Author Topic: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera  (Read 9239 times)

Offline erik1925

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Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« on: February 28, 2018, 01:07:50 PM »
Being a Lon Chaney Sr/ POTO fan, I was looking around on youtube the other day and came across this clip.

Its a reel (or partial reel) from the 1930 re-release, for which sound fx and music were added. What struck me most, tho, are the 2 brief scenes, which were actually re-shoots done for this version), where both Mary Philbin (Christine) and Norman Kerry (Raoul) were brought back, 4-5 years later, to reprise their roles for certain scenes (both going into her dressing room in this clip).

Mary Philbin looks a little different, mostly because her hair style in the re-shoot is a little different. But her dressing room set and costume look to match 100% from the 1925 original.

But I, for one, loved finding and watching this.  bed1

I dont know if other film reels from the sound version exist or not, but the audio tracks still do.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/mIchqQ61fak" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/mIchqQ61fak</a>



« Last Edit: February 28, 2018, 11:28:48 PM by erik1925 »


-Jeff

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of POTO
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2018, 09:03:31 PM »
Being a Lon Chaney Sr/ POTO fan, I was looking around on youtube the other day and came across this clip.

Its a reel (or partial reel) from the 1930 re-release, for which sound fx and music were added. What struck me most, tho, are the 2 brief scenes, which were actually re-shoots done for this version), where both Mary Philbin (Christine) and Norman Kerry (Raoul) were brought back, 4-5 years later, to reprise their roles for certain scenes (both going into her dressing room in this clip).

Mary Philbin looks a little different, mostly because her hair style in the re-shoot is a little different. But her dressing room set and costume look to match 100% from the 1925 original.

But I, for one, loved finding and watching this.  bed1

I dont know if other film reels from the sound version exist or not, but the audio tracks still do.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/mIchqQ61fak" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/mIchqQ61fak</a>
. Holy moly, Jeff!  This is amazing to find on YouTube.  Fantastic!  Okie

Offline brude

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of POTO
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2018, 09:04:52 PM »
Loved watching that clip Jeff!
What a great film and, with those added clips and dialogue.... WOW!!!

Offline CSM

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of POTO
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2018, 09:09:30 PM »
Cool!
Chris

Offline erik1925

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2018, 11:15:19 PM »
Regarding the sound re-release, I found this info. It  seems the above reel (Reel 5) is the only one to have surface, so far. The film was 10 reels in total.

The site link at the bottom of the post.



 The Talkie Re-release Version (Talkie Re-release)

Four years after the last footage had been shot for the silent versions of the Phantom of the Opera, Universal decided to make reissue it as a partial talkie.  To do this, they reengaged Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry and some of the other original actors and some new actors to shoot new sound sequences that would be edited with the silent footage. Carlotta was now played by Mary Fabian, who could sing, and her mother was played by Fay Holderness for the talking scenes with the managers.  Edward Martindel replaced John Sainpolis as Phillipe de Chagny except in a few long shots, and  These sequences were directed in 1929 by Ernst Laemmle.  Lon Chaney was under contract to MGM and Universal could not dub his voice.  To get around this problem, they had another actor act as the Phantom's servant for those scenes where the Phantom talks to other people behind a wall or mirror.  Once the Phantom as portrayed by Lon Chaney appears in person to Christine, intertitles resume and his servant disappears.  The servant was played by Phillips Smalley.  This was first released in Dallas and Detroit on January 3, 1930, but is mostly lost (see II-E, below, regarding its survival).  It came in 10 reels.

What Survives:

Talkie Re-Release


The 1929 Talkie Re-Release does not survive in its entirety.  It had a Vitaphone soundtrack where the sound was stored on vinyl records or discs synchronized to the film projector.  The 1929 Talkie Re-Release came on 10 reels and the ten accompanying sound disks survive.  Of the film itself, only Reel 5 has been found and is currently stored in the Library of Congress, as are the sound disks.  The reel is missing some footage, but Christine and Raoul have aged, especially the former.  The Phantom's servant is visible in the newly-discovered Reel 5.  Overall, there is about 1 minute and 15 seconds of new footage showing Christine and the Phantom's servant shot in 1929 and about 12 seconds of Raoul in footage shot in 1929 from this reel.

