FILMS. 4th EDItION THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is composed of material completely foreign to the imagery of the film No film so systematically reflects the psychoanalytical encounter, elf(except for the eruption after the burned film), so that one truly although many films of lesser intensity(such as Hitchcock 's spell misses"nothing of the plot by starting with the titles, yet it is crucial bound or Bergmans own Face to Face) attempt it more directly to an understanding of what is happening in that plot. perhaps no other film offers as many decoys to hide its psychoanalyti- Early in the film we see a psychiatrist who talks to Alma about her cal core. The very clues that would engage the viewer in trying to sort future patient, and who talks to Elisabeth, alone, about her with- out what is real and what is imagined by the two(or is it one? )women drawal. Bergman uses the psychiatrist to fill us in on the background are distractions from its profound concern of the silent woman late in the film we meet elisabeth's husband who may be blind, when he shows up on the island where his wife is recuperating-but apparently he cannot tell Alma from Elisabeth. By this time Bergman has laid so many clues about the imaginative or psychotic perspective of the plot that we must wonder whether the husband is himself imagined or indeed whether Alma and Elisabeth THE PHANTOM CHARIOT are two aspects of a divided personality. This suspicion is encourage See KorKalen by a repeated shot of a composite face, made up of half of each womans face. It appears after a climactic scene in which Alma recites Elisabeth's faults to her face and ends up screaming that she is not Elisabeth Vogler herself. Interpretation of the film must depend how one regards that scene. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA without judging the reality of any of the depicted events, however, once one sees the silent Elisabeth as a figure for the analyst and Alma USA, 192 as the patient, one can see that the sequence of the relationship between Alma and Elisabeth neatly corresponds to the stages of Director: Rupert Julian transference and counter-transference in classical psychoanalysis. Even more remarkable than the correspondence is the fact that Production: Universal Pictures: black and white, (some sequences Bergman has virtually suppressed shot-countershot in this film. This filmed in 2-strip Technicolor), 35mm. silent; running time: about 9 itself is a considerable stylistic innovation for a film essentially minutes; length: 10 reels, 8464 feet. Filmed in Hollywood. Cos about a single speaker and a single listener. But the few times that shot-countershot does occur. it underlines the stages of transference first, when Alma initially makes contact with Elisabeth by reading her a letter from her husband; next, and with obsessive frequency,as Alma feels comfortable enough to describe her life and confess her excitement over an orgy and her subsequent abortion. Here shot- countershot underlines the positive transference: Alma is falling in love with Elisabeth. But when reading a private letter to Elisabeth's husband, Alma realizes that she is being coolly analyzed and her love turns to hatred (negative transference). It is when she deliberately causes harm to Elisabeth that a single instance of shot- countershot occurs and, with it, comes the ripping and burning of the film, along with all the"repressed"material from the pre-title scene. The climactic accusation is the final shot-countershot scene in the film. It is repeated twice as if to stress its importance and to show how a film- maker constructs shot-countershot As a psychoanalytic drama, Persona depends upon the relation- ship of the seemingly chaotic image of the beginning of the film to the accusations of Alma at the height of her transference anxiety. There the abortion, the rejection of Elisabeths son, and the confusion over who sleeps with her husband are significant issues as are the frequent representations and discussions of love-making while someone looks on. The entire film actually turns on the perspective of a pre- adolescent male, seen waking up in a morgue in the pre-title scene, and reaching out. in the first initial shot-countershot structure. to touch the projected image of the faces of the two women flowing together. In the center of this labyrinthine film, there is a primal scene disturbance: a fantasy of intercourse as a violent act, yet exciting to watch. in which the child born out of it believes himself unwanted even the victim of a willed destruction The Phantom of the Opera
