Phantom of the Paradise

Infobox Film
name = Phantom of the Paradise


caption = Theatrical poster by John Alvin
director = Brian De Palma
producer = Edward R. Pressman
writer = Brian De Palma
starring = Paul Williams
William Finley
Jessica Harper
music = Paul Williams
cinematographer = Larry Pizer
editing = Paul Hirsch
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = October 31, 1974
runtime = 92 min.
country = flagicon|USA
language = English
budget = $1.3 million
gross = $5,386,107
amg_id = 1:37956
imdb_id = 0071994

"Phantom of the Paradise" (also known as "The Phantom of the Filmore") is a 1974 horror-thriller musical 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 Gray" and "Faust". The film was marketed with the tagline "He sold his soul for rock n'roll", and then with "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 some critics, it has since gained a cult following.

Plot

The story follows a music composer and singer named Winslow Leach (played by William Finley), who works as a back-up act to the no-talent nostalgia band The Juicy Fruits, who are produced by Satanic record producer, Swan (played by Paul Williams). Swan is deeply moved by Winslow's pop cantata, based on the story of "Faust" and, deeming Winslow's music as the perfect music to open ""The Paradise" - Swan's anticipated concert hall, has his right-hand man Philbin (George Memmoli) steal it.

When Winslow arrives at Swan's record label, Death Records, he is thrown out. When he sneaks into "Swanage", Swan's private mansion, to find out what's going on, he observes several women all singing his music. Winslow meets Phoenix, an aspiring singer (played by Jessica Harper), whom he deems perfect for his music, and the two quickly fall for one another. Winslow is told of Swan's plan to open the Paradise with Winslow's music. Thrown out again, when Winslow sneaks in once more, Swan orders his minions to beat up Winslow and frame him for drug dealing.

Winslow is given a life sentence in Sing-Sing Prison. In prison, Winslow's teeth are extracted due to an experimental prisioner program, funded by the Swan Foundation. His teeth are now replaced with shiny metal ones. Six months later, when Winslow hears on the radio, while assembling tiddleywinks games in the prison rehab center, that The Juicy Fruits, who he hates, have made an anticipated hit record of his music, with Swan's backing. Winslow goes berserk, punches out a guard, and escapes from prison in a delivery box driven off prison property. He breaks into the Death Records building and tears the place up. He then breaks into Swan's record factory, where he sets out to destroy a record press. When a guard catches him fiddling with the record press, Winslow slips and the record press catches his sleeve, tumbling Winslow head first into the record press, crushing his face. Bleeding profusely, and with his face now mutilated, a very disoriented Winslow makes his way to the edge of the East River and tumbles into the water. The newspaper reports that he was shot by a security guard at the factory and is now dead.

Sneaking backstage into the Paradise, Winslow makes his way into the costume department, where he dons a black leather costume, a long, black cape (though later in the film he also wears a red one) and a silver, owl-like mask to cover his now scarred face, becoming The Phantom of the Paradise so he can terrorize Swan and his musicians. He plants a time bomb into a prop car, nearly killing the Juicy Fruits. Swan, seeing the Phantom on a security camera, realizes there is an intruder about.

The Phantom confronts Swan, who recognizes him as Winslow. Swan offers the composer the chance to have his music produced "his" way. Auditions are held, and the Phantom selects Phoenix. Later, in a secluded recording studio, Swan provides the Phantom with an electronic voice-box, enabling him to speak and sing (voice of Paul Williams). Swan asks the Phantom to rewrite his cantata for Phoenix. The Phantom reluctantly agrees, on the condition that Phoenix is the lead singer, and that Swan plays "what I write!". Swan promises, and the Phantom signs a contract in blood.

While the Phantom remains in the recording studio rewriting his cantata, Swan breaks the deal, telling Philbin that he resents Phoenix's "perfection": "You know how I abhor perfection in anyone but myself." Swan puts a pill-popping, gay male glam-rock prima donna named Beef (Gerrit Graham) in the lead of Winslow's "Faust", with Phoenix as a backup singer.

The Phantom completes "Faust". Swan then drugs him and steals the cantata, ordering his minions to seal the Phantom up inside the recording studio with a brick wall. However, when the Phantom awakens and realizes he's been betrayed, he manages to escape. The Phantom then confronts Beef, threatening to kill him if he performs. Beef tries to flee, but is stopped by Philbin, who suggests to Beef that it was all a drug-induced hallucination.

Onstage, the glam-rock band The Undeads (the former Juicy Fruits) sing of the perfect man, taking numerous body parts and "turning" them into Beef, dressed as a glitter-clad Frankenstein's Monster. As Beef performs, the Phantom, up in the rafters, strikes Beef with a lightning bolt-shaped neon sign, electrocuting him, to the great delight of the crowd. Horrified, Philbin orders Phoenix onstage as a replacement. Phoenix is an immediate sensation with the audience. Swan now realizes the potential of the situation.

