BIG SCREEN THRILL: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925)

 

I admit to spending less and less time going out to see movies, but if anything can inspire me to venture forth into a theater, it's a revival of an old classic, and that's what happened last night. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, starring the legendary Lon Chaney, was playing for one night at the beautiful Virginia Theater in Champaign, Illinois, and I wasn't about to miss out on seeing it on a big screen. 

The Virginia is a movie palace that was built in 1921, with a wide screen and a stage that was used for vaudeville shows. It closed several years ago as a first-run theater and was eventually taken over by the Champaign Park district and lovingly restored to its former glory. It's used for a variety of live performances, the annual Roger Ebert Film Festival, and for periodic film showings throughout the year. Many of the films are sponsored by our local newspaper, The News-Gazette.

One of the nice features of the Virginia is the built-in Wurlitzer organ that has also been kept in repair all these many years and provided marvelous accompaniment for this silent classic. The imagery of the film was excellent. It's been may years since I saw the film, and there were so many things I didn't remember about it. So, it was kind of like seeing it for the first time. The crowd was fairly large, and, I must say, well-behaved. I saw only a few cell phones lighting up on occasion and there was respectful attention given to the screen. After the movie ended, the organist received a standing ovation. I chose a seat in the back row and had a perfect view of the film. All in all, it was a cinephile's delight, and I'm so glad I went.

My DVD of the film is a 2-disc package from Image Entertainment that I picked up at a video store that was going out of business quite a number of years ago. It has two versions of the film and many other extra features. It plays beautifully, so I don't feel compelled to replace it. But who knows; that double-dip fever may one day overtake me.