Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1974
Running Times: 92 mins
Format: colour (Deluxe)     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: stereo

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Harbor Productions
Executive Producer: Gustave M. Berne
Producer: Edward R. Pressman
Assistant Producer: Lynn Raymond
Associate Producers: Bill Scott, Jeffrey M. Hayes, Michael Arciaga, Paul Lewis
Unit Production Manager: Gary Kent
Unit Managers: Gary Kent, Thomas Lightburn

SCRIPT
Script: Brian De Palma

DIRECTION
Director: Brian De Palma
1st Assistant Director: Michael J. Dmytryk
2nd Assistant Director: Robert Enrietto

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Larry Pizer
Special Photography For Wedding: James Signorelli, Robert Elfstrom
Camera Operator: Ronald Taylor
1st Assistant Camera: Sean Doyle
2nd Assistant Camera: Bruce Kaye, Terry Bowen
Gaffer: Tim Griffith
Electricians: Darryl Smith, Maurice Horton, Paul Marcus
Best Boy Electric: Richard Cronn
Key Grip: Jack Palinkas
Grips: Cary Griffith, John L. Black, Mike Taylor
Lab: Movielab, USA

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Montage: Paul Hirsch

MUSIC
Music: George Aliceson Tipton, Paul Williams
Songs: Paul Williams (Goodbye Eddie, Goodbye; Faust; Upholstery; Special To Me; Phantom's Theme (Beauty and Beast); Somebody Super Like You (Beef Construction Song); Life At Last; Old Souls; The Hell Of It)
Songs Performed By :The Juicy Fruits (Goodbye Eddie, Goodbye), Bill Finley (Faust), The Beach Bums (Upholstery), Jessica Harper (Special To Me; Old Souls), Paul Williams (Phantom's Theme (Beauty and Beast); Faust; The Hell Of It), The Undead (Somebody Super Like You (Beef Construction Song)), Ray Kennedy (Life At Last)
Music Supervisor: Michael Arciaga
Score Recordist: Thomas Vicari
Score Mixer: Thomas Vicari
Music Editor: Edwin Norton
Assistant Music Editor: John Fox

SOUND
Sound: James M. Tanenbaum
Sound Mixer: Al Gramaglia
Boom Operator: David Schneiderman
Sound Editor: Dan Sable
Assistant Sound Editor: Harriet Glickstein

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up Designer: John Chambers
Make Up: Rolf Miller
Hair: Anna Sugano
Costume Designer: Rosanna Norton
Associate Costume Designer: Peter Jamison

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Greg Auer

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Jack Fisk
Set Dresser: Sissy Spacek
Property Master: Erik L. Nelson
Construction Coordinators: Brian Swain, Michel Levesque

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Cassandra Kaye
Production Assistants: Dan Dusek, Adrian Cumming, Jen Carpenter, Karen Gilbert, Stanley Weiser
Assistant to Brian De Palma: Alexa Bodrero
Assistant to Edward R. Pressman: Deborah Howe
Production Secretary: Judith Cohen
Choreographer: Harold Oblong
Choreographer For Wedding: William Shephard

LOCATIONS
Locations: Majestic Theatre, Elm Street, Dallas, Texas, USA

STUNTS
Stunt Doubles For Paul Williams: James Gambino, Steven Richmond
Stunt Doubles For William Finley: Andy Epper, Jim Lovelett

CASTING
Casting: Sylvia Fay, Gino Havens, Peggy Taylor

CAST
Paul Williams (Swan)
William Finley (Winslow Leach)
Jessica Harper (Phoenix)
George Memmoli (Arnold Philbin)
Gerrit Graham (Beef)
Archie Hahn, Jeffrey Comanor, Harold Oblong (The Juicy Fruits)
Colin Cameron, David Garland, Gary Mallaber, Art Munson (band)
Mary Margaret Amato, Rand Bridges, James Bohan (Swan's entourage)
Herb Pacheco (assassin)
Jennifer Ashley, Janit Baldwin, Janus Blythe, Katherine Mastellos, Robin Mattson, Patrice Rohmer, Ruthy Ross, Cheryl Smith, April Troy (groupies)
Walter Foster, Peter Harrell (cops)
Troy Haskins (judge)
Gene Gross (warden)
Henry Calvert (nightwatchman at Death Records)
Ken Carpenter, Sam Forney (stagehands)
Leslie Brewer, Celia Derr, Linda Larimer, Roseanne Romine (surf girls)
Nydia Amagas, Sara Ballantine, Kirsti Bird, Cathy Buttner, Linda Cox, Jane DeFord, Bibi Hansen, Robin Jeep, Deen Summers, Judy Washington, Susan Weiser (dancers)
Janet Savarino, Jean Savarino (singing twins)
Keith Allison (country and western singer)
Bobby Birkenfeld (guy)
Sandy Catton (black singer)
William Donovan, Scott Lane, Dennis Olivieri, Adam Wade (reporters)
Nancy Moses, Diana Walden (back-up singers)
Sherri Adeline (girl in ticket line)
Carol O'Leary (Betty Lou)
Marty Bongfeld, Coleen Crudden, Bridgett Dunn (mini-boppers)
William Shephard (rock freak)
Ray Kennedy (voice)
Rod Serling (narrator - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