FILMS, 4 THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA th EDITION 935 is composed of material completely foreign to the imagery of the film itself (except for the eruption after the burned film), so that one truly misses ‘‘nothing’’ of the plot by starting with the titles, yet it is crucial to an understanding of what is happening in that plot. Early in the film we see a psychiatrist who talks to Alma about her future patient, and who talks to Elisabeth, alone, about her withdrawal. Bergman uses the psychiatrist to fill us in on the background of the silent woman. Late in the film we meet Elisabeth’s husband, who may be blind, when he shows up on the island where his wife is recuperating—but apparently he cannot tell Alma from Elisabeth. By this time Bergman has laid so many clues about the imaginative or psychotic perspective of the plot that we must wonder whether the husband is himself imagined or indeed whether Alma and Elisabeth are two aspects of a divided personality. This suspicion is encouraged by a repeated shot of a composite face, made up of half of each woman’s face. It appears after a climactic scene in which Alma recites Elisabeth’s faults to her face and ends up screaming that she is not Elisabeth Vogler herself. Interpretation of the film must depend on how one regards that scene. Without judging the reality of any of the depicted events, however, once one sees the silent Elisabeth as a figure for the analyst and Alma as the patient, one can see that the sequence of the relationship between Alma and Elisabeth neatly corresponds to the stages of transference and counter-transference in classical psychoanalysis. Even more remarkable than the correspondence is the fact that Bergman has virtually suppressed shot-countershot in this film. This in itself is a considerable stylistic innovation for a film essentially about a single speaker and a single listener. But the few times that shot-countershot does occur, it underlines the stages of transference: first, when Alma initially makes contact with Elisabeth by reading her a letter from her husband; next, and with obsessive frequency, as Alma feels comfortable enough to describe her life and confess her excitement over an orgy and her subsequent abortion. Here shotcountershot underlines the positive transference: Alma is falling in love with Elisabeth. But when reading a private letter to Elisabeth’s husband, Alma realizes that she is being coolly analyzed and her love turns to hatred (negative transference). It is when she deliberately causes harm to Elisabeth that a single instance of shot-countershot occurs and, with it, comes the ripping and burning of the film, along with all the ‘‘repressed’’ material from the pre-title scene. The climactic accusation is the final shot-countershot scene in the film. It is repeated twice as if to stress its importance and to show how a filmmaker constructs shot-countershot. As a psychoanalytic drama, Persona depends upon the relationship of the seemingly chaotic image of the beginning of the film to the accusations of Alma at the height of her transference anxiety. There the abortion, the rejection of Elisabeth’s son, and the confusion over who sleeps with her husband are significant issues as are the frequent representations and discussions of love-making while someone looks on. The entire film actually turns on the perspective of a preadolescent male, seen waking up in a morgue in the pre-title scene, and reaching out, in the first initial