November 1 will be a landmark day for we fans of the Universal Monsters. It will mark the debut of the very first of the classic films to be released on Blu-ray. The Robert Julian (among uncredited others) directed Phantom of the Opera, starring the “Man of a Thousand Faces”, Lon Chaney, in the title role, will arrive on Blu sporting two brand new transfers of the film, distributed by Image Entertainment. Details have yet to be officially released but producer David Shepard has revealed some juicy tidbits on the nitrateville.com forums:
- “This will be Blu-Ray, mastered at Movietone aperture from much better 35mm material than we have ever used before. There will be two complete runs of the 1929 version: one at 24 fps with a new score by the Alloy Orchestra and an optional score on theatre pipe organ by Gaylord Carter, previously issued in monaural but now in stereo from the original master stereo recording; the second run at 20 fps with orchestra/soprano score by Gabriel Thibadeau and an optional new audio essay by Jon Mirsalis. Both runs will include the Technicolor sequence mastered from our 35mm YCM labs negative and hand colored scenes on the opera roof and in the scene of “intolerable heat.” The program will also include a standard definition transfer of the original 1925 edit from a tinted 16mm print in the usual deplorable quality but with a superb new score by Frederick Hodges. Extras will include (as still images) set construction and production stills, publicity stills, original advertising art, frames from a stencil-colored French release, and the complete script.“
- “The new edition does contain some of the same stuff (as the Image Laserdisc): the script (now reset), stills (there are more), the Gaylord Carter score (now in stereo) all improved; then, of course, there is the movie: new HD transfers at two speeds from far superior material to our previous source with sharpness and subtlety of middle tones which left me amazed, two brand new scores, an audio essay, an interview with the composer, and more.
No, the Blackhawk intro titles (from the Image Laserdisc) will not be included.
I wouldn’t want to write my own review but I suspect that everyone…will be very impressed.
“David mentions that the Image disc will be Region A locked. The same material will be published in the UK by Park Circus and be locked to Region B. He adds that the Image package art is “wonderful”, though they’ve yet to release it to the public.
It should be noted that this won’t be the one and only version of the film to hit Blu in North America. Dennis Doros of Milestone Films announced in the same forum that his company, responsible for one of the most complete and feature-rich DVD editions of the film (now, sadly, out-of-print) will be releasing their own Blu-ray disc sometime next year. He notes, “There’s a few more surprises, hopefully, and reason to have several copies.” I’m interested to see how this all pans out, as Shepard’s discs don’t cover all potential ground with the various versions of the film and available extras. Notably, the Milestone BD should include the Scott McQueen commentary track from their OOP DVD – enough reason for me to own a second copy on Blu.
Phantom of the Opera (Fantasia Festival 2011 Poster Art) by Donald Caron
But back to the Image disc, available November 1st. I had the pleasure of catching one of the Gala performances of The Phantom of the Opera Blu-ray that closed out the Fantasia Festival in Montreal this year. A beautiful 35mm print courtesy of Cinémathèque Québécoise was screened with live accompaniment from a 30-piece orchestra. The music was composed and conducted by Gabriel Thibaudeau – the very score that will be featured on the new Blu-ray disc from Image! I have to say, I thought it was right on the money. It was almost perfect. Only a couple of small missteps (one vocal cue that dragged beyond the picture and synthetic sounds that could’ve used some additional tweaking.) For a preview of what you’ll hear on the Blu, watch the video interview with Thibaudeau (sadly, all in French without subs) embedded below. Here’s hoping Image has licensed the Donald Caron poster painting from the fest (above) for their package art. It’s pretty stunning, don’t you think?
The Phantom of the Opera Blu-ray is available for pre-order on Amazon.com right now for only $27.99.
