Popular Film Adaptations of Phantom of the Opera
A Review of Six Movie Versions of Gaston Leroux's Most Famous Book
Aug 14, 2009
Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera (1910) has entertained for a century with its passion, horror, and glamour. A sort of Beauty and the Beast tale, the story is about a deformed “Phantom” who haunts the Opera House and becomes obsessed with the young singer Christine. He becomes her music teacher and eventually kidnaps her, hoping that she will learn to love him in his underground home.
From the first horror film ever made to a movie version of the popular Broadway musical, this popular story has been filmed many times. Each version gives a new perspective on the relationship between the Phantom and Christine and often a new explanation for his deformity and therefore how he came to be the Phantom. And each film mirrors and responds to the sensibilities of the time, using the same basic story to give each generation of audiences the type of movie they would want to see.
Here are some of the best and most popular film versions of Gaston Leroux’s famous book.
The 1925 Lon Chaney Version
Starring Lon Chaney (Erik, the Phantom), Mary Philbin (Christine), Norman Kerry (Raoul), Arthur Edmund Carewe (Ledoux)
This version is arguably the first horror film ever made, and audiences were terrified by the famous scene in which Christine pulls off the Phantom’s mask, revealing his skeletal face. This black and white version is silent, but the soundtrack features some singing during opera scenes.
The 1943 Claude Rains Version
Starring Claude Rains (Erique Claudin/Phantom), Susanna Foster (Christine), Nelson Eddy (Anatole Garron), Edgar Barrier (Raoul D’Aubert)
Claude Rains stars as the composer Claudin, who has a paternalistic interest in the young singer Christine. But after murdering a rival composer and getting scarred by acid, the Phantom must go underground where he continues his obsession with the singer. Originally this version was going to have the added twist that Claudin was actually Christine’s father, and although that idea was later abandoned there are still hints in the final film of a familial relationship between the two.
The 1989 Robert Englund Version
Starring Robert Englund (Erik Dressler/Phantom), Jill Schoelen (Christine), Bill Nighy (Martin Barton), Stephanie Lawrence (Carlotta), Terence Harvey (Insp. Hawkins)
While singing an aria by the mysterious composer Erik Dressler, modern New Yorker Christine gets knocked unconscious and transported back 100 years to the London Opera House, where she is now an opera singer. There the real Dressler, hideously deformed after making a pact with the devil to make him a talented composer, grows obsessed with her. This version is a horror movie, with graphic murder scenes and Robert Englund, most know for playing Freddy Krueger, in the role of the Phantom.
The 1990 NBC Miniseries Version
Starring Charles Dance (Phantom), Teri Polo (Christine), Burt Lancaster (Gerard Carriere), Adam Storke (Count Philippe de Chagny), Jean-Pierre Cassel (Ledoux), Ian Richardson (Cholet), Andrea Ferreol (Carlotta)
This two-part NBC miniseries was written by Arthur Kopit, who later turned his version of this story into the musical Phantom with lyricist Maury Yeston. In this version, the Phantom is threatened when new management takes over the Opera House and doesn’t respect his position there. Christine is a young country girl just arrived to work at the opera, and the Phantom trains her in order to save his home, falling in love with her in the process. There is also a new explanation for his deformity, involving the old opera house manager.
The 1998 Dario Argento Version
Starring Julian Sands (Phantom), Asia Argento (Christine), Andrea Di Stefano (Raoul), Nadia Rinaldi (Carlotta), Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni (Honorine)
Directed by Dario Argento, this version contains all the eroticism and mild horror moviegoers have come to expect from his films. His daughter Asia stars as the rising diva Christine who in this version genuinely falls for the Phantom, although they keep their relationship hidden. The Phantom doesn’t wear a mask as he has no deformity, and his inhumanness comes from having been raised by rats in the sewer under the Opera House.
The 2004 Andrew Lloyd Weber Version
Starring Gerard Butler (Phantom), Emmy Rossum (Christine), Patrick Wilson (Raoul), Miranda Richardson (Madame Giry), Minnie Driver (Carlotta), Ciaran Hinds (Firmin), Simon Callow (Andre)
The Andrew Lloyd Weber musical was slightly adapted for this movie version. With glamorous costumes and elaborate sets, this all-sung version captures the spectacle of the Broadway production.
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