shot-countershot structure, to touch the projected image of the faces of the two women flowing together. In the center of this labyrinthine film, there is a primal scene disturbance: a fantasy of intercourse as a violent act, yet exciting to watch, in which the child born out of it believes himself unwanted, even the victim of a willed destruction. No film so systematically reflects the psychoanalytical encounter, although many films of lesser intensity (such as Hitchcock’s Spellbound or Bergman’s own Face to Face) attempt it more directly; perhaps no other film offers as many decoys to hide its psychoanalytical core. The very clues that would engage the viewer in trying to sort out what is real and what is imagined by the two (or is it one?) women are distractions from its profound concern. —P. Adams Sitney THE PHANTOM CHARIOT See KÖRKALEN THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA USA, 1925 Director: Rupert Julian Production: Universal Pictures; black and white, (some sequences filmed in 2-strip Technicolor), 35mm. silent; running time: about 94 minutes; length: 10 reels, 8464 feet. Filmed in Hollywood. Cost: The Phantom of the Opera
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA FILMS. 4 EDITIoN budgeted at $I million. Released 15 November 1925, premiered Kindblom, M, "I begynnelsen var manniskan tre, in Filmhaftet September 1925 in New York. Re-released 1930 with some (Uppsala, Sweden), December dialogue sequences and songs added. Turner, George, "The Phantoms Lady Returns, in American Cineme tographer(Hollywood), vol. 71, no. 4, April Presented by: Carl Laemmle: screenplay(adaptation): Raymond MacQueen, S,"The 1926 Phantom of the Opera,in American Schrock and Elliott J. Clawson, from the novel by Gaston Leroux Cinematographer(Hollywood ), vol 70, September 1989 titles: Tom Reed; additional direction: Edward Sedgwick; photog- MacQueen,S, "Phantom of the Opera-Part I, in American raphy: Virgil Miller, Milton Bridenbecker, and Charles Van Enger Cinematographer(Hollywood), voL 70, October 1989 editor: Maurice Pivar: production designers: Charles D Hall, and Pitman, J, "Chaney Phantom of the Opera Tinted and With Music Ben carre Track, to Join the Current Craze, in Variety(New York), vol 337,25/310 ctober1989. Cast: Lon Chaney(Erik); Mary Philbin( Christine Dace): Norman Weaver, T,""Silent Horror Classics: The Best of the Big Screen Kerry(Raoul de Chagny): Snitz Edwards(Florine Papillon): Gib Shockers, ' in Filmfax(Evanston), no 25, February/March 1991 son Gowland(Simon); John Sainpolis(Philippe de Chagny): Vir- Telerama(Paris), no 2380, 23 August 1995 ginia Pearson(Carlotta): Arthur Edmond Carew (also Carewe) Cahiers du Cinema(Paris), no 494, September 1995 (Ledoux); Edith Yorke(Madame Valerius): Anton Vaverka(Prompter) Blake, Michael F, ""Lon Chaney's Phantom Turns 70, in Filmfax Bernard Siegel (Joseph Buguer): Olive Ann Alcorn (La Sorelli); (Evanston), no 52, September-October 1995 Edward Cecil(Faust): Alexander Bevani(Mephistopheles); John Blake, Michael F, ""Lon Chaney Collection(1920-25), in Filmfar Miljan(Valentin): Grace Marvin(Martha); George Williams(Ricard); (Evanston), no 52, September-October 1995 Bruce Covington(Moncharmin): Cesare Gravina(Manager); Ward Correspondence on the various scores for the film, by Clifford Crane(Count Rubofn; Chester Conklin(Orderly); William Tryoler McCarty, in Cue Sheet(Hollywood), vol. 11, no 4, October 1995 Giddins, G, " The Mask, in Village Voice(New York), vol 41 Publications Books. There have been several versions of The Phantom of the Opera, but none has remained as close to the original novel by Gaston Leroux Clemens, Carlos, An Illustrated History of the Horror Film, New as does the Lon Chaney film. Admittedly the film stays faithful to the original work sometimes more as a result of what is not shown than what is; for example, whereas later screen versions offer fanciful Anderson, Robert G, Faces, Forms, Films: The Artistry of Lon Chaney, South Brunswick, New Jersey, 1971 explanations for the phantom's grotesque appearance, the