Lon Chaney plays the disfigured creature haunting the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera, who becomes obsessed with a beautiful understudy, played by Mary Philbin.

Lon Chaney was legendary for his skill with makeup, and Gaston Leroux’s gothic romance The Phantom of the Opera provided him with a perfect vehicle.

An aspiring young opera singer Christine Daaé (Mary Philbin) discovers that she has a mysterious admirer intent on making her a star. Enticing her to his secret vault, he asks only one thing, that she never remove his mask. But soon, admiration turns to obsession, and her masked protector becomes her masked captor. When the Phantom (Lon Chaney) takes her prisoner, Chrstine’s suitor, the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny (Norman Kerry) sets out to rescue her. Chaney’s hideous but complex and fascinating creation influenced a century of film-makers, from Hollywood to China.

The live electronic musical accompaniments are by composers and musicians of the Guildhall School’s Electronic Music Studio.

The presentation of The Phantom of the Opera is by arrangement with Photoplay Productions and Patrick J Stanbury.

Part of The Phantom of the Opera Symposium, a collaboration between Guildhall School and Barbican.

An output of the Phantom on Film research project, supported by the Leverhulme Trust through its International Networks Grant scheme.