The phantom of the opera the ultimate public domain edition

Here are the dialogue 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 and that is not a typo.

The film for this scene has been mostly recovered. The Phantom then dismisses the servant from the scene and the film. Scene 9 - Roof of the Opera: Christine tells Raoul that she has seen the Phantom and they make plans. There are other voices on the discs which functioned as background voices, or with the scenes with Snitz Edwards as Florine Papillion with the ballet dancers, were played over the silent footage.

It shows a cut-down version of Christine's encounter with the Phantom in his lair and the unmasking scene. It's importance lies in that it contains three title cards, none of which exist in the Eastman or Hampton prints using the same text, suggesting that these scenes were taken from the Los Angeles or San Francisco versions of the film.

It also contains a shot, not found on any other version, of the Phantom warming up on the organ before Christine exits the boudoir. The shots in the boudouir do not suffer from any nitrate decomposition as they do on the Eastman print. The Phantom sequence of "Scream Scenes lasts approximately Footage of about of the opening ballet sequence in 2-strip Technicolor was found by the Dutch archive Eye Filmmuseum and uploaded to YouTube in It can be watched here.

It has been reported that Universal has located more color footage of Phantom's opening ballet and other sequences. While Universal has been active in preserving some of its silent films in the recent past, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, there has been almost no word or movement on any Universal restoration project regarding Phantom. What's Available - Home Video Releases As the Phantom of the Opera is in the public domain in its raw format, anyone can scan the film and release it on some kind of home video format.

The cheapest releases are usually from an ancient transfer of the Eastman Print, sometimes a 16mm reduction print or derived from the Hampton Print. All quality releases with one exception since the first Laserdisc in have two pedigrees. The second is from Kevin Brownlow and Photoplay Productions. The work dates from but has been tinkered with since then.

Brownlow's version dates from and in addition to substituting the Technicolor footage, makes other changes. First, the Man with a Lantern and the closing cast credits are excised completely from this version. The justification for the first edit was likely that the sequence was superfluous to a silent film and would be puzzling for a modern audience. The second edit was done probably because the end credits mistakenly credit Virginia Pearson as Carlotta when she was re-cast as Carlotta's mother.

This version was broadcast to great fanfare on Channel 4 in the U. Second, the Handschiegl effect on the Phantom's cape has been simulated using computer colorization. Third, the Bal Masque sequences after Christine and Raoul have descended from the roof have been computer colorized to approximate the two-color Technicolor look, even though the Technicolor film would have used different shots.

Fourth, for the nitrate-decomposition affected scenes set in Christine's intended bedroom in the Phantom's lair, footage from the 16mm Hampton Print from the UCLA Film and Television Archive was substituted as it does not demonstrate the heavy mottling captured in the Eastman Print.

Shepard's version would eventually follow Brownlow's in part on the Blu-ray by recreating the Handschiegl effect on the Phantom's cape but also in the Torture Chamber. The tinting schemes used by both versions have substantial differences, as described below.

The main score for the Shepard editions is from French-Canadian composer Gabriel Thibaudeau and composed in , while British composer Carl Davis performed the honors for the Brownlow version in If one of these composers is identified in the version you are watching, you know from which pedigree your version comes from. Shepard's version has been officially released on five occasions on an optical disc format, on Laserdisc in , on Laserdisc and DVD in and on Blu-ray in , all by Image Entertainment, and in by Kino International.

Brownlow's version has been released twice, first by Milestone Film distributed by Image in and by the BFI in All releases are single disc unless otherwise stated. Discs Released 1.

It contains the Trailer. This disc has long since been superseded. It also includes the Trailer and an essay. This may have been the first silent film to be released on DVD. The Hampton Print is accompanied by a score from Jon C. It contains the and Trailers, the latter with sound from the Talkie re-release discs, a video interview with Carla Laemmle and an audio archival interview with cameraman Charles Van Enger, still reconstructions of the Los Angeles Preview and San Francisco World Premiere versions, an extract of Faust from the feature Tiffany, nine dialogue selections from the Talkie re-release discs, the soundtrack from the talkie re-release edited to the Eastman Print, audio commentary by Scott MacQueen.

The only major film sequence missing and available at the time of this release was the Man with a Lantern from the Eastman Print. While this DVD is long out of print, it contains many extras not found elsewhere. The print scanned for the Eastman Print is 16mm reduction from Griggs Moviedrome. Finally, it is the only release that features the "Scream Scenes" footage. These discs are printed on burned DVDs.

