Phantom of the Paradise

Cafe Society
1

I first saw this movie about 1975, when it played on Campus in college. I was immediately taken by it, both for its vivid spoof of the Phantom of the Opera motif, and its allusions to both Faust and Dorian Gray. It stuck in my mind, and I found some of the music compelling.

It did not return to campus until 1977, when it played as a Halloween pic as the first half of a double feature. I dragged a bunch of friends to it, describing how musical and disturbed it was, and how I wanted to share it with them. The second half of the double feature was a flick none of us had ever heard of, something called “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”

So my friends dutifully sat thru it with me, and during the break between the first and second movie, we began to discuss and dissect it. Then the lights went down, and a small smattering of the audience started chanting “lips, lips, lips” (the cult was just beginning then) and we were all blown away.

Over the ensuing years we got college degrees, saw RHPS, got medical degrees, saw RHPS, got specialty training, established practices and families, and saw RHPS. And the thought of “Phantom of the Paradise” didn’t enter my head.

Until a few months ago, when I saw a copy of the movie on DVD, which I immediately scarfed up, to relive the experience. What an odd movie! What was I thinking? What were they thinking? Paul Williams as Swan ran the gamut of emotions from A to B, and all the characters were terribly unlikeable. Especially Jessica Harper as Phoenix, whom I found completely unsympathetic as the female lead who needed rescuing. William Finley as Winslow Leach/Phantom was just too geeky. The only actor I warmed to was Gerrit Graham as Beef.

Anybody else remember/want to comment on this old Brian De Palma flick? Here’s a link to refresh your memory, if you need it!
Phantom of the Paradise

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Oh, my, I loved this movie. It was so compellingly, um, shlocky.

Sell it to me? Please? Pleeease? Seriously, I have been looking for a copy. You get your money back and I get to have an Appallingly Tacky Movie Fest.

3

*We’ll remember you forever Eddie
Thru’ the sacrifice you made we can’t believe the price you paid…

For love!*

For me it is the music, and no, I did not “get it” during the original release, but on TV In the 80’s! Back then, civil war, unrest and alienation in the old country made me appreciate such a weird movie. For that generation this movie was such a phenomenon that when it was then shown late at night on TV, the station received so many requests that they repeated it again next week, and a month after!
I do not remember any movie shown on TV do that before or after over there! And in Spanish BTW! (All the songs were still in English tough)

I guess it was how the movie dared to be so different; it even has a very appropriate sad ending.

I think it struck a chord for people living trough dark and confusing times (Vietnam was just ending for the US in 1975)

[sub]…and if the people were on the nerd side, it hit home. We learned early in life that we don’t get the girl :slight_smile: [/sub]

4

I first saw Phantom of the Paradise at a midnight show in the late 70s when I was in high school. I loved it then and I love it now on DVD. For one thing, it has a terrific Paul Williams score that still appeals today beyond kitschy 70s nostalgia. Moreover, there’s a certain camp appeal to the clothes and attitudes of a, from the perspective of 2003, more innocent era.

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Yeah, the music still resonates. But I just want to slap the female lead singer! Even so, there’s just something compelling of the tale of a singer/songwriter who gets his head stuck in a record press.

And Beef was cool He seemed like a fusion of Meat Loaf, Rocky (from RHPS), and the guy who played Hitler in “Springtime for Hitler”.

And I’m keeping my DVD! Gotta show the flick to Elfbabe over summer break!

6

I hated Phantom when it first came out, mainly because I was a teenager looking for straight horror movie. The camp elements (and yes, they were intentional) were just so much distraction.

I saw it again a couple of years ago, and liked it much better. DePalma’s virtuoso direction I could appreciate more, especially in a couple of set pieces (the seamless montage showing the rise of Paul Williams’ character, and the dual screen on-stage sabotage of the beach band).

As for the performances, on the plus side was Gerrit Graham’s glam rocker – it’s a difficult balancing act between his on-stage and off-stage selves that he pulls off with giddy panache. On the other hand, I have yet to be convinced the middle-of-road crooning of Jessica Harper would satisfying a concert hall of rock fans. (Barbra Streisand was just as implausible in A Star Is Born.)