:12:01
"Tell Rupert to go to hell."
:12:04
Van Enger cautioned Julian to beware,
:12:06
lest an arc lamp
"accidentally" drop from the rafters.
:12:11
Norman Kerry, on horseback one day,
became so angry at Julian
:12:15
that he charged the director's platform,
riding down the cameras.
:12:20
Julian's wife, Elsie Jane Wilson,
punctured his pomposity constantly,
:12:25
endearing her to the crew and
smoothing production considerably.
:12:30
If the behind-the-scenes battles
were colourful, so was the film itself.
:12:34
The new two-colour Technicolor process
was used for scenes of spectacle.
:12:39
With over $500,000 spent and the New
York opening set for February 1925,
:12:45
a January preview was a disaster.
:12:48
Laemmle fired his general manager.
:12:51
Rupert Julian walked out.
:12:53
Director Edward Sedgwick, a Western
specialist, reshot 60 per cent of the film.
:12:58
Action and comedy would save the day.
:13:01
Kerry now had Ward Crane as a Russian
count to duel with for Philbin's affections,
:13:06
and comedian Chester Conklin
to duel wits with.
:13:10
In April, San Francisco got an eyeful.
:13:13
Gales of laughter greeted the movie.
:13:15
"The story drags to the point of nausea,"
said one critic.
:13:19
The picture was pulled.
Laemmle fired the new general manager,
:13:24
and entrusted Phantom's salvation
to a woman, director Lois Weber.
:13:29
She supervised the cut-and-paste
of all Phantom footage.
:13:33
In the preview version, Erique's soul
had been redeemed by Christine's kiss,
:13:38
and he died literally of a broken heart.
:13:46
Western director Sedgwick
had preferred frontier justice.
:13:49
Lois Weber cut to the chase.