Here are the scenes with no corresponding video on the discs :

Scene 1 - Manager's Office: the Managers and the House Manager discuss why Box 12 has not been rented recently

Scene 2 - Outside and Inside Box 12: the Managers interrogate Madame Giry and investigate the occupant of Box 12

Scene 3 - Manager's Office: the Managers discuss the Phantom's demand to have Christine sign in Faust

Scene 4 - Christine's Dressing Room: Raoul asks Christine about her new-found fortune and her new admirer

Scene 5 - Opera Stage & Box: Christine sings in Faust and Phillipe warns Raoul about the Phantom

Scene 6 - Christine's Dressing Room: Raoul asks Christine again about her admirer and her Master's servant tells Christine that she should be prepared to go soon

Scene 7 - Manager's Office: Carlotta's Mother tells the Managers that her daughter will sign in Faust.

Scene 8 - Christine's Dressing Room: The Master's servant tells Christine to come through the mirror.  The film for this scene has been mostly recovered.

Scene 9 - Roof of the Opera: Christine tells Raoul that she has seen the Phantom and they make plans


This link/page is chock full of info on the various POTO releases, discussion and details.

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2013/12/versions-and-sources-of-phantom-of-opera.html
« Last Edit: February 28, 2018, 11:29:12 PM by erik1925 »


-Jeff

Offline Dr Bill

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2018, 11:55:13 PM »
Really fascinating. It's amazing all the sound disks survived. I'd love to have this on BR or DVD. If it exists, will have to research the best version to purchase.

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2018, 11:55:37 PM »
Regarding the sound re-release, I found this info. It  seems the above reel (Reel 5) is the only one to have surface, so far. The film was 10 reels in total.

The site link at the bottom of the post.



 The Talkie Re-release Version (Talkie Re-release) I

Four years after the last footage had been shot for the silent versions of the Phantom of the Opera, Universal decided to make reissue it as a partial talkie.  To do this, they reengaged Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry and some of the other original actors and some new actors to shoot new sound sequences that would be edited with the silent footage. Carlotta was now played by Mary Fabian, who could sing, and her mother was played by Fay Holderness for the talking scenes with the managers.  Edward Martindel replaced John Sainpolis as Phillipe de Chagny except in a few long shots, and  These sequences were directed in 1929 by Ernst Laemmle.  Lon Chaney was under contract to MGM and Universal could not dub his voice.  To get around this problem, they had another actor act as the Phantom's servant for those scenes where the Phantom talks to other people behind a wall or mirror.  Once the Phantom as portrayed by Lon Chaney appears in person to Christine, intertitles resume and his servant disappears.  The servant was played by Phillips Smalley.  This was first released in Dallas and Detroit on January 3, 1930, but is mostly lost (see II-E, below, regarding its survival).  It came in 10 reels.

What Survives:

Talkie Re-Release


The 1929 Talkie Re-Release does not survive in its entirety.  It had a Vitaphone soundtrack where the sound was stored on vinyl records or discs synchronized to the film projector.  The 1929 Talkie Re-Release came on 10 reels and the ten accompanying sound disks survive.  Of the film itself, only Reel 5 has been found and is currently stored in the Library of Congress, as are the sound disks.  The reel is missing some footage, but Christine and Raoul have aged, especially the former.  The Phantom's servant is visible in the newly-discovered Reel 5.  Overall, there is about 1 minute and 15 seconds of new footage showing Christine and the Phantom's servant shot in 1929 and about 12 seconds of Raoul in footage shot in 1929 from this reel.