One version runs the film at a progressive 24fps at p and shows noticeably less print damage. The other version runs the film at 20fps. Since Blu-ray spec only officially supports progressive frame rates at 24p or A score from the Alloy Orchestra or the Gaylord Carter Organ score can be selected for the 24p version. The Carter score was composed in the s and is synchronized to the film running at 24fps. The 20fps version on the Image Blu-ray was interlaced using a pulldown process.

The actual frame rate is The pulldown process is not the normal that is used when converting sound film frame rate to NTSC video frame rate. The field rate is here becomes So, in between each two pure frames of the video, there is a "dirty frame" consisting of the odd lines of one frame of the film and the even lines of the next frame of the film. You can see this illustrated here : Field Number Frame Displayed 1 1o 2 1e 3 2o 4 2e 5 3o 6 2e 7 3o 8 3e 9 4o 10 4e 11 5o 12 4e 13 5o 14 5e 15 6o 16 6e 17 7o 18 6e 19 7o 20 7e 21 8o 22 8e 23 9o 24 8e 25 9o 26 9e 27 10o 28 10e 29 11o 30 10e 31 11o 32 11e 33 12o 34 12e 35 13o 36 12e 37 13o 38 13e 39 14o 40 14e 41 15o 42 14e 43 15o 44 15e 45 16o 46 16e 47 17o 48 16e 49 17o 50 17e 51 18o 52 18e 53 19o 54 18e 55 19o 56 19e 57 20o 58 20e 59 21o 60 20e o stands for odd, e stands for even and the highlighted pair are the dirty frames.

The Thibaudeau score or an audio commentary from Jon C. Mirsalis can be selected for the 20fps version. It is accompanied by a piano score from Frederick Hodges. The Trailer is included and an interview with composer Thibeadeau, both also in SD.

The contents of this disc were released by Park Circus in the U. The first pressing of this disc had a non-intuitive menu where you could only select the versions of the prints you wanted to watch by selecting the score attached to that version. To change to another version you had to eject and reinsert the disc or jump ahead to the end. Also, all stereo scores were output in mono and the Carter score was out of sync for Reel 1.

The ballet dancers in the first ballet sequence also appear to be moving in slow motion in both the 24 and 20fps versions. Although this post and blog is written from the perspective of someone living in the United States, I am not adverse to including information about a new and substantial release elsewhere in the world.

This means that one out of every five frames is repeated to make up the missing 4fps. This is a dual-format release, so the prints are presented on the Blu-ray and one of the DVDs. The Technicolor Bal Masque sequence in the Eastman Print is windowboxed, as is the sequence where they used a 16mm print for the scene with Christine in the boudoir, presumably to match the Movietone-like aspect ratio of the rest of the Eastman Print.

The shots of the Phantom on the roof with the Handscliegl effect applied are cropped and somewhat grainier than the rest of the film. This restoration was done at standard definition at the PAL format.

For those sequences where the 16mm Hampton Print is used to replace the damaged scene with Christine in her bedroom in the Phantom's lair, the three color titles at the Bal Masque, the Handscliegl process on the Phantom's cape and the colorized portion of the Bal Masque, all these sequences have been upconverted from SD materials. The two trailers are included, and the recently discovered material from Reel 5 of the Talkie Re-release is included synchronized with its sound disc. The Man with a Lantern from the Eastman Print is included as an extra, the sequence remains excised from the main presentation.

All video footage on the Blu-ray is presented in HD, scanned at 2K. The short sequence of the Man with a Lantern from the Hampton print is deleted in this version. Also, the closing credits card in the Eastman Print for the cast is deleted.

It is directed by Kevin Brownlow and narrated by Kenneth Branagh. A booklet accompanies the discs describing the production and restoration of the film.

A DVD version is also available. The first Blu-ray has 24fps and 20fps versions of the Eastman Print like the Image Blu-ray, but nothing else. The 20fps version is now using the 24p progressive frame rate supported by the Blu-ray format. The 20fps version also appears to have been noticeably cleaned up compared to the Image Blu-ray and even the 24fps version has minor improvements and corrects tinting errors. Because these versions share a dual-layered disc, their bitrates are higher than the older Image versions.

