A number of scenes were filmed but not included in the final cut. The 1931 Universal film followed this construct and the first genuine American horror film dealing with the supernatural was created. With Bela Lugosi in the title role, American audiences needed very little convincing. But the late 1920s play, DRACULA, based on the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker, didn’t flinch and insisted right to the end that vampires were real. Here’s an atmospheric photo of Chaney as the vampire (aka “the man in the beaver hat”) and Edna Tichenor as a “bat girl,” which may simply be a posed photo or an actual scene that was cut:Īmerican “horror” films of the silent era – the genre really was not established during that time – always explained away the supernatural events as caused by scheming humans. Only shots that actually were used in the final edit are listed in the continuity script so photos of scenes not listed were likely cut.
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Since the film can no longer be viewed, we have as a guide the existing continuity script that showed film editors how to assemble copies of the film back in ’27. who plays a dual role in this murder mystery where one of the suspects is a vampire(!). MGM gave the nascent horror film genre a try during the silent era with LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927), perhaps the most famous “lost film” of all time. The two photos below show the unused ending, inspired by the novel’s ending, where poor Erik dies of a broken heart. On a lighter note, scenes showing playboy Raoul De Chagney (Norman Kerry) flirting with the ballerinas were likewise cut:Įven creating a satisfying ending for PHANTOM proved difficult. In the finished work, Simon not only survives, but leads the angry mob to invade the Phantom’s underground lair and force him out to a watery grave. In this discarded scene, Erik strikes among the opera patrons as one of the stagehands, Simon Buquet (Gibson Gowland), is found dead on the Grand Staircase in the lobby. It seems that there were problems in deciding who the Phantom’s victims should be. Things do not go as planned as you can see, and we know that eventually even the Erik the Phantom (Chaney, of course) shows up: Among the deleted scenes is this one below where Christine Daae (Mary Philbin) and Raoul (Norman Kerry) meet secretly in a cemetery.
The filming was a muddle and many scenes were discarded after preview audiences reacted unfavorably. created an unforgettable character that, like HUNCHBACK, was based on a hugely successful novel by another Frenchman, Gaston Leroux. Next we return to 1925 and the film that many regard as the granddaddy of American horror films: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. His efforts don’t go well with the shopkeeper and he ends up attacking the man:
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Later, when released to local neighborhood theatres, the movie was shortened and among the excised footage was this touching scene where Quasimodo (Chaney) attempts to buy some clothes for Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller). This scene was included in the original “Road Show” exhibitions in major cities when the film was first released. This film has been recently restored by Universal on Blu-ray and 4K. Let’s began with a curious scene from Lon Chaney, Sr.’s THE HUNCHBACKOF NOTRE DAME (1923), based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo. I have taken the liberty of creating color version of these great B&W photos much in the same way that the old Hollywood studios themselves turned their b/w photos into the glorious colorized lobby cards. Our tour begins in 1923 and ends in 1935. For this Halloween I thought we would marvel and be mystified with these “orphan” sequences that were deemed unsuitable for the finished product for one reason or another.Īlas, the sequences themselves no longer exist but a number of 8×10-inch stills have survived to hint at what was deleted. With every innovation in home entertainment, these Universal Pictures monsters were in the forefront – from the old days of broadcast TV, then VHS, and then DVDs, more recently Blu-ray, and most recently, 4K transfers, not to mention video streaming – these guys just won’t go away.Īnd as familiar as many of us are with these classics through repeated viewings, it may come as a surprise that there were some scenes filmed but left on the proverbial cutting room floor. If there’s one thing that is more indestructible in film history than Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Phantom of the Opera, it has to be the films themselves.