A Different Spin on "Phantom"... (classic movie REVIEW)

Musicals and I have a complicated relationship.

I mean, the whole notion of randomly busting-out-into-song-(and-dance!)-in-the-middle-of-anything-(or-nothing) is—let’s face it—kinda odd.

 

And don’t even get me started on the songs, themselves. (No, really… don’t get me started. I could go on for a painfully-long time about how much I dislike everything about, say, The Sound of Music.)

 

But, put a rock musical in front of me, and you’ve got my attention.  

 

Over the years, I’ve seen my share of those. Grease. Hair. The Wall. Jesus Christ Superstar. Rock of Ages. Tommy. We Will Rock You. Hairspray. Moulin Rouge. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (which I’ll never really “get” the  cult obsession over, but whatever).

 

All of which brings me to right now. 2022. When I’ve been asked—challenged, even!—by someone close to me, to watch and review a previously-unheard-of (by me) classic, from 1974… Phantom of the Paradise. 

 

So, alrighty then. Challenge accepted!

 

 

It’s sometime in the future-past (past-future?), that nonetheless feels an awful lot like the early 1970s.  One Winslow Leach (William Finley), a budding artist/songwriter—nebbish-y talent that he is, with stars in his eyes and budding hope practically bursting out of his heart—approaches the head of a top record label (Mr. Swan, at Death Records) about a recording contract. 

 

[Okay, I’m goin’ out on a limb and saying Winslow is a little naïve, even for 1974. No one just rocks on up to a record tycoon—waving their sheet music, sporting thick glasses and a goofy demeanor, and soliciting an audience with the bigwig—unless they’re this guy.]

 

Anyhoo, Winslow gets the treatment that basically everyone watching could predict: he’s summarily (and ingloriously) thrown out on his lanky keister, with naught to show.

 

Except… while waiting to see the big (well, technically, diminutive, seeing how he’s played by Paul Williams) man, himself, Winslow has managed to fall in love [yes, really, so just go with it] with a pretty—and ridiculously talented—young chanteuse, the no-doubt-fortuitously-named Phoenix (Jessica Harper).

 

Swan recognizes great lyrics when he hears ‘em, though, and conspires to steal Winslow’s music for his own use (deciding it would be the perfect way to open his swanky new concert hall, the Paradise). Meanwhile, he also ensures that poor Winslow won’t be able to do a damn thing about it, by instructing his goons to plant drugs on the poor sap. The end result? A life sentence at Sing-Sing for the unlucky songwriter.

 

Winslow, as expected, is extremely bitter about his engineered incarceration, and reaches the breaking point just several months in. He manages to bust out of prison… but his face is severely disfigured, in the process.

 

From that point on, the damaged artist has a new raison d’être: ruining the dastardly Swan and taking down his empire, while simultaneously rescuing Phoenix (who has since become Swan’s leading lady).

 

The kicker? Winslow will be conducting his mission from the shadows... hiding his ruined face behind a drama mask, as he spirits around the eaves and rafters of the Paradise.

 

 

Drawing heavily (and most-obviously) on Gaston Leroux’s novel, The Phantom of the Opera, this Brian De Palma-penned (and directed) work—billed as a “rock musical comedy horror” film—also pays homage to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Goethe’s Faust, which makes for a neat little twist on the classic Phantom tale.

 

You really do have to be down with ‘70s campiness for this take, because it’s full of over-the-top… well, everything, really (although not to the same degree as Rocky Horror, for which I was glad). From the wardrobe to the pacing to the (laughably) cheap sets, it’s a total early-‘70s production.

 

To my surprise, though, the gothic/camp mashup that is Phantom of the Paradise actually grew on me while watching it. Finley’s portrayal of Winslow as a gentle, romantic, and sympathetic character is key to making the film work, and I definitely found myself rooting for him. Williams’ Swan—with his puckish demeanor—provides the perfect foil for Winslow’s innocence, because you don’t expect him to be as truly evil as he is. (I definitely wasn’t rooting for him.) Harper may not have a huge role, but she does have a good-sized story arc.

 

And speaking of Harper, how about those songs? (Rock musical, remember?) There are some great songs, here… and Harper’s voice is absolutely beautiful. 

 

So, is Phantom of the Paradise worth a watch? If you enjoy rock musicals—and are fine with a little camp—then I’m gonna say that it definitely is. [And as for the person who issued this challenge? You're welcome. ;-) ] 

~GlamKitty