Chaney Everson,William K, Classics of the Horror Film, Secaucus, New feature makes no effort to explain why the phantom is the way he is- by default, presumably going along with Leroux 's story that he was Jersey, 1974 born that way Everson, William K, American Silent Film, New York, 1978 Encouraged by the praise and box-office rewards heaped on Riley, Philip, editor, MagicImage Filmbooks Presents the Making of Chaney s previous Universal feature, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Phantom of the Opera, Absecon, New Jersey, 1994 Carl Laemmle budgeted one million dollars for The Phantom of the Blake, Michael F, A Thousand Faces: Lon Chaney's Unique Artistry Opera. Rupert Julian, a long-time Universal contract director who in Motion Pictures, Lanham, 1995. Blake, Michael F The Films of Lon Chaney, Lanham, 1998. had made a career as an actor portraying Kaiser Wilhelm in various films, was assigned to direct, but he was replaced sometime during the shooting by Edward Sedgwick, a minor comedy director ( Apparently Articles. Julian and Chaney did not get along, the result of a disagreement about the phantom's characterization Universal promoted the film Hall, Mordaunt, in New York Timmes, 7 September 1925. by using the rather obvious device of permitting no advance photo- Mitchell, George, ""Lon Chaney, "in Films in Review(New York), graphs of Chaney to be shown, thus assuring an excited andenthusias- December 1953 tic audience for the New York premiere on September 6, 1925 Behlmer, Rudy, in Films in Review(New York), October 1962 Critical reaction was somewhat mixed, but the feature proved a tre- Bodeen, DeWitt, Lon Chaney: Man of a Thousand Faces, in Focus mendous success at the box office on Film(London), May-August 1970 It is perhaps unfortunate that The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Chaney; ou, La Politique de I'acteur, " "in Positif The Phantom of the Opera are the most frequently revived and easily (Paris), July-August 1978. accessible of Chaney's silent features, for neither film allows the Meth, S,""Reflections in a Cinema Eye: Lon Chaney, in Classic actor much excuse for dramatics. His make-up, of course, is superb. Film Collector (Indiana, Pennsylvania), July 1979 but here there is no evidence of the kind of emotional Koszarski, R, ""Career in Shadows, in Film History(London), vol. Chaney displays, for example, in Tell it to the Marines(1927). Also 3.no.3.1989 his supporting players, Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry, are sing MacQueen, S,"Phantom of the Opera-Part Il, in American larly lacking in talent; Philbin, as the opera singer who unmasks the Cinematographer(Hollywood ), October 1989 Phantom, is particularly weak
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA FILMS, 4th EDITION 936 budgeted at $1 million. Released 15 November 1925, premiered 6 September 1925 in New York. Re-released 1930 with some dialogue sequences and songs added. Presented by: Carl Laemmle; screenplay (adaptation): Raymond Schrock and Elliott J. Clawson, from the novel by Gaston Leroux; titles: Tom Reed; additional direction: Edward Sedgwick; photography: Virgil Miller, Milton Bridenbecker, and Charles Van Enger; editor: Maurice Pivar; production designers: Charles D. Hall, and Ben Carre. Cast: Lon Chaney (Erik); Mary Philbin (Christine Dace); Norman Kerry (Raoul de Chagny); Snitz Edwards (Florine Papillon); Gibson Gowland (Simon); John Sainpolis (Philippe de Chagny); Virginia Pearson (Carlotta); Arthur Edmond Carew (also Carewe) (Ledoux); Edith Yorke (Madame Valerius); Anton Vaverka (Prompter); Bernard Siegel (Joseph Buguet); Olive Ann Alcorn (La Sorelli); Edward Cecil (Faust); Alexander Bevani (Mephistopheles); John Miljan (Valentin); Grace Marvin (Martha); George Williams (Ricard); Bruce Covington (Moncharmin); Cesare Gravina (Manager); Ward Crane (Count Ruboff); Chester Conklin (Orderly); William Tryoler (Conductor). Publications Books: Clemens, Carlos, An Illustrated History of the Horror Film, New York, 1967. Anderson, Robert G., Faces, Forms, Films: