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Rupert Julian, Universal, 1925, after Gaston Leroux. Lon Chaney as Erik, the composer under the Paris Opera; Mary Philbin as Christine; Norman Kerry as Raoul. Chaney designed his own makeup: wire, cotton, paint, a raised brow. The Bal Masque was shot in two-color Technicolor, the red death moving through a black-and-white house. AFI records multiple recuts after previews, with added scenes by Edward Sedgwick. The unmasking is the point of the picture, and Chaney holds still for it; National Film Registry, 1998.
In three programmes
The camera is what the mask is for. Chaney designed his own face, then holds still while Christine pulls the mask off, and the shot is framed so you get it before she does. The Bal Masqué is two-color Technicolor in a black-and-white house: the Red Death coming down the stairs at a party that thinks he is in costume.
The Supernatural and the Occult
A ruined face under a mask. Chaney built it from wire and cotton and held still while Christine pulled the mask off. The Bal Masqué is Technicolor: the Red Death on the stairs at a party that cannot tell costume from warning. The unmasking is why the film exists.
Lon Chaney: The Man of a Thousand Faces
Wire, cotton, paint, a raised brow, and a man who holds still while the mask comes off. Chaney designed the face and then had the sense to let it be seen once. The Bal Masqué is in color. The unmasking is why anyone still books it, and he knew that when he built it.
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