Phantom of the Paradise
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| Phantom of the Paradise | |
|---|---|
 Original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Brian De Palma |
| Produced by | Edward R. Pressman |
| Written by | Brian De Palma |
| Starring | Paul Williams William Finley Jessica Harper George Memmoli |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | October 31, 1974 |
| Running time | 92 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,300,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Phantom of the Paradise is a 1974 muscial, horror-thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The story is a loosely adapted mixture of Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Picture of Dorian Grey and Faust. The film was marketed with the tagline He's been maimed and framed, beaten, robbed and mutilated. But they still can't keep him from the woman he loves. Initially a box office failure and panned by critics, it has since gained a cult following.
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[edit] Plot summary
The story follows a music composer and singer named Winslow Leach (played by William Finley). Winslow's pop cantata "Faust" is stolen by Satanic record producer, Swan (played by Paul Williams). Winslow tries to get it back, and along the way falls for Phoenix, an aspiring singer (played by Jessica Harper). Swan orders his minions to frame Winslow for drug dealing.
In prison, after his teeth are removed and replaced with metal, Winslow goes berserk, escapes and tries to destroy Swan's record factory. His face is mutilated and voice ruined in a record press accident. Winslow sneaks into Swan's concert hall, the Paradise, and wears a mask and dark costume so he can terrorize Swan's musicians.
Winslow confronts Swan, who offers the composer the chance to have his music produced and the return of his voice, in exchange for signing a contract in blood. Winslow agrees, on the condition that Phoenix is the lead singer.
Swan becomes infatuated with Phoenix, but breaks the deal and puts a gay male prima donna named Beef (Gerrit Graham) in the lead of Winslow's "Faust". Winslow kills Beef, then learns that Swan made a Pact with the Devil twenty years ago for eternal life. The contract means that Winslow can't die unless Swan dies too.
The story ends with Winslow crashing Swan's wedding to Phoenix (at which Swan plans to have Phoenix assassinated) and exposing him as a monster on live television. Both men are killed.
[edit] Trivia
- Sissy Spacek, the set dresser for the film, later went on to star in another Brian De Palma-directed film, Carrie.
- The songs on the soundtrack were composed by Paul Williams.
- Jessica Harper (Phoenix) also starred in the less popular sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Shock Treatment.
- Some sequences in the film, particularly the opening night show at the Paradise, were filmed at the historic Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas, Texas.
- A small group of fans puts on an event called Phantompalooza in the city of Winnipeg in celebration of the film's unique success in the city.
- Swan's record label, "Death Records," was to have been a subsidiary of the larger "Swan Song Enterprises" but the "Swan Song" name had to be removed in post-production once the production was threatened by the rightsholders in the real Swan Song Records. Most instances of "Swan Song" were removed or covered over in post-production, but a few Swan Song signs are visible here and there.
- The Devil is always trying to steal Winslow Leach's music, and parts of his "Faust" theme (albeit twisted into vacuous pop music) even appear in the Juicy Fruits song "Upholstery."
- When the character of Winslow Leach becomes the Phantom, his "synthetic" singing voice which the devil creates is actually that of Paul Williams.
- Paul Williams guested in the TV movie The Hardy Boys Meet Dracula as a pop star named "Alison Troy." One of the songs performed by Troy, in top hat and cape, is "The Hell of It" from the Phantom soundtrack.
- In "Paradise Regained", a documentary included in the French special edition of the DVD, William Finley (who played Winslow Leach and the Phantom) suggests that some design elements of George Lucas' Darth Vader character from the Star Wars series of films were probably inspired by the Phantom. Finley especially refers to the control panel unit worn by Vader on his armor, which is reminiscent of the Phantom's synthetic voice speaker.
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack is still available. Track listing:
- Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye - Archie Hahn, Juicy Fruits
- Faust - Bill Finley
- Upholstery - Jeffrey Comanor, Beach Bums
- Special to Me (Phoenix Audition Song) - Jessica Harper
- Phantom's Theme (Beauty and The Beast) - Paul Williams
- Somebody Super Like You (Beef Construction Song) - Harold Oblong, The Undeads
- Life at Last - Ray Kennedy
- Old Souls - Jessica Harper
- Faust - Paul Williams
- The Hell of It - Paul Williams