The Artistry of Lon Chaney, South Brunswick, New Jersey, 1971. Everson, William K., Classics of the Horror Film, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1974. Everson, William K., American Silent Film, New York, 1978. Riley, Philip, editor, MagicImage Filmbooks Presents the Making of the Phantom of the Opera, Absecon, New Jersey, 1994. Blake, Michael F., A Thousand Faces: Lon Chaney’s Unique Artistry in Motion Pictures, Lanham, 1995. Blake, Michael F., The Films of Lon Chaney, Lanham, 1998. Articles: Hall, Mordaunt, in New York Times, 7 September 1925. Mitchell, George, ‘‘Lon Chaney,’’ in Films in Review (New York), December 1953. Behlmer, Rudy, in Films in Review (New York), October 1962. Bodeen, DeWitt, ‘‘Lon Chaney: Man of a Thousand Faces,’’ in Focus on Film (London), May-August 1970. Viviani, C., ‘‘Lon Chaney; ou, La Politique de l’acteur,’’ in Positif (Paris), July-August 1978. Meth, S., ‘‘Reflections in a Cinema Eye: Lon Chaney,’’ in Classic Film Collector (Indiana, Pennsylvania), July 1979. Koszarski, R., ‘‘Career in Shadows,’’ in Film History (London), vol. 3, no. 3, 1989. MacQueen, S., ‘‘Phantom of the Opera—Part II,’’ in American Cinematographer (Hollywood), October 1989. Kindblom, M., ‘‘I begynnelsen var manniskan tre,’’ in Filmhaftet (Uppsala, Sweden), December 1989. Turner, George, ‘‘The Phantom’s Lady Returns,’’ in American Cinematographer (Hollywood), vol. 71, no. 4, April 1990. MacQueen, S., ‘‘The 1926 Phantom of the Opera,’’ in American Cinematographer (Hollywood), vol. 70, September 1989. MacQueen, S., ‘‘Phantom of the Opera—Part II,’’ in American Cinematographer (Hollywood), vol. 70, October 1989. Pitman, J., ‘‘Chaney Phantom of the Opera Tinted and With Music Track, to Join the Current Craze,’’ in Variety (New York), vol. 337, 25/31 October 1989. Weaver, T., ‘‘Silent Horror Classics: The Best of the Big Screen Shockers,’’ in Filmfax (Evanston), no. 25, February/March 1991. Télérama (Paris), no. 2380, 23 August 1995. Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), no. 494, September 1995. Blake, Michael F., ‘‘Lon Chaney’s Phantom Turns 70,’’ in Filmfax (Evanston), no. 52, September-October 1995. Blake, Michael F., ‘‘Lon Chaney Collection (1920–25),’’ in Filmfax (Evanston), no. 52, September-October 1995. Correspondence on the various scores for the film, by Clifford McCarty, in Cue Sheet (Hollywood), vol. 11, no. 4, October 1995. Giddins, G., ‘‘The Mask,’’ in Village Voice (New York), vol. 41, 23 January 1996. *** There have been several versions of The Phantom of the Opera, but none has remained as close to the original novel by Gaston Leroux as does the Lon Chaney film. Admittedly the film stays faithful to the original work sometimes more as a result of what is not shown than what is; for example, whereas later screen versions offer fanciful explanations for the phantom’s grotesque appearance, the Chaney feature makes no effort to explain why the phantom is the way he is— by default, presumably going along with Leroux’s story that he was ‘‘born that way.’’ Encouraged by the praise and box-office rewards heaped on Chaney’s previous Universal feature, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Carl Laemmle budgeted one million dollars for The Phantom of the Opera. Rupert Julian, a long-time Universal contract director who had made a career as an actor portraying Kaiser Wilhelm in various films, was assigned to direct, but he was replaced sometime during the shooting by Edward Sedgwick, a minor comedy director. (Apparently Julian and Chaney did not get along, the result of a disagreement about the phantom’s characterization.) Universal promoted the film by using the rather obvious device of permitting no advance photographs of Chaney to be shown, thus assuring an excited and enthusiastic audience for the New York premiere on September 6, 1925. Critical reaction was somewhat mixed, but the feature proved a tremendous success at the box office. It is perhaps unfortunate that The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera are the most frequently revived and easily accessible of Chaney’s silent features, for neither film allows the actor much excuse for dramatics. His make-up, of course, is superb, but here there is no evidence of the kind of emotional range that Chaney displays, for example, in Tell it to the Marines (1927). Also, his supporting players, Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry, are singularly lacking in talent; Philbin, as the opera singer who unmasks the Phantom, is particularly weak
