The BFI’s final release of 2013 will be the Photoplay Productions restoration of The Phantom of the Opera (1929), directed by Rupert Julian, which will be released in a 3-disc Dual Format Edition on 2 December.
Lon Chaney, the man of a thousand faces, stars in this, the original adaptation of the celebrated 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux. Now newly restored, Rupert Julian’s lavish production is brilliantly scored by Carl Davis.
Numerous special features include the 1925 version of the film – see trailer above – presented in High Definition and with a newly commissioned piano accompaniment, two trailers, a sequence from the lost 1929 sound reissue version and the definitive documentary on the legendary Lon Chaney by Kevin Brownlow.
When Erik, the Phantom (Lon Chaney) falls in love with the voice of Christine, a young opera singer (Mary Philbin) he drags her to the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera House and forces her to sing only for him…
