The Phantom of the Opera

There were many fingers in this pie during production, most of them no longer on the credits, which doubtless accounts for its hobbling exposition and the pathetic scenes that separate its highpoints. But the highs are way up there with the best in the tradition of Gothic fantasy: Chaney's best ever phantom, his face scarred to hell by acid, unmasked at the organ by the timorous heroine; the phantom stopping a costume ball when he appears as the Red Death; the phantom shrouded in the most romantic cape ever seen, perched on top of the statue of Apollo to eavesdrop on the lovers. And the sustained crescendo of the end is still unrivalled.