De Palma a la Mod

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

UPCOMING FEATURE LOOKS AT PHANTOM LOVE
PLUS: FINLEY & GRAHAM AT THIS SUMMER'S ROCK CON IN NEW JERSEY

An upcoming dramatic feature film called Phantom Love will attempt to shed light on why the city of Winnipeg was so taken with Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise in 1975. Winnipeg filmmaker Paula Kelly has displayed a consistent interest in Winnipeg history in her films. According to the Winnipeg Free Press, Phantom Love is one of several features Kelly plans to make with funds from her prizes as recipient of the first ever Manitoba Film Hothouse Award for Creative Development. According to the article, the film will tell the story of a 15-year-old girl during the "'gritty, grimy' winter of 1975, when the city -- including Kelly herself -- embraced the horror-musical movie Phantom of the Paradise with a fervor unique in the world." The article continues, "Kelly believes it was our bleak surroundings that compelled us to escape into Phantom's 'glittery glam-rock world.'" Kelly herself was 15 years old in 1975, so there definitely appears to be an autobiographical nature to this project.

In other Phantom news, Gerrit Graham and William Finley are two of several "Horror Rock Stars" set to appear at this year's Rock Con: Weekend of 100 Rock Stars, taking place July 30 - August 1 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Posted by Geoff at 1:05 AM CDT
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

PHANTOM @ CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK
ALONG WITH PERFORMANCE FROM KEYNOTE SPEAKER PAUL WILLIAMS

Paul Williams will be a keynote speaker at Canadian Music Week 2010, which runs from March 10-14 in Toronto. Williams will appear on Saturday, March 13, to present his keynote address, and will also perform on the “Kings of Songwriting” panel as part of the fest's Songwriters’ Summit. One day earlier, Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise (for which Williams wrote the songs and in which he plays evil record mogul Swan) will be screened as part of the Canadian Music Week Film Festival. Phantom screens at 9pm March 12th.

Posted by Geoff at 12:32 AM CST
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Friday, January 29, 2010

DE PALMA'S PHANTOM CAMEO
SWAN ARCHIVES UNCOVERS CAMEO; PLUS: BLOGGER GLIMPSES... THE PHANTOM HIMSELF?!?

The Swan Archives recently discovered that Brian De Palma does indeed make a brief, small cameo in his 1974 film, Phantom Of The Paradise. The shot above, captured from the climactic wedding sequence, shows the bearded De Palma up in the corner of the balcony (look to the top left of the photo). As noted on the Swan Archives "Production" page, there has been some debate over whether or not a seated figure seen as the curtains open for Phoenix before she sings "Old Souls" is De Palma (the Swan Archivist does not believe it is De Palma, due to the lack of beard), but this balcony figure does indeed appear to be the real deal.

Meanwhile, Vinnie Rattolle recently visited the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, where Phantom Of The Paradise was shot. (Appropriately enough, he went there to see a stage presentation of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps). After the show, Rattolle took some pictures in the dimly-lit theater, and in one photo of the stage, he thinks he sees a glimpse of the Phantom himself lurking at stage left. Could it actually be the Phantom? Take a look and decide for yourselves...

Posted by Geoff at 10:30 AM CST
Updated: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 2:04 PM CST
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Monday, August 17, 2009

BALTIMORE GROUP WANTS TO STAGE PHANTOM
BUT FIRST: GRÜNDLEHÄMMER

Tim Smith at The Baltimore Sun ran a story yesterday about a group of recent college grads who are gearing up to stage Gründlehämmer, a rock opera with laughs, gore, and 15 songs. Co-writers John DeCampos (who also contributed to the music) and Aran Keating (who is also directing) originally proposed making a stage version of Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise. After Gründlehämmer finishes its single-weekend run from October 2-4 (at Baltimore's 2640 Space), DeCampos would still like to pursue the Phantom Of The Paradise idea. More information is available at the Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS). Curiously, there are two "songs" available for preview on the site, but when either of them is played, the files consist of a seemingly identical six seconds of drumming-- could be a little prank, as the society members seem a tad irreverent.

