MovieChat Forums > The Phantom of the Opera (1925) Discussion > The Man With The Lantern Prologue - WITH...

The Man With The Lantern Prologue - WITH SOUND!

posted 8 years ago by kriegerg69
1 reply | jump to latest

I also recall seeing a 16mm print at our local library of the 1925 Phantom of The Opera which had the SOUND version of the Man With The Lantern prologue at the beginning, and I clearly recall the sound for that bit which, along with other additional scenes, was added for the 1929 part-talking re-release. All prints of that Man footage today is silent, although some of the other sound sequences have been restored and preserved on at least one DVD release (by Milestone).

...and I just realized I had this clip with sound.

https://youtu.be/v5MqSOWYfy0

[–] sdgresham 8 years ago

Interesting. Which video release did this clip come from? This sequence is analyzed in some detail in Philip J. Riley's making-of book, including a reprint of the transcript to this sequence as recorded in the Library of Congress (which matches the clip you've posted verbatim). He goes on the explain how two different lip-reading experts studied the footage, and neither could agree on what the man in the footage was saying. One suggested it may have been German , which would imply it was special footage shot as a prologue for foreign releases.

So what I wonder is if, at some point, someone in charge of a home video release was aware of the transcript, and had this recorded for their specific release. The music doesn't sound much like the other music heard on the tapes for the "talkie" reissue, which makes it hard for me to believe it's contemporary to those sound discs (and if that were the case, this snippet would have long been available in the bonus features on the Milestone ultimate edition DVD release).