LON CHANEY AS THE PHANTOM

Lon Chaney gives a superb performance as the Phantom. He shows us a man who is not only capable of extreme means of self-worship, but who is also capable of loving a woman despite having that love spurned. Yes, Eric can and does do dreadful things in this film, seemingly from the point of view that he alone is worth a moment’s consideration, but he kills only in the name of self-preservation. Eric comes off at times more like a sad little boy and not the dark god of the underworld he’d have Christine worship him as.

The viewer can only pity the unmasked Eric as he bewails his fate and despairs the fact that Christine does not love him. All that he has done for her has come to nothing. Eric knows this, and seems to die a little before her. He rants on in a desperate torrent of words seeking to hide the pain she’s caused him. He doesn’t seem to blame her though. No, Eric only loves Christine and pities her for the fact that such a monster as he views himself loves her.

When Erik does give Christine the choice of marriage or destruction in the desperate mad hour that he abducts her it seems as though he expects her to choose the former. He can hope after all that she has seen the man that he is and will accept his love. But when Mary Philbin in the role of Christine lingers long enough over the grasshopper she causes Eric horror. He realizes for a brief second that she will never willingly be his. When she does choose to marry him, Chaney’s Phantom is lost in an ecstatic bliss.

Overall, this is a beautiful film, not only accessible to Phantom fans, but all who enjoy classic movies. The acting is strong and the pacing of the film perfect. There are some minor changes from the novel, but they make sense, as it was to make the movie more appealing to American audiences. The change in Erik’s background for example to a criminally insane escapee from Devil’s Island would have had more immediate impact. To make his writing legible was a necessary evil due to the brevity of film. It would look unnatural and stilted to just have a letter hang there for a space of minutes. Adding to his background the practice of the black arts assured that although the audience might sympathize, very few would have wanted to meet him in person.

Return to movie listings
Return Home