantern walking past the camera, while the Milestone DVD, curiously, omits this so-called "lantern man" shot and opens at the opera house. On both DVDs, the "Bal Masque" scene is shown in two-strip Technicolor, with the color on the Milestone disc looking a little more realistic. Also, in order to duplicate the original film as much as possible, some of the color scenes on the Milestone disc were actually digitally colored (such as the phantom's red cape at the roof of the opera house), because there is no existing color footage for them. On the '97 Image DVD, no digital coloring was used.

There was a "talkie" version of PHANTOM made in 1929, but unfortunately the print of that version was lost. The dialogs and sound effects recorded for that version, however, survived. To give the viewer a taste of the sound version, the Milestone DVD offers something interesting to accompany the 1929 silent version: a soundtrack composed of fragments of existing recordings of the sound version pieced together to fit the silent version as much as possible. The result is still far from being a "talkie" track. It has plenty of sound effects and spoken dialogs, but it has almost no synchronized talking. Inter-titles are still present (because this is still the silent version). There is, however, one opera sequence where the singing of actress Mary Fabian (who did her own singing) is perfectly synchronized with the picture, which is a wonder to watch. The DVD also includes audio-only supplements of recorded dialogs, which give us further glimpses of the talkie version -- and of its rather incompetent voice acting.

Also accompanying the 1929 version is a superb audio commentary by PHANTOM expert Scott MacQueen. He provides a wealth of information about the production history, the backgrounds of the cast and crew, the various versions of the film, the use of color, and the use of sound. He deplores the incompetence of director Rupert Julian, and emphasizes that the true auteurs of the film were Chaney and set designer Ben Carre. He points out that contemporary reviews indicate that the 1925 version contains Technicolor sequences in not only the Bal Masque scene, but also the opera sequences and the auditorium scenes (the extensive use of color must have been quite a spectacle for a silent film back then). He recounts in great details (while speaking at a pretty fast pace) how the various versions of PHANTOM survived over the years -- the existing 1925 version originated from the so-called "Show-at-home" 16mm versions which Universal made for private collectors in the 1930s, while the surviving 1929 version was obtained by a Jim Card at Universal in the 1950s, and the Technicolor sequences was obtained from a 1930 dye transfer copy by restorationist David Shepherd.

To add even more value to an already superb package, the Milestone DVD also includes still-frame reconstructions of the Los Angeles and San Francisco premiere versions of PHANTOM. These were the very first public showings of the film. The Los Angeles version ended not with a chase scene as in later versions, but with the phantom dying alone at his piano.


An extra "ghost" in box 5 on the Milestone 2-disc set   October 22, 2003
 65 out of 67 found this review helpful

For starters, I agree with all the positive things said about this 2-disc set.

Unfortunately, there a couple of things about the discs that just spoiled the whole experience for me and may do so with you.

First, there is a "motion blur" or "ghosting" artifact that runs throughout the 1929/30 restoration. It looks similar to what a transfer from PAL video format to NTSC video format looks like only more exaggerated (images appear to be overlapped or double--sometimes triple--exposed). During the unmasking, Chaney's face is unnecessarily blurred, even when using freeze frame and stepping through the scene frame by frame.

Milestone has acknowledged the "ghosting", attributing it to adjusting the frame rate of the film during transfer from video master to video master. Incidentally, the original video master was in PAL format and was converted to NTSC for US, but Milestone claims PAL to NTSC was not the cause. Since they performed the additional restoration/picture cleaning on the overly "ghosted" transfer, it became a trade-off as to whether to present the cleaned up version or the "unghosted" version. Why such extensive restoration was done to a video master with excessive motion blur is beyond me.

For some folks, this will be a minor thing. For others, it will be very distracting and cast a dark cloud over what looks like to be the cleanest `print' of this movie in existence. I will be keeping the other Image DVD edition with the David Shepherd restoration.

Secondly, for the special features, the pause, fast forward, and reverse functions have been disabled. This can be a bit of a nuisance. For example, there is a 21 minute "restored version" of the films' original premiere utilizing stills and expository text. This I was excited about. However, unless you are a speed reader, you won't be able to read everything in one viewing. You can't pause it, or "rewind" to read what you missed. It is like trying to enjoy a book (both text and pictures) with someone else turning the pages for you. If you miss something, you have to start over from page one and go through again.

Again, some of you won't care about the motion blur one iota. Others will feel as I do: This disc should've been a contender but instead, it feels like a missed opportunity.