Posted by Geoff at 12:22 PM CDT
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Friday, July 3, 2009

PHANTOM INSPIRATION FOR MOULD
Hüsker Dü member says he shows De Palma film to bands

Bob Mould, of Hüsker Dü and Sugar fame, was the guest editor at magnetmagazine.com last week. Mould's initial editor's desk column was all about Phantom Of The Paradise. Mould incorrectly states that Winslow Leach was played by Gerrit Graham (Leach was, of course, played by William Finley), but his enthusiasm for the film is obvious. Here is what Mould wrote:

Phantom Of The Paradise is a Brian De Palma spectacle that combines The Phantom Of The Opera, Faust and glam rock. The film was released on Oct. 31, 1974. Paul Williams is cast in the role of Swan, the svengali of Death Records, who is auditioning musicians for the opening of a revolutionary new club called The Paradise. Winslow Leach, a nerdy songwriter (played by Gerrit Graham), manages to get his song heard (and then stolen) by Swan. Classic rock ‘n’ roll insanity ensues. There is a brilliant scene that depicts Leach in a recording-studio control room, seated at the keyboard, working feverishly to complete his cantata for the opening night of The Paradise. Leach is wearing his owl-like Phantom helmet/mask, speaking through a vocoder/oscillator, surrounded by pills and sheet music. For some reason it reminds me of—or maybe foreshadows—Daft Punk. It is also surely a coincide that the cantata is written for, and about to be sung, by Leach’s love interest, whose name is Phoenix (played by Jessica Harper). Hmm. The original title of the film was to be Phantom, but it was changed at the last-minute, to avoid potential legal conflict with the copyright holders of The Phantom comic strip. In addition, almost all references to Swan Song Enterprises, the ubiquitous media concern that was headed by Swan, were removed from the film. The instigator of said removal was Peter Grant, manager of Led Zeppelin, who had created Swansong Records (an actual label) just prior to the release of the film. Grant was a major thorn in the side of 20th Century Fox, and his threats to block the release of the film forced De Palma and 20th Century Fox to mask or recut major portions of the film. The original theatrical release was met with the sound of no hands clapping, except for, inexplicably, the city of Winnipeg, where the movie and soundtrack were enormous successes. In the intervening years, two Phantompalooza events have taken place in Winnipeg. I love showing this movie to bands on the eve of recording sessions. It’s a great way to get everyone, including myself, to unwind a bit before the big day.

Posted by Geoff at 12:13 AM CDT
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Monday, June 1, 2009

HARPER TO SPEAK IN L.A.
BETWEEN SCREENINGS OF SUSPIRIA & PHANTOM

Jessica Harper, who was "introduced" in Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise (1974) before going on to star in Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977), will speak in between screenings of the two films Friday, June 12, at The Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles. The Drive-In parking lot theater offers admission for $30 per car, or you can reserve a seat inside the theater for $8 per person.

Posted by Geoff at 9:57 PM CDT
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Monday, April 27, 2009

PHANTOM'S 35TH IN DALLAS
AND TRIBUTE TO PAUL WILLIAMS, WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Wednesday night (April 29th), Dallas' 39th Annual USA Film Festival kicks off at 7pm with a 35th anniversary screening of Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise, which was partly filmed in Dallas. A digitally remastered print of Phantom will be screened for the occasion, and Paul Williams will be in attendance, as the festival pays tribute to the songwriter who portrayed the evil Swan in the film. Preceding the Phantom feature will be a film clip compilation tribute to Williams, and a special sneak-preview of a work-in-progress portrait of Williams by filmmaker Stephen Kessler. If anybody attends, please let us know about it, either through the comments, or email me!

Posted by Geoff at 9:44 AM CDT
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Monday, March 23, 2009

MORE PHANTOM SET PHOTOS
AT THE SWAN ARCHIVES, OF COURSE
A few more shots of Brian De Palma and, separately, Paul Williams, have been posted on the production page at the Swan Archives. Click on any of the photos to see a larger version. The pics show De Palma sitting in his director chair, observing and thinking, and others show Williams looking lighthearted as he sits and talks with others on the set.

