A disfigured musical genius lives in the vaulted cellar of the Paris Opera and molds a young singer into a star in order to win her love. Lon Chaney’s self-designed skull makeup was kept secret until the premiere; the reveal scene is considered one of the iconic images of the silent film era. Following the success of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, this was Laemmle’s second major Chaney project and the film that established the “horror” genre at Universal as a distinct, profitable format—a direct precursor to Dracula and Frankenstein.