The Phantom Of The Opera (1929) with Lon Chaney.
I finally gave in and bought the KINO Blu-ray. So much to unpack with it and I am rather ignorant when it comes to the history of this film. I had seen clips of it many times prior but really did not know the story. I dove right in and watched the 1929 version with the 24 frame per second projection speed. This clocked it in at 1hr & 18 minutes. The slower frame speed runs it 1he 32 minutes with the exact same footage. I also read after the fact that I could have chosen two different musical scores for the film. I did not know that. I have no idea which is the best version of this film. The blu-ray also contains an unrestored 1925 version of the film in total black and white. The quality is very poor though.
The version I watched was restored and had been nicely "tinted" to change the mood during the film. Tints of blue, sepia tone, green and red plus the tecnicolor sequence included. All in all, I really enjoyed the film and learned a lot. It was well worth the watch and I am ashamed I have not watched it before. Part of that reason also was the imagining of a really old and tired print but the restoration was very nice. Not a factor. I was also surprised to learn that the "unmasking" scene of the film happened early on and I had always thought this was at the climax of the film. Boy, was a wrong! I could easily see this becoming and annual watch. It was that interesting! I would also like to tackle the other versions at some point. They had some excerpts of surviving scenes from the 1930 sound version but they really didn't do much for me.
Mad Love (1935)- I also got in this excellent Peter Lorre film about a mad doctor. Very good and rather creepy. Some cool Halloween of horror set pieces early on set the mood. Colin Clive (Dr. Frankenstein) was also in this film! Acting was was excellent by all! Great story that must have had a future influence! A must see!
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