Phantom of the Paradise

So, the insanity of the poster above just scratches the surface of the excellent weirdo factor of Brian DePalma’s Phantom of the Paradise (1974).  In the midst of my Paul Williams kick a couple weeks ago I put this movie on my queue, and it was pretty mind blowing.  The story goes like this …

Swan, played by Paul Williams, is the ultimate super villain record producer and owner of Death Records; he is so evil, and so into his badass behavior that he actually sold his soul to the devil in order to never become old.  In his attempts at pop world domination, Swan decides to open The Paradise, a venue that will offer the greatest in rock-horror-drama entertainment.

While looking for a fresh new face and sound to open the theatre with, Swan hears a Faustian cantata composed by super nerd Winslow Leach (William Finley).  The villain steals the music and has the musician framed, arrested, and sent to Sing Sing where he has all his teeth pulled out and replaced by shiny silver fangs.  Pretty gnarly.

And when Leach returns to have his revenge, he is disfigured even more, and becomes a total monster …

… so, he dons a mask that looks kind of like Hawkman from The Justice League and becomes the Phantom of the Paradise – an anti-hero whose soul purpose is to destroy Swan and his awesome new theatre.

There is also a girl named Phoenix, a few more deals with Satan, a bunch of music and dance numbers, Swan’s super evil security gang that look like bikers and wear pretty rad “death” patches, and a flamboyant rock star named Beef.  In short, all sorts of amazingness that combine to create a pretty excellent and wholly entertaining movie.

Put it on the queue!

Paul Williams Still Alive

Paul Williams seemed to be just about everywhere in the 70s.  Seriously, his resume is insane (just check out his Wikipedia page).  To briefly summarize I will name just a few of his more major accomplishments … He sang with Kermit and the Muppets, he wrote countless pop hits for the likes of Three Dog Night, the Carpenters, David Bowie, and Barbara Streisand, and he also had a few hits of his own including We’ve Only Just Begun, and Waking Up Alone.  Williams wrote the theme song for “The Love Boat,” acted in The Loved One, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and Phantom of the Paradise, and made a guest appearance (at least once) on just about every 70s TV show you can think of.  And in every appearance, the 5’2″ dynamo sported his trademark Jan Brady do with a pair of aviators and a too-tight suit.

But then, he just sort of disappeared; though, I guess since his presence was so ubiquitous, it would be more appropriate to say that Williams went under the radar.  Either way, if you didn’t look you couldn’t find him.  But one day a filmmaker named Stephen Kessler, who loved Paul Williams as a boy, rediscovered his fallen, forgotten idol on YouTube and decided to make a movie about him.  Paul Williams Still Alive is a pretty perfect documentary – it’s beyond interesting but it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and tells a truly incredible story about life after superstardom.  Go see it!

the Brady Bunch Hour

“The Brady Bunch Hour” began as a 60 minute special titled “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.”   The show, produced by the genius duo of Sid and Marty Krofft, was such a success everyone figured they should just roll with it.  And so “The Brady Bunch Hour” was born, and killed off only eight episodes later.  The cast of the show was the same (with the exception of “Fake Jan” played by Geri Reischl), with an additional new neighbor, Mr. Jack Merrill, a jack-of-all-trades played by Rip Taylor.  Their home, though, and motivation was quite different …

The premise of “The Brady Bunch Hour” is a bit convoluted, but it goes a little something like this. The Brady family was chosen to star in a variety show on ABC because they were just so talented!  They left their familiar two story home somewhere in southern California for a place on the beach to film the show.  Each episode is a mish-mosh of scenes – some feature the Brady’s doing variety show-like skits, others are behind-the-scenes moments with the family as they go about making each episode, then there are a few stuck in there that were more or less a continuation of the original “Brady Bunch” episodes and had nothing to do with the “ABC variety series.”

But one mustn’t forget that this was a variety show, which means GUEST STARS!  They brought on the likes of Vincent Price, Farrah Fawcett, and Redd Foxx to add some star appeal, and the Ohio Players, Tina Turner, and Donny and Marie Osmond to spice things up.  Then, there was the show’s secret weapon … the Kroffette Dancers and Water Follies  because with a synchronized swimming team of dancers they just couldn’t fail!  To say the least, the whole show was a bit confusing and bizarre for everyone, audience and cast alike.

I am bored and bothered by the “The Brady Bunch Hour” just watching to find YouTube videos to post, and the TV audience in 1977 had a similar reaction.  The show was buried deep in the tombs of TV history to whither away unnoticed and unremembered, and we can all say good riddance!