FILMS. 4th EDItION PHILADELPHIIA The star of The Phantom of the Opera is not Chaney, but rather the Articles: magnificent sets of Charles D. Hall and Ben Carre, ranging from the awe-inspiring lobby and auditorium of the Paris Opera House to the McCarthy, T, Variety(New York), 20 December 1993 eerie, subterranean home of the phantom. Equally impressive are the Bruzzi, S, Sight and Sound (london), March 1994. costumes, partI icularly the"Death' garment worn by Chaney in the Taubin, A, "The Odd Couple, in Sight and Sound (london), Bal Masque sequence. This scene, together with the operatic numbers March 1994 from Gounod's Faust, were filmed in two-strip Technicolor. The Mueller, Matt, ""The Philadelphia Story, in Empire (London), direction is weak, and the film is badly paced for a melodrama, March 1994 although suspense is allowed to build, the result of Chaney s remain- Derrett, A, in Film Score Monthly(Los angeles), no 44, April 1994. ing masked until more than half-way through the film Grundman, R, and P Sacks, Cineaste(New York), No. 3, 1994 For a 1930 reissue of The Phantom. Universal filmed a number of Pearson, H, Films in Review(New York), No. 3/4, 1994 dialogue sequences with Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry, and add Harty, K.J., " The Failures of Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia'in a singing voice-not that of Philbin-to the operatic numbers. At that Four Quarters(Philadelphia), Spring 1994 time some ten minutes were also cut from the film Stanbrook, Alan, Sunday Telegraph, 9 October 1994 Mechar, KW,"Every Problem Has a Solution: AIDS and the anthony Slide Cultural recuperation of the American Nuclear Family in Jona- than Demme's Philadelphia, in Spectator(Los Angeles), vol 15,no.1,1994 Cante,R, "'A Report from Philadelphia and Somewhere Else, in PHILADELPHIA Spectator ( Los Angeles), voL. 15. no. 2, 1995 Weis, E, ""Sync Tanks, in Cineaste(New York), voL 21, no. 1/2 1995 Sandler Philadelphia Suit Near Accord, in Variety(New USA 1993 York), 12/18 February 1996 Evans, G, " Philadelphia Story Raises Muddy Issues in Filmmaking. Director: Jonathan Demme Variety(New York), vol. 362, 18/24 March 1996. Evans, G, and A. Sandler, TriStar Settles Philadelphia Suit, in Production: TriStar Pictures: colour, 35mm: sound: running time: Variety(New York), vol. 362, 25/31 March 1996 120 minutes. Filmed in Philadelphia, 1993 Van Fuqua, Joy, Can You Feel It, Joe?: Male Melodrama and the amily Man, in Velvet Light Trap(Austin), no. 38, Fall 1996 Kenny, Glenn, "Jonathan Demme, in Premiere(Boulder), voL 1 Producer: Edward Saxon, Jonathan Demme: screenplay: Ron no. 3. November 1998. Nyswaner, photography: Tak Fujimoto; editor: Craig McKay assistant director: Ron Bozman, Drew Ann Rosenberg; production design: Kristi Zea; art director: Tim Galvin; music: Howard Shore sound editor: Ron Bochar, sound recording: Chris Newman, Steve Knowing old heads around Hollywood shook with dismay when Jonathan Demme revealed his plan to follow up the surprisingly successful The Silence of the Lambs with another of the risky ventures Cast: Tom Hanks(Andrew Becket): Denzel Washington (oe Miller): he was noted for, a major production fe homosexuality and Jason Robards( Charles Wheeler): Mary Steenburgen(Belinda Conine): AIDS. Films about homosexuality (since a revision in the Production Antonio Banderas(Miguel Alvarez); Ron Vawter(Bob Seidman): Code in 1969 made the word even mentionable in films). from the Robert Ridgley (Walter Kenton); Charles Napier (udge Garnet); camp The Gay Deceivers(1969) to the James Ivory/Ismail