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The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
There’s probably no more fitting silent movie to see with a live organ score than The Phantom of the Opera.
For one, you get to hear a performer approximate the Phantom’s prodigious organ compositions from before Andrew Lloyd Webber ever set music to Gaston Leroux’s 1910 gothic horror novel.
What’s more, the live score is tasked with adding tragic grandeur to one of the first great performances in horror movie history.
Lon Chaney’s Phantom is still arresting by today’s standards because it dares to be genuinely upsetting. It was the 1943 Claude Rains version that introduced the enduring image of the Phantom as a slick, powerful force with half a handsome jawline.
Chaney’s version—even before his visage is revealed—is the furthest thing from suave. There are no eyeholes in his mask; they’re painted on, and their stillness evokes walking death. Meanwhile, a long, thin strip of gauze hangs across his lipless mouth, billowing with every silent but spoken word.
Many of Chaney’s gestures toward the Phantom’s muse, Christine Daaé (Mary Philbin), are protracted pleas not to be frightened, which are, in their manic insistence, pretty frightening. And once he realizes she’s scared and his love is spurned, it’s an invitation to towering, hypnotic menace. Hollywood with organist Matt Ellis, Oct. 24.
Also Playing:
5th Avenue: Orlando (1992), Oct. 23–25. Academy: Phantasm (1979), Corpse Bride (2005) and Haxan (1922), Oct. 21–22. Hellraiser (1987), Poltergeist (1982) and Candyman (1992), Oct. 23–30. The House on Sorority Row (1983), Oct. 24. Cinemagic: Halloween (1978) and Hereditary (2018), Oct. 21–22. Dracula (1931), Oct. 22. Re-Animator (1985), Oct. 23 and 25. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Oct. 23–24. Nightmare 3: Dream Warriors (1987), Oct. 24–25. When Evil Lurks (2023), Oct. 27–28. The Exorcist (1973), Oct. 27. Clinton: Death Spa (1988), Oct. 22. Frankenhooker (1990), Oct. 23. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Oct. 24. Mandy (2018), Oct. 27. Hollywood: The Brainiac (1962), Oct. 22. Knife+Heart (2018), Oct. 23. RRR (2022), Oct. 26. Mark of the Devil (1970), Oct. 27. Moreland: Heavy Metal (1981), American Pop (1981) and An American Tail (1986), Oct. 21. The Hunger (1983), Oct. 23. Corpse Bride (2005), Oct. 24–25. St. Johns Twin: Prince of Darkness (1987), Oct. 23. Tomorrow: The Witch (2015), Oct. 22. Zëiram (1991), Oct. 24.
