Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Special To Me.

I love/hate this film.

The good parts (musical numbers) are fantastic but the plot story scenes (Leach/Swan) are boring.

Love me some Jessica Harper. And Gerrit Graham's death freaked me out as a kid.

I grew up in Winnipeg and it was really popular. I remember seeing it as a gayling.

I'd heard that for whatever reason it was a huge hit in Winnipeg. You must be special people.

Love this movie. I stumbled on it maybe 20 years ago on cable, early one morning. My jaw dropped and I'm pretty sure I watched the whole thing with my mouth open. It was so damn weird and cheesy and brilliant and goofy. And the soundtrack is fantastic.

Saw it as a teenager in the theater with friends. I'm sure we were all high as kites. I'd grown up watching the Lon Chaney movie on TV. Watching the updated version was trippy and fun. I hadn't realized until just now that it was a Brian de Palma movie (I looked it up on Wikipedia).

It's weird, enjoyable and very underrated.

But I wouldn't go as far as to call it a classic.

R6 It's often called a "Cult Classic". In any case, I was referring mainly to the age of the film.

I remember watching this when I was 12 or 13 and thought it was a trip. Recently, sitting home in lock down I was scrolling through OnDemand looking for something to watch and found it. I rewatched it stoned and it was way trippier than I remembered. I don't know if it was a good movie but I enjoyed watching it.

Paul Williams was one of those odd duck entertainers I never understood - still don't.

It was a staple on CityTV for decades. I miss those days of afternoon movies.

I don’t understand, they loved us in Winnipeg 🤷🏻‍♂️

I love it, my husband HATES it. Jessica Harper rules.

Wow ! I hadnt thought of this movie in decades ! I loved it then ,Im going to watch it later and hope I still do .

I watched it this morning and was gobsmacked by the quality of Paul William's music and lyrics. He truly was a great American musical artist, like another Burt Bacharach or Jimmy Webb.

Stunning Jessica Harper vocal

LOVE this movie! The Daft Punk guys met at a screening in France (it's big over there, too) and they asked Paul Williams to be on their Random Access album.

Some say the Phantom character inspired Darth Vader.

I wonder what's with all the bird symbolism (Swan, Owl Mask, dead bird label, Phoenix)?

Fantastic, trippy movie from the early/mid-1970s. Love that R14 posted the best song from the movie. Jessica Harper's voice is exquisite. So well trained, great pitch, perfect interpretation of the lyrics. I've always wondered why she didn't have a bigger career. Beef as the preening queen cracked us up when we were kids. His on stage persona was so butch and masculine, then off stage he was such a queen! Mary!

Paul Williams is fantastic. The music he put together for this movie was sublime. Thanks for posting, OP!

This is a fabulous cover.

Carburators, man! That’s what life is all about!

I saw this on late night tv and was appalled and delighted. Found the soundtrack at that huge record store in midtown...Coliseum?

Some of the scenes/songs are great: Goodbye Eddie Goodbye and Upholstery are my favorite.

I loved the Juicy Fruits. The gay sensibility in this film is awesome.

So R19 two of the "parody songs" that are supposed to be awful dreck were your favorites of the soundtrack?

R21 yeah! Upholstery is just Faust sped up and with different lyrics, but I much prefer it!

I was not myself last night

Ran a light without my registration

And you know me, already on probation!

In his audition I sensed that Gerrit Graham was channeling Dick Shawn doing "Love Power" in The Producers and probably owed some of the queeniness to Christopher Hewett. But yes, R17 he was marvelous.

R23 Is that so?

I prefer Paul's version of Old Souls:

R18 She's a better singer than Jessica Harper. I think Harper has a weak-ish voice.

There have been rumours of a stage adaptation being in the works, but this is the only one so far, I believe.

I'm not a Brian DePalma fan, I think most of the movies he's made are awful and cheesy.

But... POTP I LOVE. I think it worked because the fantastic nature of the story lent it to work well with his corny directing style.

