Phantom of the Paradise

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Phantom of the Paradise

Working title: Phantom of the Fillmore
Releasing year: Halloween, 1974
Genre: Musical/Comedy/Horror/Thriller
Plot in short: Rock Opera version of Phantom Of The Opera with elements of Faust.
Directed/Written: Brian De Palma
Cast: Archie Hahn, Jeffrey Comanor, Peter Elbling, George Memmoli, Gerrit Graham, Jessica Harper, Paul Williams, William Finley, Colin Cameron, David Garland, Gary Mallaber, Art Munson, Mary Margaret Amato, Rand Bridges, James Bohan.
Running time: 92 min.
Internet: Swan Archeves

The original one-sheet movie poster is known as the “style A” poster (no Richard Corben art on it). Every poster with different artwork has its own letter. The movie was released on Hallowe’en, 1974. It didn’t do very well. Apparently, no one knew what to do with a horror/comedy/musical. It was re-released in 1975 with a new campaign and a new poster by Richard Corben, who did a finished version based on a sketch by Neal Adams.

Several versions of Corben’s 1975 poster were issued. One “style C” version was 30″x40″ (including the border) on thick stock and sent rolled (not folded) to movie theatres to use as giveaways. There was no type at the bottom. The other “style C” version, the most popular, was 27″x41″ (including the border), machine-folded and sent to the theatres for use in the display cases. The only difference between the American and Canadian versions was in the rating: the Canadian version was issued without the American “PG” rating. There were also 11″x17″ posters used in the lobby, which I’ve seen on eBay.

And then there were the foreign versions. The UK poster was printed in black and white with some red, 20″x30″. The Argentinian poster is 29″x43″; the collector has only ever seen one copy. The Danish poster is 24″x33″. If there are other international versions of the Corben poster the collector probably hasn’t located them yet.

The cover for the Australian DVD of the movie combines Corben’s poster with the original poster.

Also, an early 1976 issue of the popular American entertainment magazine, Variety, has a full-page reproduction (in black and white) of Corben’s poster with box office figures (No specific date or issue number is given.) [plogg]