Posted by Geoff at 11:00 PM CDT
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

PHANTOM ON THE STAGE

WILLIAMS SAYS HE & DE PALMA "ABOUT TO BEGIN WORK"
PLUS: WRIGHT INTRODUCES PHANTOM IN TORONTO;
'70s FLASHBACKS: WILLIAMS PERFORMING "HELL OF IT" FOR BRADYS AND HARDY BOYS;
P.J. SOLES & BETTY BUCKLEY COMMERCIALS

In the YouTube video posted above (which we found thanks to Akahan!), you can see Edgar Wright introducing Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise Sunday night at Toronto's Bloor Cinema. As part of the intro, Wright read an e-mail message that Paul Williams composed specifically for the audience that night. The e-mail from Williams read, in part, "Mr. De Palma and I are about to begin work on the stage version of Phantom Of The Paradise at last, and it will be ready for viewing… God knows, not I." In December of 2007, at an Edgar Wright presentation of the De Palma film in Los Angeles, Williams revealed that a stage version of Phantom was in the works, and that De Palma and producer Edward Pressman were involved. Pressman is developing a remake of the film, and it is speculated that the film remake would follow a successful stage version.

Williams has been trying to get a stage version together with De Palma since the 1980s, and De Palma had even discussed the project earlier this decade with Antonio Banderas, who had just appeared in De Palma's Femme Fatale, and had just had recent success on Broadway with the musical Nine. De Palma was set to direct a workshop for a stage version at the beginning of 2007, but then got involved in making Redacted instead. The news that Williams and De Palma are getting set to delve into the project is exciting, but note also that the halls of Valhalla Motion Pictures are currently buzzing with preparation for De Palma's next film project, The Boston Stranglers, which is due to go into production late this spring.

De Palma a la Mod reader Ryan Clark discovered a YouTube clip of Williams singing Phantom's closing number, The Hell Of It, on a Halloween episode of the 1970s TV show The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. The clip has also long been available for viewing as an "Easter Egg" at The Swan Archives by clicking any of the site's "Death Records" logos at the bottoms of most pages. Another startling find was made last week by Vinnie Rattolle: a clip of Williams singing The Hell Of It on an episode of the long forgotten The Brady Bunch Hour. In the clip, Williams gets to menace Peter and Greg Brady, and sings the song amidst a chorus of female dancers in costumes that could have come right out of Phantom Of The Paradise. Hearing Williams sing lyrics like, "Good for nothing, bad in bed, nobody likes you and you're better off dead" on such a cheery family variety show is somewhat surreal. Special bonus link: check out Vinnie Rattolle's unearthing of a couple of Carrie-era commercials featuring Betty Buckley and P.J. Soles.

Posted by Geoff at 4:54 AM CDT
Updated: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 4:31 PM CDT
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Thursday, February 26, 2009

WRIGHT TO PRESENT PHANTOM IN TORONTO
MARCH 15, PAIRED WITH BERKLEY'S DAMES

Filmmaker Edgar Wright will present Brian De Palma's The Phantom Of The Paradise at Toronto's Bloor Cinema on March 15, 2009, as part of The Wright Stuff: Toronto fest that runs at the theater from March 1st to April 12th. De Palma's film will be the second half of a double bill March 15th that begins with Busby Berkley's Dames. On his site, Wright says of the two films:

If you are a fan of Michel Gondry and yet have never seen a Busby Berkley film, you need to rectify this immediately. Whether you are a musical fan or not, you cannot fail to be dazzled by the eye popping beauty of his choreography. The fact that his wildly inventive setpieces were made in the 1930s is just staggering, they still look impressive by today’s standards. And Phantom Of The Paradise is one of my all time favourite movies. Brian De Palma and Paul Williams’ 1970’s rock opera is genuine one off; satirical, magical, dark and hilarious. It’s both one of the most atypical films in De Palma’s canon, and one of his best.

In late 2007, Wright presented "The Wright Stuff" at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, and kicked it off with a pairing of Phantom Of The Paradise and Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone. Both films feature songs by Williams.

UPDATE: EDGAR WRIGHT TALKS ABOUT PHANTOM
Peet points out in a comment to this post that Wright has previously provided a commentary on De Palma's film at Trailers From Hell. In the commentary (which you can hear/see by clicking the embedded player below), Wright says that Phantom Of The Paradise has a terrible trailer, but is an incredible film. He also mentions that he tried to ape the take of Winslow running down a corridor (as seen in the trailer) for a scene in Hot Fuzz. (Wright also previously provided a Trailers From Hell commentary for De Palma's The Fury.)

Posted by Geoff at 7:50 PM CST
Updated: Friday, February 27, 2009 3:58 PM CST
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