At The Fleapit: The Phantom Of The Opera (1925)

Rather than our traditional Halloween supper, this year Rachel and I took in a screening of the 1925 silent movie The Phantom Of The Opera being shown at a nearby stately home and former residence of Victorian inventor Sir David Salomons.

The movie was accompanied by a live performance by Donald MacKenzie, organist at the Odeon Leicester Square, on Salomons' magnificent Welte Philharmonic Organ (see picture below).

Produced by Carl Laemmle and  directed by Rupert Julian, the film starred Lon Chaney as The Phantom (he famously did his own magnificent make-up) and Mary Philbin.

I was rather concerned to start with as the opening scenes seemed painfully slow; probably due to me being a 21st Century philistine not used to watching movies without voices - but once The Phantom (Chaney) came into the picture the plot raced along.

In fact, I felt rather sorry for Erik (aka The Phantom) as he had done everything he did with the best intentions, for the love of an ungrateful woman. Christine Daaé (Philbin) never thanked him for teaching her to sing so well and making her the star of the Paris Opera. Instead she chose her slimy boyfriend Vicomte Raoul De Chagny (Norman Kerry) who only appeared to have wealth - and a non-freakish countenance - going for him.

Much about the film surprised me as well, particularly - for a black and white film - the exotic and clever use of colour. I'm not just talking about the different filters or film stock that give certain scenes a green or sepia tint, but actual spot colour; namely in the Masqued Ball sequence where, as well as a few blues in some of the costumes, there were vast swathes of exotic reds - most prominently, of course, in Erik's costume as the Red Death (from the Poe story, The Mask Of The Red Death).

If ever there was a film that live organ music fitted it's The Phantom Of The Opera and Donald MacKenzie's accompaniment was faultless, matching the action on the big screen perfectly - so although it was a silent movie we could still hear Erik's composition as he played it for Christine.

Even though the famous 'unmasking' scene is now incredibly tame by today's horror standards, it's easy to see how a less cinematically sophisticated audience back in the 1920s and '30s - little understanding the nature of special effects and make-up - could have been shocked by the sudden revelation of The Phantom's distorted features. To this day, I still see it as one of the definitive classic horror "looks".

My single niggle about the show - and it only served to remind me of one of the many reasons I now prefer to watch films in my own lounge - was that I was seated behind a slightly stinky Catweazle whose bouffant pyramid of white hair blocked about a quarter of the screen, no matter whether I squirmed to the left or right (no doubt, in turn, irritating the poor person sat behind me!)

Again, it feels very wrong to headline this write-up "at the fleapit", but when I started this thread on HeroPress for movies seen away from my couch and TV screen, I never imagined I'd be seeing movies in such historic and atmospheric surroundings.

Situated in Southborough - between Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge - Salomons, of course, was also the site of our wedding, back in 2007, so it holds special memories for us anyway and we like to come back when we can if we see an event listed here that attracts our interest.

Welte philharmonic organ at Sir David Lionel Salomons House, Science Theatre, Southborough. Photo in the company catalogue of Welte & Sons from 1914, photographer unknown