Das Phantom der Oper (lost "The Phantom of the Opera" first-adaptation silent film; 1916)
The Phantom Of The Opera (Das Phantom der Oper), released in 1916, is considered to be the first movie adaptation of the famous Gaston Leroux novel.
Most of what is known that is known is that it was made in Austria in 1916, written and directed by Ernst Matray, starring Nils Olaf Chrisander as the Phantom and Aud Egede-Nissen as Christine.
This adaptation, judging by vintage accounts is relatively close to Leroux's version, including scenes where Erik the Phantom coerces Christine to marry him so that she will not leave after seeing his frightful appearance. The film does differ somewhat in some respects in relation to the finale, where the water trap that Erik has placed Christine's true love, Raoul, into, has been replaced by a small room that heats up extremely hot like a furnace, whilst Erik orders Christine to give her love to him. In another deviation, unlike the novel, Christine does not accept. Instead, Raoul and his male companion find a small opening in the room, which allows them to escape, find Christine and flee together. The boiler to the trap overheats and explodes, killing Erik in the blast, which differs from his much more peaceful death in the novel. Afterwards, Raoul's friend reveals he had discovered that Erik was the original designer of the opera house himself, holed up inside his own creation due to society's shunning of him.
The film was shown throughout Austria and the Netherlands, from 1916 and 1917, it was then most likely returned to the studio where it obviously was either misplaced or destroyed, leaving much information about it a mystery for close to a century, until 2013, when user Doctor Kiss on the Monsterkidclassichorror website forum posted multiple articles, promotional fliers and clippings which revealed the entire plot of the film. However, any actual stills or footage from the movie have still yet to surface.