The Phantom of the Opera is Lon Chaney’s most famous role: a disfigured musical genius who haunts the Paris Opera House and falls in love with a young singer.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925), directed by Rupert Julian and based on Gaston Leroux’s novel, stars Chaney as Erik, the Phantom, who lives beneath the Opera House, tutors Christine Daae, played by Mary Philbin, and terrorises the management when his demands are ignored. The film’s unmasking scene, in which Christine removes the Phantom’s mask, remains one of cinema’s most shocking moments.
Chaney’s Phantom, with a skull-like face, sunken eyes and a twisted mouth, was designed by Chaney himself, with wire, putty and paint. Yet the performance is not only makeup: Erik’s love, jealousy and rage are played with a tragic intensity that makes him sympathetic even as he frightens.
It is a signature role because it is Chaney’s defining image, and because the Phantom, like Quasimodo, is a monster who loves, a theme at the heart of Chaney’s art.