A The Phantom of the Opera group of stills

Universal Pictures, 1925. Comprising 21 silver gelatin photographs, many of which are the earliest known prints, of scenes, portraits, and behind-the-scenes stills featuring Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, director Rupert Julian, and many others, housed in a 3-ring binder.

A selection of photographs from the 5 lots available exhibit a shorter production number (4159) at the lower left corner which identifies these photographs as being from the earliest printings distributed among cast and production management. The consignor purchased these particular stills in the 1990s from a vendor who indicated they were from Mary Philbin's personal collection. Each of the 5 lots includes stills from deleted scenes such as the original ending in which the Phantom dies of a broken heart, and other cut scenes including those from the deleted subplot where a Russian count vies for the attention of Christine. Each lot also contains doubleweight photo(s) of Mary Philbin signed by photographer ("Schellenberg") to lower right.
Binder: 11.75 x 11.75 x 3 in.; photographs: 8 x 10 in.