By William “Skip” Deegans
One can only imagine that many Greenbrier Countians spent Thanksgiving Day in 1925 at the Grand Theatre (demolished in 2025) in Ronceverte to watch the silent film Phantom of the Opera. The film is based on a novel by Gaston Leroux, a former French crime reporter and war correspondent turned mystery detective novelist. Leroux sold the rights to the story to Carl Laemmle, a German-American who founded Universal Pictures. With the proceeds of the sale, Leroux was able to pay off his gambling debts.
The film starred Lon Chaney as Erik, the phantom, and Mary Philbin as Christine. Chaney, a master of make-up and disguise, achieved fame as Quasimodo in the 1923 film, Hunchback of Notre Dame. Philbin was one of Universal’s early stars and appeared in many films in the 1920s. While reviewers of the film found the acting to be wanting, they gave the film high marks for the set and costuming. The New York Daily News called the film “a marvelous production “that was two years in the making. The Chicago Tribute reviewer wrote, “If thrill’s what you’re crying for – weep no more! Speed to the Roosevelt (theatre). The Phantom’s there to raise your hair.”
Advertised by the Grand Theatre as being 8,464 feet long and “at admission prices in the reach of all,” the film gave the audience a special treat as some scenes were among the first to be done in Technicolor.
Chaney died at age 47 after appearing in over 150 films. In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber revived Phantom Of The Opera as a musical that has been seen by over 160 million people. Philbin, the Irish-American actress, retired in 1930 and became a recluse. However, she made her final public appearance at the Los Angeles opening of Webber’s musical in 1989 and died in 1993.
Sources: The West Virginia News, PBS, Britannica, PBS, New Republic, Chicago Tribune.