In Phoenix's dressing room, Swan arrives and seduces Phoenix, telling her of her future stardom. As she leaves, she is nearly overwhelmed by the overzealous crowd, but is quickly carted away by the Phantom. On the roof, the Phantom tells Phoenix his true identity. He implores Phoenix to leave the Paradise so Swan won't destroy her like he's destroyed everything else. Phoenix doesn't believe him, however, and, afraid of the Phantom, flees.

At Swanage, Swan's private mansion, the Phantom, watching atop the roof, observes Swan and Phoenix locked in a tight embrace. Heartbroken, he commits suicide, stabbing himself through the heart with his own knife.

The Phantom awakens from death, however, to see Swan (who'd set up the entire "embrace" for Winslow's benefit) standing over him. Swan tells the Phantom that he cannot die because he is locked to the blood contract he'd signed earlier: The Phantom can't die until Swan himself has died. With that knowledge, the Phantom attempts to stab Swan through the heart, but Swan, unharmed, merely pulls the knife away and replies, "I'm under contract, too!"

Rolling Stone Magazine announces the upcoming wedding between Swan and Phoenix during Faust's finale. While everyone prepares, the Phantom sneaks into Swan's private taping room to watch the tape containing the blood contract. Watching the tape, the Phantom then learns that Swan made a pact with the devil years ago: Swan will remain youthful forever, unless the videotaped recording of his contract is destroyed. In turn, the tape reveals Winslow's contract with Swan, and a secret one Swan made with Phoenix when she was drugged. On a live security camera, the Phantom learns that Swan plans on having Phoenix assassinated, observing the hit man on the monitor. The Phantom destroys all the recordings, setting them on fire, and then heads off to the wedding between Phoenix and Swan.

The story ends with the Faust finale. Onstage, the wedding is in full swing. The Phantom manages to stop the assassin's bullet from hitting Phoenix, which ends up killing Philbin, who was officiating at the wedding. The Phantom swings down onto the stage and rips off Swan's mask, exposing Swan as a monster on live television. Swan's face is now hideous; melting due to the tapes being destroyed (burning, appropriately enough) and the deal between him and Satan being terminated. Realizing what's happening, Swan tries to strangle Phoenix, but the Phantom intervenes and stabs Swan through the heart. The moment he does, however, his own fatal wound opens, as he is now free of the contract. Swan, as he is dying, is carried around by the audience, who are excited to the point of hysteria, and Winslow, dying, removes his own mask, revealing his own disfigurement. Dying, and cheered on by the crowd, Winslow crawls on the floor towards Phoenix, who is in shock. Swan dies and so does Winslow, just as he holds out a hand to Phoenix. Phoenix finally recognizes the Phantom as Winslow. As Winslow collapses, the crying Phoenix rushes over to him and lays down next to him, heartbroken, and the film ends.

