If you are expecting buckets of blood and Spiderman-like effects, this isn't the film for you. Further, there is an stunning sequence that takes place on the roof of the Opera, the Phantom lurking on the parapet, his 'Red Death' costume from the ball billowing behind him in the wind while he stalks the heroine. Unlike now, when we would have gotten some truly terrible CGI trash, when that chandelier drops from ceilingit's a real chandelier, it's a real ceiling and its really COOL! Cant leave out the amazing secret that few if any talk about, but did you know that not only are certain scenes single color tinted, but there is an amazing 2 strip Technicolor sequence, the Masked Ball, that takes place on the grand staircase. The production values are amazingly high in this film, the recreation of the Opera (the grand staircase, the auditorium and the stage) the underground (the Phantom's lair, the underground river, the chambers and sub-chambers) and the exteriors were all created in Hollywood full scale. The characters are pretty well filled out (there are a few exceptions, most notable the character of the boyfriend/hero) and so the plot wraps around you easily and enjoyably. The plotting and narrative are clear, there are no ' what did he say/mean' moments. It has a very steady editing pace, which carries you along in the story, and so there are few, if any, slow points. OK, once you get past some of the hammy acting, remembering that it was completely de reguer for the time, you get caught up in it.

Thanks Ted! For an 80 year old film, I was honestly swept away by the strengths of this production. Turner Classic Movies owns a restored copy of this film, which I saw from beginning to end for the first time last night.

The phantom of the opera characters