The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1923)

Starring Lon Chaney, Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Kate Lester, Winifred Bryson
Directed by Wallace Worsley
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The deformed hunchback and bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, Quasimodo, falls for the beautiful young gypsy, Esmeralda, when she shows him kindness, but other men also desire her. 

Another of Lon Chaney's great performances and makeups is showcased in this lively adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel, with plenty of spectacle and large crowd scenes also on display.  As the hunchback, though he does engender pathos in his scenes with Miller, the actor plays a particularly vengeful creature, suiting his bestial makeup, jagged teeth, and scowling one-eyed face.  I don't think there've been many faithful adaptations of Hugo's novel, and this has a number of departures, replacing Arch-Deacon Frollo with his brother as the story's primary villain, and conjuring a happy ending for the film, replacing the story's downbeat and tragic coda.  Nonetheless, it recaptures many key sequences from the novel, and Chaney's energetic performance is one for the ages.

The Phantom Of The Opera (1925)

Starring Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland
Directed by Rupert Julian
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The Paris Opera House is haunted by the mysterious phantom, who promises dire consequences if his protege is not allowed to star in the opera.

This silent classic features one of Chaney's best performances in my opinion, highlighted by an incredible makeup, the revelation of which is one of the great moments in cinema.  The other filmed versions of Gaston Leroux's story featured scarred and increasingly gory makeups but they don't compare to this one, which is still truly frightening almost a century later, a tribute to Chaney's craft as an actor and the tortuous contortions he put his body through to make him the "man of a thousand faces."  Unlike the other Phantoms, Chaney also hides his face for most of the film behind a full expressionless mask, making the pantomime of his gestures and other movements paramount in selling the character to the audience.  The film's famous color sequence, in which Chaney dons an impressive bleached skull mask or makeup is also effective in displaying his menace.  I'd have to say the rest of the cast is not in the same league as Chaney, but the sets are elaborate and fantastic, with the shadowy catacombs beneath the opera house, with their dark corners, hidden trap doors, and lavish dressings making a marvelous background for the Phantom's villainy.