Cast and Crew

Cast

*Paul Williams as Swan: in one scene when Swan is adjusting Winslow's voice, the singer is not Finley but Williams himself, creating an in-joke when Swan announces that the voice is "perfect".
*William Finley as Winslow Leach/The Phantom: The character was named after director Brian De Palma's mentor, Wilford Leach. During production, Finley came up with the bird motif of the Phantom costume, a collaboration with costume designer Rosanna Norton.
*Jessica Harper as Phoenix: Harper beat out singer Linda Ronstadt for the part of Phoenix. A possible in-joke is made in the scene after Phoenix ascent to stardom is a magazine ad with the headline "I'm a Harper's Freak", referencing the actress' last name.
*George Memmoli as Philbin: Swan's chief henchman borrows his last name from Mary Philbin, star of the 1925 version of "The Phantom of the Opera".
*Gerrit Graham as Beef: Graham's singing voice was dubbed by Ray Kennedy. Graham has talked about the infamous "musical chairs" casting, where Finley almost wound up with no part to play. At one point, Williams was to play Winslow, Graham was to play Swan and Peter Boyle was cast as Beef. Williams turned down the role of Winslow mostly because he didn't feel physically large or menacing enough for the role. Boyle was unavailable due to filming for "Young Frankenstein", after which Graham took the Beef role and Finley ultimately took the Winslow role, which had been written with him in mind. Finley has also said in an interview that Jon Voigt was at one time considered for the role of Swan.
*Archie Hahn, Peter Elbling (credited as Harold Oblong) and Jeffrey Comanor as The Juicy Fruits/The Beach Bums/The Undeads
*Colin Cameron ... Band
*David Garland ... Band
*Gary Mallaber ... Band
*Art Munson ...Band
*Mary Margaret Amato ...Swan's Entourage
*Rand Bridges ... Swan's Entourage
*James Bohan ... Swan's Entourage
*Herb Pacheco ... Assassin
*Jennifer Ashley ...Groupie
*Janit Baldwin ...Groupie
*Janus Blythe ...Groupie (as Janis Eve Lynn)
*Katherine Mastellos ... Groupie
*Robin Mattson ...Groupie
*Patrice Rohmer ...Groupie
*Ruthy Ross ...Groupie (as Ruthey Ross)
*Cheryl Smith ...Groupie
*April Troy ...Groupie
*Walter Foster ...Cop
*Peter Harrell ... Cop
*Troy Haskins ...Judge
*Gene Gross ... Warden
*Henry Calvert ... Night Watchman
*Ken Carpenter ... Stagehand
*Sam Forney ... Stagehand
*Leslie Brewer ... Surfgirl
*Celia Derr ... Surfgirl
*Linda Larimer ... Surfgirl
*Roseanne Romine ... Surfgirl
*Nydia Amagas ... Dancer
*Sara Ballantine ... Dancer
*Kristi Bird ... Dancer
*Cathy Buttner ... Dancer
*Linda Cox ... Dancer
*Jane DeFord ... Dancer
*Bibi Hansen ... Dancer
*Robin Jeep ... Dancer
*Deen Summers ... Dancer
*Judy Washington ... Dancer
*Susan Weiser ... Dancer
*Janet Savarino ... Singing Twin
*Jean Savarino ... Singing Twin
*Keith Allison ... Country & Western Singer
*Bobby Birkenfeld ... Guy
*Sandy Catton ... Black Singers (as Sandy Catton & friends)
*William Donovan ... Reporter
*Scott Edmund Lane ... Reporter (as Scott Lane)
*Dennis Olivieri ... Reporter
*Adam Wade ... Reporter
*Nancy Moses ... Back-Up Singer
*Diana Walden ... Back-Up Singer
*Sherri Adeline ... Girl in Ticket Line
*Carol O'Leary ... Betty Lou
*Marty Bongfeldt ... Mini-bopper (as Marty Bongfeld)
*Coleen Crudden ... Mini-bopper
*Bridgett Dunn ... Mini-bopper
*William Shephard ... Rock Freak
*Angelyne ... Auditioning Singer (uncredited)
*Shelly Desai ... Dental Health Volunteer #1 (uncredited)
*Ray Kennedy ... Beef (singing voice) (uncredited)
*Rod Serling ... Introductory Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Crew

*Sissy Spacek is credited as "set dresser" for this film, assisting her boyfriend (now husband) Jack Fisk, who was the film's production designer.

List of songs

* Goodbye, Eddie, Goodbye - The Juicy Fruits
* Faust - Winslow
* Never Thought I'd Get to Meet the Devil - Winslow
* Faust (reprise) - Winslow and Phoenix
* Upholstery - The Beach Bums
* Special to me - Phoenix
* Faust (reprise) - The Phantom
* The Phantom's Theme (Beauty & the Beast) - The Phantom
* Somebody Super Like You (Beef construction song) - The Undeads
* Life at Last - Beef
* Old Souls - Phoenix
* The Hell of it - Swan

Filming

The record press in which Finley's Winslow character was disfigured was a real pressing plant (an injection-molding press at Pressman Toys. He was worried about whether the machine would be safe, and the crew assured that it was. The press was fitted with foam pads (which resemble the casting molds in the press), and there were chocks put in the center to stop it from closing completely. Unfortunately, the machine was powerful enough to crush the chocks that it gradually kept closing. Finley moved fast enough to avoid injury.

The "electronic room" in which Winslow composes his cantata (and where Swan restores his voice) is in fact the real-life recording studio, The Record Plant. The walls covered with knobs are in reality an oversize custom-built electronic synthesizer dubbed TONTO, which still exists to this day.

Box-Office Performance

The film was a box-office bomb the year of its initial showings. Curiously, the film's major market during its theatrical release was in Winnipeg, Canada where it stayed in local cinemas over four months continuously and over one year non-continuously until 1976. Relatedly, the soundtrack sold 20,000 copies in Winnipeg alone, and it got Gold status in Canada. The film was later shown on area IMAX screens in the 90s. A 2006 fan-organized festival, dubbed 'Phantompalooza', reunited the original cast and featured a concert by Paul Williams in the very theatre where the film played during its original run.

oundtrack

The soundtrack is still available. All songs in the movie are on the soundtrack, except "Never Thought I'd Get to Meet the Devil". 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

External links

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* The 1975 Phantom phenomenon in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada: [http://www.phantomoftheparadise.ca/why.html 'Why Winnipeg?']
* Detailed fansite: [http://www.swanarchives.org Swan Archives]
* 2006 'Phantompalooza' Cast Reunion in Winnipeg: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQF1IPZAmz0 YouTube clip]