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The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
In director Rupert Julian's gothic costumed horror
film:
- the main character: opera singer Christine Daae
(Mary Philbin), an understudy for the Paris Opera House's main
prima donna star Carlotta (Virginia Pearson) who was portraying
the role of Marguerite on-stage
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Christine Daae
(Mary Philbin)
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Confronted By the Masked Phantom
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Led Down Staircase
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- the Phantom's (Lon Chaney - "the man of a thousand
faces") spooky haunting of the Opera House with a mask covering
his acid-scarred face
- the scene of the dropping of a giant crystal chandelier
on the opera's audience, during Carlotta's performance
- the Phantom's appearance to Christine when he reassured
her: "Look not upon my mask - think rather of my devotion which
has brought you the gift of song", before leading her down a
stone staircase, guiding her on horseback down a series of levels
to a gondola, and eventually over a "black lake" to his
lair ("rendezvous"), there, he kissed the hem of her dress
(as she shrank back): ("I have brought you here - - five cellars
underground - because I love you. For long weary months, I have awaited
this hour! So that which is good within me, aroused by your purity,
might plead for your love!")
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Christine Taken Away by Gondola
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Into the Phantom's Lair
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Kissing Her Dress
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- when Christine tried to flee from his unwanted affection,
she entered his black-draped bed chamber and discovered that the
Phantom slept in a coffin-like bed - he explained: "That is
where I sleep. It keeps me reminded of that other dreamless sleep
that cures all ills - forever!"
- after she pointed at him and exclaimed: "You
- You are the Phantom!" - he replied: "If I am the Phantom,
it is because man's hatred has made me so. If I shall be saved, it
will be because your love redeems me"; he introduced himself
as Erik: "Men once knew me as Erik, but for many years I have
lived in these cellars, a nameless legend" - she responded by
fainting and fitfully sleeping
- Christine received a written note: "YOU ARE IN
NO PERIL AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT TOUCH MY MASK. YOU WILL BE FREE AS
LONG AS YOUR LOVE FOR THE SPIRIT OF ERIK OVERCOMES YOUR FEAR"
- the shocking scene of the abducted Christine creeping
up behind the Phantom, who was at his organ playing "Don
Juan Triumphant" - the Phantom was unmasked by Christine
who sat behind him, ripped off his mask, and revealed the Phantom's
skull-like, disfigured monster face; after she cowered back, he grabbed
her and laughed maniacally:
"Feast your eyes - glut your soul, on my accursed ugliness!...Oh,
mad Christine, who would not heed my warning!"; she begged to
be released from his underground dungeon, promising, " I promise
to be your slave forever" - and he allowed her to return to her
world
"to sing in the opera once more" - but he also threatened
that she shouldn't meet with Raoul (Norman Kerry) ever again: "You
shall not see your lover again! If you do, it is death to you both!"
The Shocking Unmasking of the Phantom
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- the Phantom's sudden 'Red Death' appearance (from
the Edgar Allan Poe short short) among the guests at the two-color
Technicolor Bal Masque de L'Opera (Title card: "Into the midst
of the revelry, strode a spectral figure, robed in red");
he soon learned of the rendezvous of Raoul and Christine, overhead
their conversation and Christine's plea to Raoul ("He is a
monster - a loathsome beast! You must save me from him, Raoul!");
Raoul's plan to save her was to flee to safety in London, England
after her last performance
- the revelation by the authorities that the Phantom
was a "master of the black art", who had been "exiled
to Devil's Island for criminal insane" but had escaped
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Christine with Raoul
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The Phantom's Betrayal: "She has betrayed
me!"
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Another Kidnapping and More Threats
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- in the exciting conclusion, the efforts of Raoul
and Inspector Ledoux (the man in a fez, actually a member of the "Secret
Police") (Arthur Edmund Carewe) to save Christine after she
was once again kidnapped by the spurned Phantom; to save the two
from drowning, Christine promised to become the Phantom's bride
("I'll do anything you say, if you will only save them");
he released them, but ultimately was killed by a raging and vengeful
mob (they beat him to near death and threw him into the Seine River)
- meanwhile, Raoul had been saved and was in Christine's
arms
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Dropping of Giant Chandelier Onto Opera House Audience
Masked Phantom
(Lon Chaney)
Christine Daae
The Phantom's Profession of Love for Christine - and Her
Abhorrence
After the Unmasking - Pointing at Christine as She Cowered
Back
The 'Red Death' Figure (The Phantom) at Bal Masque
The Ominous and Threatening Phantom
Happy Ending for Raoul and Christine
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