I love the soundtrack. Listened to it as a kid without understanding it but the lyrics and music were like a mix between On Top of Spaghetti and Grease.. So when your 11 that's awesome! Now I love it even more.

I've loved PotP for decades, so thank you OP!

Broadway seems to be so intent on turning 2nd and 3rd rate movies into stage musicals these days that I've long wondered why no one has tried it with a good film like PotP. Someone should, ideally while Paul Williams is still around.

One question I always had was, why is Swan's record company called Death Records? I thought it should have been named Swan Song. Wikipedia gives me the impression that it's only because Led Zeppelin — whose label is called Swan Song Records — didn't have a sense of humor.

R30 Yes, that's exactly why. In fact, look closely while watching the movie and you'll see that they superimposed "Death Records" everywhere it appears.

R30 Led Zeppelin sued, because they said it infringed on copyrights, so they had to do some creative editing to remove references to Swan Song. The blu-ray has a documentary that explains it, and shows some of the scenes that had to be altered/cut because of the lawsuit.

Stupid bastards. Like anyone cared, or would mix up POTP with Led Zep.

R18 Not at all fabulous. Awful, in fact.

Pretty ironic for Led Zeppelin, of all people, to be suing anyone for copyright infringement.

[quote][R18] Not at all fabulous. Awful, in fact.

Could you elaborate? I personally prefer her take to Jessica Harper's. She not only has has more diaphragmatic support and nasal resonance, enabling her to sing longer phrases without constantly running out of breath, but she's also got more range in expression and dynamics.

I loved Jessica Harper's deep voice. It reminded me a bit of Karen Carpenter at times and Old Souls is a gorgeous song. I'm surprised it's not covered more often. I could have seen someone like Barbra Streisand doing a good job with it or even Karen Carpenter herself.

Karen Carpenter would have done a GREAT job with that song! It would have suited her voice perfectly. Babs would have done a wonderful job, too. I'm not a fan of Jessica's voice because it lacks power. She tries to hide this by using too much vibrato at the end of each phrase to make up for it.

How about some of the 70s soul piano mamas like Carole King or Laura Nyro?

A product of its time. Doesn't hold up well.

One of my favourite things about this movie are Jessica Harper's awkward gyrations that try to pass as dancing. She is a cutie tho.

Great film and lots of fun. Gerrit Graham is hilarious in it.

I know I am ancient but I'm not even sure 60. Calling any movie from the 70s a "classic" because its from the 70s, means I need to shoot myself now, if true.

R19 Maybe you're thinking of Colony Records that used to be around 47th + Broadway? That was the place to go for sheet music, too.

Coliseum Books was on 57th Street, it was a bookstore but maybe they sold albums, too--can't recall. I miss both places, Manhattan is mostly bland franchise stores now because smaller, individual businesses can't afford it. Such a shame.

I really like Phantom, especially Jessica Harper's rendition of "Old Souls", beautiful and haunting. Paul Williams doesn't get enough credit as a songwriter.

"One of my favourite things about this movie are Jessica Harper's awkward gyrations that try to pass as dancing."

Whenever I put on the LP, I dance around the apt like Jessica. It amuses me.

[R43] I used to shop at the Coliseum on W 57th all the time- I worked in the Fisk Building right across the street and I'd buy books at Coliseum on my lunch hour. They didn't have records there then (mid-90s). My parents used to shop for records at Colony in the 1960s.

I haven't been to NYC for many years, and from what I've heard, I'm better off remembering it the way it was.

R43 Yes, Colony Records!

This came out when I was about eight and there was a commercial for it on, it seemed, every commercial break. I thought the commercial was freaky, not frightening. I finally got to see it decades later - lots of fun!

Adding to the Jessica Harper love. To put it in cult musical terms, Phantom is better than The Apple but not as entertaining of a hot mess as Shock Treatment (also starring fab JH).