Mary dreaded the experience of seeing one of her old films amid a mid-Fifties audience, which she feared would find the film a subject of comical curiosity rather than a piece of genuinely enthralling entertainment. Management had obtained a print of this film in acceptable condition, though I don't recall that the Technicolor sequence had been preserved in that print and, on that evening anyway, there was no musical accompaniment. and the site of Grauman's Chinese Theater and other first-run movie palaces, to see a revival of 'The Phantom of the Opera.' That old theater, not in the least luxurious and quite small, was a virtual shrine for lovers of silent films. (They took a trip to Europe one summer, for instance.) One evening she persuaded Mary, who was extremely reluctant, by the way, to accompany us to the silent movie theater on Fairfax Ave., not far from Hollywood Blvd.

Our mutual friend was constantly prodding Miss Philbin, who had become quite reclusive after retiring from the screen, to get out and enjoy life.

She was a friend of an unforgettable lady our family had met when we moved from New England to southern California. My goodness.close to fifty years ago I saw this film in the company of its leading lady, Mary Philbin.

Red death phantom of the opera costume