Lon Chaney's Finest Hour   October 22, 2005
 33 out of 35 found this review helpful

Despite a history of production troubles and extensive re-editing, "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925) has survived as a landmark of the silent era - thanks largely to Lon Chaney's classic performance in the title role. It's a stylish melodrama with serial-style thrills and some genuinely horrific moments. The DVD "ultimate edition" features plenty of extras and a memorable Carl Davis score. Remakes come and go, but the original reigns supreme.


Lon Chaney (Man of a 1000 Faces) Greatest role now on DVD!   December 1, 2001
 19 out of 19 found this review helpful

Lon Chaney made over 150 films!! 99.9% of which were silent ones. Chaney was born to deaf parents, which proved to be a great contributing factor to his acting genious of the silent screen! Father of Lon Chaney Jr. (1941 Wolfman fame). He died in 1930!

The "Man of a Thousand Faces" a nick name he received because of his unbelievable ability to be the master of disguise (both facial and body contortion wise).

This "Phantom of the Opera" (1925/this is the 1929 re-released 35mm version) DVD has recaptured the unique splendor of Gaston Leroux's famous novel of the same name and the genius of the Greatest Make-up and Acting genius of the Silent Screen, Lon Chaney.

Perfectly digitally remastered the Full Screen presentation is excellent with the original 2/color Technicolor "Bal Masque" scene and Technicolor hues to enhance this visual silent classic. (Hue examples; Blue - Outside Sequences, Yellow - Inside the Opera House, Green - Opera House Cellar, Orange - Phantoms Catacombs, Red - The fire sequences).

A new Sychronized digital stereophonic orchestral score (by Gabriel Thibaudoux), to include operatic voice sequences, enhances the entertainment value of this great story.

Summary: The masked Phantom (Lon Chaney), Erik horribly disfigured lives in the Catacombs beneath the Opera House in 19th Century Paris. He falls in love with a young operatic understudy Christine (Mary Philbin a real life ballerina). Kidnaps and holds her hostage in his Catacomb lair. Cristene's boyfriend Raoul (Norman Kerry) pursue the Phantom into the dark world below. The Phantoms famous "Bal Masque" and the "Unmasking" scenes high-light this Classic Silent Film.

This is considered by Hollywood to be the first great horror film and best of the silent era.

Extras: includes many stills with the construction of the Paris Opera House on Universal's backlot (today it stills stands as Stage 28. Imagine that!)

The life of Lon Chaney can be enjoyed by the 1957 screen bio film "Man of a Thousand Faces" starring James Cagney as Lon. (see my review)

This is the best of Lon Chaney and a the taste of his and Hollywoods genius during the Silent years of Hollywood. Enjoy!


In The Grand Manner   June 5, 2002
 18 out of 20 found this review helpful

Lon Chaney's 1925 THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has always been more of a popular than a critical favorite, and this may account for the fact that it has never really been restored and preserved as well as one might hope. Over the years dozens of companies have released versions of the film on VHS and DVD to the home market, and some have been quite bizarre. I have encountered more than one video tape release without any score at all; a visually impressive 1993 video release by Video Treasures had an incredibly unsuitable pseudo-rock score by Rick Wakeman of the band Yes; the usually expert Kino actually includes a number of superfluious scenes added in 1929 for a semi-sound re-release. So any purchase of this film is a very hit or miss affair, and I recommend that you borrow, rent, and seek the advice of friends before you actually purchase any particular copy.

That said, the silent version of THE PHANTOM is very much in the "grand manner"--which is precisely why audiences love it and critics tend to dismiss it. Everything about the film is larger than life just a bit campy. The sets are enormous and frequently bizarre, the costumes are outrageous, and the entire cast plays in a very grand manner: Chaney is very, very broad here, and his make-up is justly famous; Mary Philbin totters improbably with horror in virtually every scene; Arthur Edmund Carewe has some of the weirdest eye make-up you'll ever see on screen. Chandeliers crash, ballerinas twirl in terror, mirrors open, lakes drain, audiences panic, horses run away with carriages, peasants riot in the street, and there's even (in a good print) a very early color photography sequence.

It is all a TREMENDOUS amount of fun, and while I wouldn't class it with the truly great Chaney films (such as THE UNKNOWN, to name but one) it is still the best film version of the famous story to date. Of all the films made of the Leroux novel, this one is easily the best--and, interestingly, is really closer to the novel's spirit than later adaptations, which tend to romanticize the Phantom. A must have for any fan of silent film, and well worth the hunt for a really good print.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer