So, I must admit I wasn’t totally against the concept of Terror Inc. Additional dubbing was added to this new, “improved” semi-talky version of the silent classic.

The 1929 edit also committed a revision of Lucas-proportions by featuring newly shot scenes with original actors Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry speaking their dialogue for the first time (Chaney was unavailable for the reshoots). The film has appeared with various soundtracks, in tinted and untinted versions, and two distinct edits with alternate title cards and shots and running times that differ by fifteen minutes. That’s because Lon Chaney’s The Phantom of the Opera (1925) has a long and rich history of being monkeyed with. We’re all cinephiles here, right? So it’s OK to assume we all agree that it’s criminal to tamper with a classic film unnecessarily, whether you’re a doofus zillionaire who decides It’s a Wonderful Life is somehow inferior in black & white or a curmudgeonly geek who insists on constantly “upgrading” his own films with off-putting digital effects and freshly dubbed cries of “Nooooooo!” Yet- and bear with me here- the first truly great American horror feature may be an exception to this rule.

Phantom of the opera songs 1925