Thursday, October 07, 2010

Movieland Wax Museum- Phantom of the Opera

Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin starred together in the 1925 horror film Phantom of the Opera. In this tableau from the Movieland Wax Museum we see the iconic reveal scene. Philbin is Christine Daae who has pulled the phantom's mask off and he is not too pleased with it. It is a very dark scene, as it belongs to the museum's "Chamber of Horrors" section.


With the flash on, we can see more detail in both the figures and the set.


Christine doesn't look too scared. in fact, she looks rather amused. It's another example of the difficulty in creating expression on wax figures.


The Phantom does looks angry. His disfigured face adds to the ominous mood of the entire tableau.


The clapboard sign and wax facts information on the movie, and on Lon Chaney.

The figures were not sold at the movieland auction. Instead, they moved to the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. An alternate phantom figure did sell at the auction for $4,000, which was very high for a figure that was not from Movieland. The organ and props sold for $1,250.

BONUS: Watch this movie here. (Courtesy of Archive.org)






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