Phantom of the Paradise

10/31/19741h 32m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ He sold his soul for rock n’ roll! ~

Overview:

Singer-songwriter Winslow Leach seeks revenge on the nefarious music producer Swan, who steals both Winslow's music and his favorite singer for the grand opening of Swan's new rock palace, the Paradise.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$1,300,000.00

Revenue:

$250,000.00

Key words:

mask
new york city
rock 'n' roll
suicide attempt
greed
haunted house
phantom
palace
musical
satire
revenge
soul selling
rock music
pianist
false accusations
masked man
glam rock
car explosion
rock opera
rock musical
sing sing
music production
songwriting
record company
faustian pact
phantom of the opera
music industry
abuse of power
music producer
moral corruption
deal with the devil
printing press
horror musical

Cast

William Finley

~ as ~

Winslow Leach / The Phantom

Paul Williams

~ as ~

Swan

Jessica Harper

~ as ~

Phoenix

George Memmoli

~ as ~

Philbin

Gerrit Graham

~ as ~

Beef

Archie Hahn

~ as ~

The Juicy Fruits / The Beach Bums / The Undeads

Jeffrey Comanor

~ as ~

The Juicy Fruits / The Beach Bums / The Undeads

Peter Elbling

~ as ~

The Juicy Fruits / The Beach Bums / The Undeads

Colin Cameron

~ as ~

Band

David Garland

~ as ~

Band

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
William Finley as the eponymous character and Paul Williams as the duplicitous record producer "Swan" both ham up enjoyably in this update of the Gaston Leroux novel. "Finley" is writing a cantata, parts of which are overheard by the unscrupulous "Swan" who gets his sidekick "Philbin" (George Memmoli) to pinch the score. Next thing, auditions are ongoing and the poor old writer has been well and truly sidelined. He's determined to wreak his revenge, a determination amplified after an accident sees him hideously disfigured. With chaos ensuing all around, "Swan" decides to try and make a peace with his nemesis - but pretty soon it's clear that's never going to work and as the opening night of the rock club "The Paradise" looms ever closer, you have to wonder if you'd really want a ticket after all. It's good fun this film with some entertaining performances at the top, Jessica Harper holds her own as the feisty chanteuse "Phoenix" and there's just about enough menacing megalomania to prevent it descending into farce. It's quite easy to see how many subsequent films or concepts it may have spawned as it takes much from musical theatre and high drama and mingles them into something that's a sort of an hybrid of the "Man from U.N.C.L.E" and "Jesus Christ Superstar". Williams also wrote much of the of the original soundtrack with a few power ballads packed in to keep the pace moving along and it's worth sticking about for the credits. It has dated, but I still enjoyed it.