Lon Chaney-The Face that Launched 1000 Nightmares
While I work on my Marx Phantom of the Opera figure for the MONSTERS vs MADNESS Auction, I thought I'd take a quick break from painting, to talk about how/when I was 'introduced' to Lon Chaney.
It's kind of a funny story and it begins when I was 8 or 9 years old in 1974/75. I used to watch Horror movies at night with my mom while we waited for my Dad to get home from work - usually around midnight. I would get to stay up (if I'd been good that day) until we saw the lights from my Dad's car pull up to the house...then I had to run upstairs, climb into bed (the top bunk) without waking up my younger brother who was asleep in the bottom bunk....but it didn't always work. Sometimes, my Dad would come upstairs, change out of his work clothes and check on us, and THAT'S when I would have to pull out my best acting chops and pretend to be asleep. I don't think I ever fooled him, but it was fun as hell, thinking that I fooled him! Friday and Saturday nights were the best, because it was on those particular nights there would be a special Horror movie on T.V. This particular evening they were showing The Phantom of the Opera on PBS-I born and raised in Rhode Island so our PBS station was out of Boston, Massachusetts and they would show some pretty exciting and obscure movies that are some of my favorites to this day.
I was in for a treat my mother said, I was going to be watching my first SILENT Horror Film...AND I was going to have to read?!
TORTURE CHAMBERS?!! My Mom never said anything about that!, I was totally excited to see THAT! But imagine my surprise when I had to sit through 45 minutes of boring crap to actually SEE the Phantom and ANYTHING creepy or scary! It was torturous for a 8 year old, let me tell you.
The first time we see the Phantom, he's just a shadow....I was not impressed.
When we FINALLY see the Phantom after about 30 min. of boring crap, 8 year old me was NOT impressed by any means - on top of this being a silent film. the PHANTOM is wearing a stupid looking mask, and its not even a SCARY mask!
GROSS...BORING!!!
I guess he wasn't playing Bach's TOCCATA AND FUGUE IN D MINOR like we always thought.
Well, needless to say I SHIT my pants right about here, and I became a Lon Chaney fan.
Little Kenny was shitting his pants in delight....
FINALLY! it was getting good!...I was suddenly awake and alert, waiting to see more of him. Since I was watching this on TV in the 1970's on local PBS station, I wasn't seeing all the tinted scenes OR the TECHNICOLOR Ball scene, I'd have to wait another 12 to 15 years before I saw that and have my mind blown.
This film had a major impact on me in ways that are pretty astounding, now that I think about it. It was the first SILENT film I ever saw, sat through AND enjoyed. I had only seen SILENT Comedy shorts prior, never an entire film. It made me want to see more and read as much as I could about them...it basically triggered a monster mania, that continues to this day.
So who would have thought, 20 years later I would get to design and manufacture action figures of the PHANTOM with my own company... pretty exciting stuff for a kid from a small New England town. I also amassed quite a collection of Classic Horror film reference materials and toys. Some of which I will share here and in future posts.
LOBBY CARDS
GLASS SLIDES
These would be the Film Previews that would be shown on the screen prior to the start of the feature
I love these photos of the Phantom, because you can clearly see what Lon did to his face using simple greasepaint, some mortician's wax for his cheeks, pulling his nose up with fish-skin (tape), gluing his ears back and the elongated skull cap & wig...to create this 'nightmare-fuel'... great stuff.
I'll end this post with a quick trip down memory lane-which still bums me out to this day. It was Christmas 1975 and I received the coolest puzzle of the Phantom of the Opera, which glowed in the dark! I was in heaven and couldn't wait to put it together and glue it to some cardboard so I could hang it on my wall. But since it was Christmas, I had mountain of other stuff to be distracted by, so I only spent a little time on it. Christmas break was over and we went back to school. It was January 8, 1976 and when I came home from school I discovered we had a fire that pretty much destroyed the first floor of our house..including ALL our Christmas presents...which included my Phantom of the Opera Puzzle! I was devastated.
I've spent YEARS trying to track one down so I could finally put the damn thing together and have come close a few times.Sadly, I can never seem to find a complete puzzle in the box that I'm willing to pay asking price for...So, I keep my eyes and ears open, hoping to locate one so that I can finally put it together, watch it glow, making 10 year old me VERY happy.
Fingers crossed.
Now it's back to painting my Phantom of the Opera figure for The MONSTERS & MADNESS Auction!
