The Phantom of the Opera

The original 1925 silent film of the same name was re-released with sound in 1929, using Vitaphone / Western Electric sound disks that were played in theaters. Approximately 40% of the film was re-shot in synchronous sound, and the rest of the footage had music or soundtrack added, or was dubbed over. Lon Chaney was not available for this new footage, and contractually Universal was not allowed to have vocal synchronizations of the Phantom because of this. However, the studio had third-person lines written and dubbed over shots of the Phantom's shadow. The actor who spoke these lines is uncredited, but it is probably Universal regular Phillips Smalley. Also included in this re-release is a singing sequence with opera star Mary Fabian in the role of Carlotta. In this re-edited version, Virginia Pearson, who played Carlotta in the silent 1925 version, is credited and referred to as "Carlotta's Mother" instead.