The Alloy Orchestra, the premiere musical ensemble currently creating original sound compositions to accompany silent films, makes a return visit to the Academy following their stunning presentation of The Black Pirate in September of 2002. Our special Halloween season screening features Lon Chaney’s classic starring performance in this version of Gaston Leroux’s oft-filmed novel, The Phantom of the Opera (Le fantôme de l'Opéra). Chaney, “the man of a thousand faces,” famously created and applied his own makeup for this film, which is reported to have so horrified the audiences of his day that it caused guests at the film’s sneak preview to faint in terror.

Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera (1925)Chaney first appeared on screen as the Phantom in 1925. Several years after its initial successful release, the film was substantially reshot and re-edited in response to the new demand in Hollywood for sound films. With new titles, a musical score and added talking sequences, it was reissued in 1929 with accompanying Vitaphone / Western Electric sound disks.

The newly made print to be shown at the Academy is from the 1929 sound version but with the original Technicolor Bal Masque sequence and numerous color tinted sequences, made by following the exact tinting directions used for the 1925 release. The film will once again be silent, but the Alloy’s new score is sure to be a fitting accompaniment to the screams of the audience. The Phantom of the Opera concludes the “Silent Horror” series being presented by the UCLA Film and Television Archive; please see this additional page for the full schedule and ticket information.