Record producer Swan steals music written by composer Winslow Leach and seduces Phoenix, the woman he loves. Driven mad by an accident in a record pressing plant that leaves him facially disfigured, Leach plots his revenge on Swan and starts haunting his rock venue, The Paradise. Leach eventually signs a contract with Swan to write a rock opera based on Faust on the promise that Phoenix will be the star. But things turn very nasty when Swan betrays Leach.

AVAILABILITY

Japan
Video Distributors: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Twentieth Century Fox
Video Distributors: Key Video
Laserdisc Distributors: CBS Fox (1473-80)
DVD Distributors: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002377)

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Australia
Rating: M

Finland
Rating: K-18

France
Rating: -12

Netherlands
Rating: 12

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: AA (theatrical rating); 15 (video rating)

USA
Rating: PG

West Germany
Rating: 16

AWARDS

1975
Academy Awards, USA
Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and / or Adaptation (Paul Williams, George Aliceson Tipton) - nominated

Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, France
Grand Prize (Brian De Palma) - winner

Golden Globes, USA
Best Original Score (Paul Williams) - nominated

Hugo Awards, USA
Best Dramatic Presentation - nominated

Writers Guild of America, USA
Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen (Brian De Palma) - nominated

1976
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA
Golden Scroll: Best Horror Film - nominated

TIMELINE

1974
October
31: USA - theatrical release

1975
February
25: France - theatrical release

April
25: Finland - theatrical release
2: Sweden - theatrical release

August
7: Netherlands - theatrical release

September
2: Japan - theatrical release

1983
February
Day Unknown: UK - television broadcast (on Channel 4)

1998
October
24: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)

2000
February
27: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

2002
September
22: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

October
29: Japan - shown at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival

POSTER TAGS

He's been maimed and framed, beaten, robbed and mutilated. But they still can't keep him from the woman he loves.

The Most Highly Acclaimed Horror Phantasy Of Our Time.

He Sold His Soul for Rock 'n' Roll

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Aavemusa - Finnish title
Il fantasma del palcoscenico - Italian title
El fantasma del paraíso - Spanish title
O Fantasma do Paraíso - Brazilian title
Le fantôme du paradis - French Canadian title
Phantom
Das Phantom im Paradies - West German title
Phantom of the Fillmore
Phantom of the Paradise - Aavemusa - Finnish title
Phantom of the Paradise - French title

LINKS

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s (2002)
Terror in the Aisles (1984)

SEE ALSO
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
El fantasma de la ópera (1960)
Il fantasma dell'opera (1998)
Opera (1987)
Das Phantom der Oper (1916)
Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989)
Phantom of the Megaplex (2000)
Phantom of the Opera (1943)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
The Phantom of the Opera (1983)
The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
The Phantom of the Opera (1990a)
The Phantom of the Opera (1990b)
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1913)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Ye ban ge sheng (1962)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Cinefantastique vol.4 no.1 (Spring 1975) p.31 (USA)
review

CinemaTV Today no.10134 (17 May 1975p.16 (UK)
review

Fangoria no.208 (November 2001) p.65 (USA)
DVD review

Filmmakers' Newsletter vol.8 no.4 (February 1975) pp.21-27 (USA)
article

Films and Filming vol.21 (June 1975) pp.36-38 (UK)
review

Films Illustrated vol.4 (May 1975) pp.328-329 (UK)
review

Film Quarterly vol.31 no.1 (1977) pp.32-38 (UK)
article

Hollywood Reporter vol.233 no.35 (29 October 1974) p.3 (USA)
credits, review

The Listener vol.120 no.3092 (8 December 1988) p.47 (UK)
review

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction vol.286 (March 1975) pp.85-87 (USA)
review (A funky, faustian, filmorian phantom by Baird Searles)

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.42 no.496 (May 1975) pp.112-113 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Photon no.26 (1975) pp.15-18 (USA)
illustrated credits, review

Shivers no.89 (May 2001) pp.34-37 (UK)
illustrated article

Shivers no.90 (June 2001) pp.14-15 (UK)
illustrated article

Starlog no.270 (January 2000) pp.70-75 (USA)
illustrated interview with Gerrit Graham (Memorable Character by Tom Weaver)

Time Out no.312 (5 March 1976) p.8 (UK)
review

Variety 30 October 1974 p.42 (USA)
credits, review

KEYWORDS

composers, disfigurement, electrocution, homosexuality, masks, musical, phantom of the opera, rock music, rock musical, singers, suicide

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009