Here are the scenes with no corresponding video on the discs :

Scene 1 - Manager's Office: the Managers and the House Manager discuss why Box 12 has not been rented recently

Scene 2 - Outside and Inside Box 12: the Managers interrogate Madame Giry and investigate the occupant of Box 12

Scene 3 - Manager's Office: the Managers discuss the Phantom's demand to have Christine sign in Faust

Scene 4 - Christine's Dressing Room: Raoul asks Christine about her new-found fortune and her new admirer

Scene 5 - Opera Stage & Box: Christine sings in Faust and Phillipe warns Raoul about the Phantom

Scene 6 - Christine's Dressing Room: Raoul asks Christine again about her admirer and her Master's servant tells Christine that she should be prepared to go soon

Scene 7 - Manager's Office: Carlotta's Mother tells the Managers that her daughter will sign in Faust.

Scene 8 - Christine's Dressing Room: The Master's servant tells Christine to come through the mirror.  The film for this scene has been mostly recovered.

Scene 9 - Roof of the Opera: Christine tells Raoul that she has seen the Phantom and they make plans


This link/page is chock full of info on the various POTO releases, discussion and details.

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2013/12/versions-and-sources-of-phantom-of-opera.html
Great restoration work as well.

Offline erik1925

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2018, 04:38:55 PM »
The famous Stage 28 built for POTO, back in 1924, when filming was happening, and (what is no longer) ..more recently, before the intelligent powers-that-be at Universal thought it smart to demolish this historic sound stage, a few years ago.  :'(

Fortunately, when I had the opp. to work at Universal, I would go and explore the stage during my lunch hour, whenever the doors were open, going up the old wooden stairs behind the set to get to the boxes, including Box 5. I took photos and video, too, so the memories will be preserved.




-Jeff

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2018, 05:24:27 PM »
The famous Stage 28 built for POTO, back in 1924, when filming was happening, and (what is no longer) ..more recently, before the intelligent powers-that-be at Universal thought it smart to demolish this historic sound stage, a few years ago.  :'(

Fortunately, when I had the opp. to work at Universal, I would go and explore the stage during my lunch hour, whenever the doors were open, going up the old wooden stairs behind the set to get to the boxes, including Box 5. I took photos and video, too, so the memories will be preserved.

.
. Looking forward to seeing more of your pictures, Jeff!  Okie

Offline erik1925

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2018, 08:22:15 PM »
A couple other re-release sound items:

Audio of Mary Philbin, from the 1930 RR of POTO 

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/hfB3cIq7dzU" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/hfB3cIq7dzU</a>



And the RR trailer, with added sound (the footage, though, was taken from the 1925 first release trailer).

One scene not in the movie is the wide shot of Christine, one she has walked thru the mirror, with the Phantom being lifted and rising up behind her on some kind of counter weight. In the movie, the shot is a C/U of Christine, and the Phantom's hand reaches out to touch her shoulder from behind her.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/R38XEujHIS4" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/R38XEujHIS4</a>
« Last Edit: March 07, 2018, 10:08:14 PM by erik1925 »


-Jeff

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2018, 09:26:27 PM »
A couple other re-release sound items:

Audio of Mary Philbin, from the 1930 RR of POTO 

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/hfB3cIq7dzU" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/hfB3cIq7dzU</a>



And the RR trailer, with added sound (the footage, though, is from the 1925 first release).

One scene not in the movie is the wide shot of Christine, one she has walked thru the mirror, with the Phantom being lifted and rising up behind her on some kind of counter weight. In the movie, the shot is a C/U of Christine, and the Phantom's hand reaches out to touch her shoulder from behind her.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/R38XEujHIS4" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/R38XEujHIS4</a>
   Fantastic, Jeff!  And, it's SYNCHRONIZED!  Okie

Offline erik1925

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2018, 10:13:15 PM »
And the original, 1925 release trailer:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/HYvbaILyc2s" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/HYvbaILyc2s</a>


-Jeff

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2018, 11:11:15 PM »
And the original, 1925 release trailer:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/HYvbaILyc2s" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/HYvbaILyc2s</a>

We are so fortunate that Phantom survived for us to watch today!  In the original trailer, I really enjoyed seeing the Astor Theatre in NYC briefly at the end of the clip. 

Offline erik1925

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Re: Sound Reel from the 1930 RR of Phantom of the Opera
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2018, 11:27:32 PM »
Im right there with you, okie.  thumbsup.gif


-Jeff