LON CHANEY AS THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (paperback)

Lon Chaney became a top star with his portrayal in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923. Carl Laemmle announced to his exhibitor's, in 1924, that Chaney would sign to do one more pictures before he started his contract with the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn company. To capitalize on the Hunchback's huge success he wanted to combine the names Victor Hugo and Lon Chaney and proudly stated that the project was Victor Hugo's "The Man Who Laughs". Meanwhile at Universal City, treatments and scripts were being prepared and contracts between Chaney and Universal were being drawn up by Universal's lawyers Loeb and Loeb. All was going smoothly until Laemmle returned to California and found out that no one had secured the rights to The Man Who Laughs. The production came to a dead stop. Chaney suggested The Phantom of the Opera and Laemmle happily agreed, since he could still use the standing sets from the Hunchback and having met with Gaston Leroux, the author of the Phantom he was familiar with t