Obscure Films For Saturated Times: Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

This week's flick is quite the gem! Brian DePalma's 1974 rock musical, Phantom of the Paradise!

A combination of Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust, Phantom of the Paradise is in no way a perfect film but it sure is fun to watch! While it was released a year after The Rocky Horror Show stage musical and preceded The Rocky Horror Picture Show by a year, they both have a similar quality and will ensure an enjoyable experience!

Paul Williams stars as Swan - a mysterious and enigmatic musical genius who runs his record company, Death Records with an iron fist. William Finney plays Winslow Leach, a composer/musician who plays his opera, "Faust" as back-up to Swan's nostalgia group, The Juicy Fruits. Swan loves the music and wants to use it to open his version of a musical Disneyland, The Paradise. Swan's assistant, Philbin (the late, great George Memmoli) steals Winslow's music under the guise of a record contract and when Winslow hasn't heard back from Swan, he goes to Death Records to inquire and is kicked out. Later, Winslow goes to The Swanage (Swan's mansion) to see a line of women rehearsing his song. Winslow meets aspiring singer, Phoenix (Jessica Harper) and after hearing her sing it, believes she is the best pick to sing his opera.

Winslow is kicked out of The Swanage after two cops, called by Swan plant drugs on him and he is whisked away to Sing-Sing for life. Once there, Winslow loses his teeth which are replaced with metal ones thanks to a prisoner program funded by Swan. After hearing his music sang by The Juicy Fruits on the radio, Winslow loses it, escapes Sing-Sing and heads to Death Records where he tries to destroy everything, including a record press which he accidentally falls into, deforming his face and destroying his voice. Winslow crawls to the ocean and falls in, never to be seen again.

Back at The Paradise, Winslow sneaks in and steals a costume and a mask to hide his newly deformed face - becoming The Phantom. While Swan is watching The Beach Bums (formerly The Juicy Fruits) rehearse, Winslow plants a bomb in the prop car, nearly killing them. Later, Swan sees a security tape and recognizes Winslow. Swan confronts Winslow, promising him the chance to get his music heard again and Winslow agrees on the condition that his cantata is done his way with only Phoenix singing. Swan wants Winslow to re-write his cantata for Phoenix and makes Winslow sign a record contract in blood because "ink isn't worth anything [to me]." Winslow is then locked in a room with a bevy of pills and paper so he can re-write his cantata. After it is completed, Swan orders the room to be permanently sealed up with Winslow inside. Threatened by Phoenix's perfection, Swan replaces her with a glam rock star named Beef (Gerrit Graham) and makes Phoenix a back-up singer. After awaking to find out he has been betrayed, Winslow breaks out of the room and threatens Beef with death to anyone (except Phoenix) who sings his cantata. Pressured by Philbin, Beef goes on anyway and is killed by Winslow while the crowd cheers; giving Phoenix the spontaneous chance to sing. Phoenix is met with screaming and thunderous applause.

As usual, I can't say much more as it would ruin the experience, but from here on, the film gets stranger and stranger. There is so much to say about this film that I don't know where to begin so I will start with the obvious - The music. Written by Paul Williams, the songs are a great addition to this film and are the backbone of what makes it fun, zany and emotionally gripping. From The Juicy Fruits' take on 50's rock/pop bands, The Beach Bums' riff on surf music and finally The Undead's glam-rock/horror pop, most of these songs will be stuck in your head for a while. The very last song in the film, "The Hell of It" is one of my personal all-time favorites. The song Phoenix sings after Beef is killed, "Old Souls" is sung perfectly by Jessica Harper (who now sings children's songs). You can really feel her passion for singing in her voice and when the curtain drops, in iris-in, Phoenix smiles to herself with great accomplishment and you can't help but feel happy for her.

Being a Brian DePalma film, Phantom is definitely a very visual film, however more so in terms of mise en scène. Although a lot of the angles are standard, there are some interesting shots and visuals. DePalma's use of split-screen is never over-used and never done without purpose. The scene where Winslow plants the bomb in the car for The Juicy Fruits' rehearsal keeps your eyes bouncing back and forth between frames, while wondering what is going to happen (even though I already told you, so it's more of a "When is it going to happen?") Even though this is one of his earlier films, you can tell that his visual eye is something he has always had, which he has perfected over the years.

The acting is over the top and it's definitely deliberate. DePalma wanted this to be a fun ride that didn't take itself too seriously but in doing that, he did succeed on making the characters likeable, giving this film a slightly serious tone. Take the scene where Winslow is trying to destroy the record press: When he is knocking boxes of records over and flailing about, you might be laughing and even when his face gets stuck in the record press, you may still be laughing but once you see how much he is suffering, you may not be laughing as much because Winslow is the protagonist, even if he is a silly protagonist.

Paul Williams is perfectly cast as Swan and he brings a delightful vileness, mixed with a false sense of trust to the character. Being in the music industry definitely helped Williams play this role with perfection. Jessica Harper is by far the best here, giving us just enough of a character that we can sympathize and empathize with and when she sings, we, the viewers listen and even root for her because we want to see her succeed. Near the end Harper gets a little extreme with her deliveries and over-emotes but I chalk that up to that's what DePalma was going for. Gerrit Graham is superb as Beef; this guy is over the top and then some! Playing a drug-addicted prim a-donna rock star, I find it fantastic that Graham delivered all of his lines with complete seriousness (the dressing room/shower scene especially). Lastly, I need to mention William Finney who plays Winslow/The Phantom with such homeliness that through all of his cheesy lines and slap-stick actions is a character who you sympathize with because he is just trying to make his dreams come true and everywhere he turns, he is rejected and spit on. When he first appears as The Phantom, Finney gives us enough anger and angst that we want to see him succeed even more; Finney lets you into his life as Winslow and makes you side with him as The Phantom.

Phantom of the Paradise was billed as a horror rock musical but I didn't see too many horror elements, although Psycho is spoofed. I see it more as a psychedelic musical rock opera romance but no matter how you categorize it, it's still about [music and] "the man who made it, the girl who sang it...and the monster who stole it."

The film did poorly in theaters back in 1974 but has now gained a cult following. There was even a festival organized by fans called, "Phantompalooza" which reunited the cast with Paul Williams performing in concert. There is even a mega fan site at: http://www.SwanArchives.org which is filled with information on everything about the film. Check it out! Phantom of the Paradise is available on DVD for a modest price and is worth every penny!

All in all, this film is full of fantastic music, characters and visual eye candy. Suspend your disbelief as soon as you put this film into your player. The plot does throw a few curve balls your way and while you may be thinking things don't make sense and that it's a silly film, but when the last song begins and the end credits role, there will be no doubt in your mind that it was a fun ride!

5 Dead Birds (Out of 5)