Phantom of the Paradise

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Timing: 1:32 (92 min)

7.458/10
622

0/10
29

0/10
0

All about film

Video 8

Photo 56

Actors and characters

Release date

1974-10-31

Country

United States

Production

20th Century Fox, Harbor Productions, Pressman-Williams

Genre

Music, Comedy, Horror

Budget

$1 300 000

Revenue

$250 000

Website

Director

Brian De Palma

Actors

William Finley, Paul Williams, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham, George Memmoli, Archie Hahn, Jeffrey Comanor, Peter Elbling, Colin Cameron, David Garland
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Brian De Palma, Louisa Rose

Producer

Edward R. Pressman, Gustave M. Berne

Operator

Larry Pizer

Composer

Paul Williams

Artist

Audition

Sylvia Fay, Geno Havens, Peggy Taylor

Editing

Paul Hirsch
All team (38)

• According to William Finley (1940-2012), the press that disfigured his character Winslow Leach was filmed at a real pressing plant. He was very worried, but was assured there was no danger. The press was fitted with soft padding and braces to prevent an accident. However, the press turned out to be quite powerful, and the braces failed. Finley was saved from having his head crushed only by his reaction speed, but his frightened scream in the scene was entirely genuine.
• “The Electronics Room,” where Finley’s character composes the cantata, and where Swan regains his voice, was actually a recording studio, and the walls with numerous buttons were in fact a large custom-built Moog electronic synthesizer.
• The artist for the painting was Jack Fisk, and his friend Sissy Spacek helped him with the decorations (they soon married). According to Spacek, once, entirely due to her, a tunnel set was lost for an entire day of filming. Furthermore, Spacek auditioned for the role of Phoenix, but the role went to Jessica Harper.
• The logo of the record company “Death Records” at the airport replaced the originally depicted logo of “Swan Song Records.” This was done to avoid a lawsuit with the label of the band “Led Zeppelin.” The film’s producers were convinced that if the case went to court, they would prevail, but it was decided that it was better to finish the film quickly than to get bogged down in legal proceedings. Similarly, at the beginning of the film, the words “The Juicy Fruits” were overlaid on the awning above the entrance (architecturally called a marquee) to cover the words “Swan Song.” Initially, the words “Swan Song” were supposed to be everywhere, as producer Swan considered himself the center of the universe. This idea was later abandoned, but the words “Swan Song” remained visible here and there, in particular, on Bif’s towel as performed by Gerrit Graham.
• A total of four lawsuits were filed against the film separately, including one from the film company “Universal Pictures,” whose authors claimed that the film was too similar to early adaptations of “The Phantom of the Opera” based on the 1909 novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux (1868-1927).