Phantom of the Paradise

Jessica Harper

**Phantom of the Paradise** is an American horror film rock version of Gaston Leroux's ***Le Fantôme de l'Opéra*** released in 1974 and directed by Brian De Palma.

## Plot

In 1974, music composer/singer-songwriter Winslow Leach is heard by widely acclaimed record producer Swan as Winslow plays an original composition following a set run through by the 1950s-style nostalgia band *The Juicy Fruits*,
 which Swan produces. Swan believes Winslow's music perfect to open "The
 Paradise"—Swan's highly anticipated new concert hall—and has his
right-hand man Arnold Philbin steal it under the guise of producing
Winslow.

One month later, Winslow goes to Swan's Death Records to follow
up about his music but is thrown out. He sneaks into Swan's private
mansion and observes several women rehearsing his music for an audition.
 One is Phoenix, an aspiring singer whom Winslow deems "perfect" for his
 music. Winslow realizes Swan's plan to open the Paradise with his music
 after he is thrown out again. In response, he disguises himself as a woman to sneak in and try to speak to Swan. Swan has Winslow beaten and framed for drug dealing. Winslow is given a life sentence in Sing Sing
 Prison and his teeth are extracted and replaced with metal ones (part
of an experimental prisoner program to decrease infection amongst
inmates, funded by the Swan Foundation).

Six months later, Winslow hears that *The Juicy Fruits* have
 made an anticipated hit record of his music with Swan's backing. After a
 breakdown, he escapes prison in a delivery box and breaks into the
Death Records building. A guard startles Winslow as he is destroying the
 records and presses, causing him to slip and fall face first into a
record press, which crushes and burns the right half of his face, also
destroying his vocal cords. He barely manages to escape the studio, falling into the East River as the police arrive.

A disoriented, and now deformed, Winslow sneaks into the Paradise
 costume department and dons a long, black cape and a silver, owl-like
mask, becoming the Phantom of the Paradise. He terrorizes Swan and his
musicians and nearly kills *The Beach Bums* (formerly *The Juicy Fruits*, who have traded doo-wop for surf music).
 The Phantom confronts Swan, who recognizes him as Winslow and offers
the composer a chance to have his music produced "his" way. In a
specially built recording studio, Swan provides the Phantom with an
electronic voice-box, enabling him to speak and sing. Swan asks Winslow
to rewrite his cantata with Phoenix in mind for the lead. Although
Winslow agrees and signs a contract in blood, Swan breaks the deal by
telling Philbin that he resents Phoenix's "perfection" for the role. The
 Phantom completes *Faust*, but Swan replaces Phoenix with a pill-popping male glam rock prima donna named "Beef" in the lead of Winslow's *Faust* and relegates Phoenix to backup.

Swan steals the completed cantata and seals the Phantom inside
the recording studio with a brick wall. Winslow escapes and confronts
Beef (a comic allusion to the shower scene in *Psycho*) and threatens to kill him if he performs. Beef tries to flee, but is forced by Philbin to stay and play with the band *The Undeads* (the former *Juicy Fruits*/*Beach Bums*), a glam/Goth act who all resemble Cesare the Somnambulist from *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari*.
 As Beef performs, the Phantom, hidden in the rafters, strikes and
electrocutes Beef with a stage prop. Horrified, Philbin orders Phoenix
onstage. She is an immediate sensation.

Swan seduces Phoenix in her dressing room after the show with
promises of stardom. As she leaves, she is spirited away by the Phantom
to the roof. The Phantom tells Phoenix his true identity and implores
her to leave the Paradise so Swan won't destroy her. But Phoenix does
not recognize or believe him and flees. At Swan's mansion, the Phantom
observes Swan and Phoenix in a tight embrace. Heartbroken, he stabs
himself through the heart with a bowie knife. However, Swan tells the
Phantom that he cannot die until Swan himself has died. The Phantom
attempts to stab Swan, but Swan is unharmed. Looking down at Winslow,
Swan hisses in an almost reptilian voice, "I'm under contract, too."

*Rolling Stone* announces the wedding between Swan and Phoenix during *Faust*'s finale. The Phantom learns that Swan made a pact with the Devil
 in 1953: Swan will remain youthful forever unless the videotaped
recording of his contract is destroyed, and photos age and fester in his
 place. The tape reveals footage of Winslow signing his contract with
Swan and a new one Swan made with Phoenix. On a live TV camera, the
Phantom realizes Swan is planning to have Phoenix assassinated during
the ceremony. He destroys all the recordings and heads off to the
wedding.

During the wedding, the Phantom stops the assassin from hitting
Phoenix, who instead shoots and kills Philbin. The Phantom swings onto
the stage and rips off Swan's mask, exposing him as a monster on live
television. A crazed Swan attempts to strangle Phoenix but the Phantom
intervenes and stabs him repeatedly. In doing so, the Phantom's own stab
 wound reopens and he starts bleeding. As he is dying, Swan is carried
around by the audience, who join in the mania, stabbing him. The dying
Winslow removes his mask to reveal his own face and holds out a hand to
Phoenix. Swan dies, allowing Winslow to die of his own wound. As Winslow
 succumbs, Phoenix finally recognizes him as the kind man she met at
Swan's Mansion and embraces him in death.

## Cast

* William Finley - Winslow Leach
* Paul Williams - Swan
* Jessicer Harper - Phoenix
* Gerrit Graham - Beef
* George Memmoli - Arnold Philbin
* Archie Hahn, Jeffrey Comanor & Peter Elbing - The Juicy Fruits/The Beach Bums/The Undead