The 20fps version is displayed progressively at 24p or In order to do this, every fifth frame is repeated once to make up the extra 4 frames needed by the format. The reason this is done for this and many other silent films is because the Blu-ray format does not officially recognize any other progressive frame rate except for Killiam was a comedian in vogue in the s who did much to help preserve silent film.

His print was duplicated directly from the Eastman Print and I believe eventually found its way into David Sherpard's Blackhawk Film archive. The 20fps version on the Kino Blu-ray is a slowed down version of Killiam's print. The old 20fps version on the Image Blu-ray was duplicated from Killiam's copy, making it as a source a generation further away from the Eastman Print. This is one reason why it looks rather rough. Neither version on the Kino disc shows the tint colors in the pillarboxes on the sides of the video, which was a flaw on the Image Blu-ray.

There was a sychronization issue with the Thibedeau score on the Image Blu-ray which was mostly fixed on the Kino Blu-ray. The only issue that was not fixed was the slow motion ballerinas. The ballerina sequence at the beginning of the film was stretch printed on the print Image and Kino used.

Stretch printing slow downs the action shown on film by duplicating frames when prints are made. Fortunately this issue lasts only for a minute or two to on the Kino 20fps version for example and does not affect any other portion of the film. I think the ballet music used in this scene goes on for too long and spills into the next scene.

The Alloy Orchestra's score on the 24fps version is much better timed to the action. Unfortunately, the Carter score on the 24fps version is totally out of sync for the first 11 minutes of the film. The correct music plays about a minute and a forty-five seconds later than it should.

The music for the ballerinas start to play at the end of the next scene with the managers. This sync issue may have occurred on the first version of the Image Blu-ray but did not on the second.

All the extras and the Hampton print are on the second Blu-ray disc, which is also dual layered. The extras are mostly the same as on the Image Blu-ray with three extras.

The Hampton Print is now in i, but it is an upscaled version of the i version found on the Image Blu-ray. However, it is better to have the upscaling done by professional software instead of the Blu-ray player or the TV, and the film uses much more of the disc on the Kino than the Image. Essentially, if the old Image disc is version 1. Video Quality. All discs except for the Laserdisc have a speed-corrected transfer of the film to 20 frames per second. Sound films use 24 frames per seconds, but silent films generally were projected at frames per second.

Milestone's Eastman Print has a serious issue with ghosting and jittery movement, probably due to frame rate differences between the PAL video master and its conversion to NTSC video. Image's Blu-ray versions suffer from some unnatural slowdown during the opening ballet sequences and speedup in the first scene in the manager's office, but are otherwise without motion issues unless they are in the original print. As befitting Blu-ray, the Eastman Print on either disc looks much sharper than any DVD or Laserdisc due to the high definition transfer.

One example of this is that it is easy to identify in which shots except for long shots Chaney is wearing his mask with painted on eyes and which shots he is using a different mask with cutouts for his eyes. However, sometimes the focus is soft, so you should not expect razor sharp clarity in every frame.

As has been noted by others, the Image 24fps version had some amount of post-processing work done to reduce the scratches and wear on the print. However, no attempt was made on either Image version to remove large hairs that pop in the edges of the frame, large scratches or a broken film perforation fragment which appears as Christine meets the Phantom for the first time.

People have stated that the Image 20fps version, while looking more worn, also looks more natural and less processed. Milestone and BFI seem to have made attempts to clean up their video presentation of the major blemishes and scratches. There is no broken film perforations in these versions. Milestone and BFI substituted 16mm footage from the Hampton print for most of the scene where Christine is in her room in the Phantom's lair.

This was due to the nitrate decomposition damage already present on the Eastman Print. Image DVD and Blu-ray used the 35mm footage instead. The 35mm footage here is not as sharp or clear due to the mottling, but still sharper and has better continuity with the 35mm footage preceding and following it.

When Photoplay Productions created the video broadcast master used by Channel Four, Photoplay or Channel Four must have deleted it as it would be baffling to the uninformed viewer. The footage is tinted. Image Blu-ray recreated the Handschiegl process for the face of the Rat catcher and to visualize the heat in the torture chamber.

While I was previously aware of the possibility of some Handschiegl work for the rat catcher's scarf, I was not aware that there was the possibility of the Handschiegl process being used for his face or the torture chamber. Both recreate the process for the Phantom's costume when he is on the roof, but the result is noticeably different. Milestone's left border is fuzzy, but Image's is sharper.

Image's may have a sliver less of information in the video frame as a result. The BFI has a sharp border and a sliver more information than Image. The Technicolor footage of the Bal Masque came from a different source and will be in a true 1. While the tinting is the same color on the Image 24fps and 20fps there are fluctions in the saturation levels between the two prints in some scenes. The scene where we first encounter Florine Papillon, Snitz Edwards' character, is very orange in the 24fps and much more sepia in the 20fps.

The BFI Blu-ray tints are often extremely saturated, especially the blue for night scenes and the purple for opera cellar scenes. There is a frame rate issue inherent in the Eastman Print. The vast majority of the footage was shot in at silent speed. This should be projected correctly at 20fps. The footage shot in would have been shot in sound speed. This means that the Opening Titles where the phantom is skulking in the frame , The Man with a Lantern scene and the shots of Mary Fabian as Carlotta singing should be ideally projected at 24fps especially for the latter if it is to be synchronized to the existing audio.

The shots where Christine is singing just before she is abducted by the Phantom may also be from The BFI handles this by running these sequences at a true 24 frames per second while running the rest of the film at 20 frames per second.

Hampton Prints. Milestone is a straight black and white presentation of a show-at-home print. Previously this version existed on the Laserdisc and really poor public domain releases. I would advise lowering the contrast a bit when watching it. There are combing artifacts due to the interlacing. Image apparently added tints to their presentation. Universal would not have gone to the extra expense of tinting 16mm inexpensive show at home prints.

Both Milestone and Image are in standard definition. Despite what the back of the Image Blu-ray case says, they used a 16mm source for the version. We have posted this in good faith with the records available to us. We will gladly remove the content if proven otherwise.

Browse more videos. Playing next Lon Chaney as Phantom in Phantom of the Opera Quality Information Publishers. Musical-Tipp: Phantom der Oper. Cinthia Blunt. Elise Browne. Helene Fischer - Phantom Der Oper -. Phantom der Oper - Usagi and Mamoru.

It appears your browser does not have it turned on. Please see your browser settings for this feature. EMBED for wordpress. Want more? Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! At the Opera of Paris, a mysterious phantom threatens a famous lyric singer, Carlotta and thus forces her to give up her role Marguerite in Faust for unknown Christine Daae.

Christine meets this phantom a masked man in the catacombs, where he lives. Contact Information www. Reviewer: sethhalp52 aol. At least they cut the final scene with the idiot boyfriend when they released the version.

Erik may have been a loser but the girl obviously had no cultural taste. Reviewer: Tyler J. Anderson - favorite - October 14, Subject: This is the restored version of the film which may be a better quality print, but is not a better quality film. The version has a superior storyline and it can be found here. So far the best is the milestone "The Ultimate Edition" it contains both versions and the is remastered to near perfect quality.

I finally watched this movie again after 24 years of Chaney's Phantom scaring me nearly to death; but I love the Phantom character and love silent movies, so I'm glad love conquered all and I finally got to see it AND enjoy it! To fully appreciate it, one must try to avoid being over-exposed to the now-commonly-seen unmasked face of the Phantom, and know something about the times in which it was made. My father first saw the original release in as an year-old boy, and confirmed that the audiences indeed were scared out of their wits with screams, faintings, and general histronics.

Lest I sound like a blind admirer, know that I very much disliked the oft-mentioned "wooden" performances of Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry Christine and Raoul respectively , as well as the botched, horrible direction by the mediocre director Rupert Julian, or the tragical re-editing and cutting of the original footage.

Nonetheless wanted to give the film 5 stars for what saves and immortalizes: Chaney's performance alone and the wonderfully creepy, shadowy atmosphere it portrays. It's a fact that Chaney and Julian did NOT get along, and I've heard that it was actually Chaney himself who directed the unmasking scene and who also insisted that all advance advertising had the unmasked Phantom's face covered.

Looking forward to a full-size theater showing around Halloween with complete theater organ accompaniment!

Reviewer: PhantomSith - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 11, Subject: To answer a question Ormon, to answer your question, this Version of the Infamous Phantom of the Opera is now public domain due to the plan and simple fact that Universal Studios did not renew the copyright of this film in Just so you all know, the original Version which is in rough shape and strictly Black and White is far better then the re-release of , which has color.

I've compared the two, and there are significant changes. This one, which appears to be Original is the best of two. If you've seen both and like the other better All I got to say is: "Whatever floats your boat. Can anyone tell me how this work fell into the public domain, if it did.