The cast is good, but the material labors.

don't understand the title, but a good performance by John Gilbert

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

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John Gilbert, Jean Hersholt, Leila Hyams, and Lewis Stone in The Phantom of Paris (1931)

It's a mischievous god that makes women. He has too much fun.

John Gilbert in The Phantom of Paris (1931)

John Gilbert and Leila Hyams in The Phantom of Paris (1931)

John Gilbert and Natalie Moorhead in The Phantom of Paris (1931)

John Gilbert

Leila Hyams

Lewis Stone

Gaston Leroux

Edwin Justus Mayer

John Meehan

Cheri-Bibi is an escape artist wrongly imprisoned for murdering the wealthy father of his admirer Cecile. The real murderer is Cecile&apos;s fiancé, so how will Bibi escape his death sentence and win back Cecile?

John S. Robertson

The Phantom of Paris

John Gilbert Speaks Up at MGM

Handsome &quot;disappearing artist&quot; John Gilbert (as Chéri-Bibi) entertains wealthy Parisians with his sensational Houdini-like escapes. Off-stage, Mr. Gilbert courts pretty Leila Hyams (as Cecile). When her father is murdered, Gilbert is accused and jailed. You will likely suspect the killer is sneaky Ian Keith (as the Marquis du Touchais), Gilbert&apos;s rival for Ms. Hyams&apos; hand in marriage. As expected, Gilbert escapes from prison, vowing to solve the crime and clear his name. Eventually, he assumes a startling new identity, stepping into the &quot;Marquis&quot; character played by Mr. Keith...

How Gilbert passes for Keith strains credulity, but this is an otherwise fine mystery. &quot;The Phantom of Paris&quot; was the fourth, but first really good film in Gilbert&apos;s famously unsuccessful career in talking pictures. It was originally slated to star the recently deceased &quot;man of a thousand faces&quot; Lon Chaney. Gilbert, who surprised &quot;talkie&quot; audiences with a more high pitched voice than expected, had been excellent in &quot;The Show&quot; (1927), another Chaney-like role...

You can hear how Gilbert records poorly on the larger soundstages. But, it&apos;s also evident he and MGM had been working on the voice. Note how Gilbert seems to enjoy showing off his &quot;deep&quot; voice against the squeaky &quot;cigarette case&quot; actor (Tyrell Davis), apparently employed to show off his more high-pitched tone. Gilbert tries some weird acting tricks - like, what the heck is he doing with the knob of that chair while hiding in Jean Hersholt&apos;s basement? - but, in a challenging (almost dual) role, Gilbert clearly reveals a potential for greatness as a credible actor in the changing medium.

******* The Phantom of Paris (9/12/31) John S. Robertson ~ John Gilbert, Leila Hyams, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt

Handsome "disappearing artist" John Gilbert (as Chéri-Bibi) entertains wealthy Parisians with his sensational Houdini-like escapes. Off-stage, Mr. Gilbert courts pretty Leila Hyams (as Cecile). When her father is murdered, Gilbert is accused and jailed. You will likely suspect the killer is sneaky Ian Keith (as the Marquis du Touchais), Gilbert's rival for Ms. Hyams' hand in marriage. As expected, Gilbert escapes from prison, vowing to solve the crime and clear his name. Eventually, he assumes a startling new identity, stepping into the "Marquis" character played by Mr. Keith...

How Gilbert passes for Keith strains credulity, but this is an otherwise fine mystery. "The Phantom of Paris" was the fourth, but first really good film in Gilbert's famously unsuccessful career in talking pictures. It was originally slated to star the recently deceased "man of a thousand faces" Lon Chaney. Gilbert, who surprised "talkie" audiences with a more high pitched voice than expected, had been excellent in "The Show" (1927), another Chaney-like role...

You can hear how Gilbert records poorly on the larger soundstages. But, it's also evident he and MGM had been working on the voice. Note how Gilbert seems to enjoy showing off his "deep" voice against the squeaky "cigarette case" actor (Tyrell Davis), apparently employed to show off his more high-pitched tone. Gilbert tries some weird acting tricks - like, what the heck is he doing with the knob of that chair while hiding in Jean Hersholt's basement? - but, in a challenging (almost dual) role, Gilbert clearly reveals a potential for greatness as a credible actor in the changing medium.

******* The Phantom of Paris (9/12/31) John S. Robertson ~ John Gilbert, Leila Hyams, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt

Cheri-Bibi is an escape artist wrongly imprisoned for murdering the wealthy father of his admirer Cecile. The real murderer is Cecile's fiancé, so how will Bibi escape his death sentence and win back Cecile?

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