The Phantom of the Opera (1925): Screening with Live Music

31 October 2014

Unsilent Movies in association with St. James’s Studio presents a special Halloween screening…. The original Phantom Of The Opera from 1925 accompanied by a live soundtrack.

Unsilent Movies (Ric Elsworth - Percussion & Andrew Shirtliff - Piano) is a project dedicated to giving classic Silent Movies a uniquely modern soundtrack played live as the film is screened.
The film, starring Lon Chaney had to be made 3 times. The 1st version was binned by the film company as they feared a ‘gothic melodrama’ wouldn’t recoup it’s $2,000,000 budget.
The 2nd version was made more into a ‘romantic comedy’ and was booed off at it’s preview in San Francisco. The 3rd and final version was released in October 1925. The film company spared no expense, and a full-size organ was installed in the theatre of which the premiere was aired.

This evening, the 1929 edit of the film shall be screened.