Le Gaulois "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra"

I was watching the silent Lon Chaney version of "The Phantom of the Opera" earlier on TCM, and I began to do some pondering about the many Phantom movies.

When someone thinks of The Phantom of the Opera, often there are two iconic images that will come to mind. One is the famous unmasking of Lon Chaney, rightfully recognized as one of the very iconic images of not only horror, but of cinema itself. His face makeup is taken from the original novel's description of Erik, as someone with a horrible deformity from birth that gives him a terrifying corpse-like appearance.

The second iconic image...

What Annoys Me About The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth

All of the Leroux-bashing:

In the Preface, Forsyth repeatedly points out errors in Leroux’s novel, most of which are trivial and pointless (OMG! He said the chandelier was heavier than it really was! Shun Leroux!). And he keeps pointing out how Andrew Lloyd Webber “fixed” the errors, which brings me to…


Treating Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version like its perfect and the only “right” one:

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage show isn’t perfect. That being said, some parts of it were better in his version than in Leroux’s,...

RAOUL
No more talk of darkness,
Forget these wide-eyed fears
I'm here, nothing can harm you
my words will warm and calm you
Let me be your freedom,
let daylight dry your tears.
I'm here with you, beside you,
to guard you and to guide you...

CHRISTINE
Say you love me every waking moment,
turn my head with talk of summertime...
Say you need me with you now and always...
Promise me that all you say is true
that's all I ask of you

RAOUL
Let me be your shelter
let me be your light
You're safe, No one will find you
your fears are far behind you...

CHRISTINE
All I want is freedom,
a world with no more night
and you, always...