Merchant Lisa Summerour (Lisa Miller); Joanne Woodward (Sarah Backett); adaptation of E M. Forster's long suppressed novel Maurice(1986), Roberta Maxwell (Judge Tate ): Roger Corman(Mr. Laird) had never done well at the box office. Films dealing with AIDS, such Awards: Oscar for Best Actor(Hanks ), 1993 art theatre circuit. It can be argued that the cinema is developing new, more mature audience as philadelphia financial and critical success in a year that saw Steven Spielbergs Schindler's List Publications and Ivory/Merchants Remains of the Day. Nor did Philadelphia stir up as much controversy as nervous exhibitors had feared from protesting religious fundamentalists and other reactionary lobbies Books Probably these pressure groups had given up any hope for an industry that wallowed in decadence and indecency. Surprisingly most objec Kael, Pauline, Pauline Kael on Jonathan Demme: A Selection of tions to the film came from the expanding gay press that thought Reviews Accompanying the Retrospective Jonathan Deme Demme should have taken a more militant line demanding action t merican Director, Minneapolis, 1988 conquer AIDS, the modern plague. Tom Hanks, who won the 1993 Bliss. Michael. and Christiana Banks. What Goes Around Come Academy Award for best actor for his extraordinarily demanding Around: The Films of Jonathan Demme, Carbondale, 1996 performance as AIDS victim Andrew Beckett, acknowledged thi Falaschi. francesco, Jonathan demme protest and explained to interviewer David Thomson:
FILMS, 4 PHILADELPHIA th EDITION 937 The star of The Phantom of the Opera is not Chaney, but rather the magnificent sets of Charles D. Hall and Ben Carre, ranging from the awe-inspiring lobby and auditorium of the Paris Opera House to the eerie, subterranean home of the phantom. Equally impressive are the costumes, particularly the ‘‘Death’’ garment worn by Chaney in the Bal Masque sequence. This scene, together with the operatic numbers from Gounod’s Faust, were filmed in two-strip Technicolor. The direction is weak, and the film is badly paced for a melodrama, although suspense is allowed to build, the result of Chaney’s remaining masked until more than half-way through the film. For a 1930 reissue of The Phantom, Universal filmed a number of dialogue sequences with Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry, and added a singing voice—not that of Philbin—to the operatic numbers. At that time some ten minutes were also cut from the film. —Anthony Slide PHILADELPHIA USA, 1993 Director: Jonathan Demme Production: TriStar Pictures; colour, 35mm; sound; running time: 120 minutes. Filmed in Philadelphia, 1993. Producer: Edward Saxon, Jonathan Demme; screenplay: Ron Nyswaner; photography: Tak Fujimoto; editor: Craig McKay; assistant director: Ron Bozman, Drew Ann Rosenberg; production design: Kristi Zea; art director: Tim Galvin; music: Howard Shore; sound editor: Ron Bochar; sound recording: Chris Newman, Steve Scanlon. Cast: Tom Hanks (Andrew Beckett); Denzel Washington (Joe Miller); Jason Robards (Charles Wheeler); Mary Steenburgen (Belinda Conine); Antonio Banderas (Miguel Alvarez); Ron Vawter (Bob Seidman); Robert Ridgley (Walter Kenton); Charles Napier (Judge Garnett); Lisa Summerour (Lisa Miller); Joanne Woodward (Sarah Backett); Roberta Maxwell (Judge Tate); Roger Corman (Mr. Laird). Awards: Oscar for Best Actor (Hanks), 1993. Publications Books: Kael, Pauline, Pauline Kael on Jonathan Demme: A Selection of Reviews Accompanying the Retrospective Jonathan Demme, an American Director, Minneapolis, 1988. Bliss, Michael, and Christiana Banks, What Goes Around Comes Around: The Films of Jonathan Demme, Carbondale, 1996. Falaschi, Francesco, Jonathan Demme, Milan, 1997. Articles: McCarthy, T., Variety (New York), 20 December 1993. Bruzzi, S., Sight and Sound (London), March 1994. Taubin, A., ‘‘The Odd Couple,’’ in Sight and Sound (London), March 1994. Mueller, Matt, ‘‘The Philadelphia Story,’’ in Empire (London), March 1994. Derrett, A., in Film Score Monthly (Los Angeles), no. 44, April 1994. Grundman, R., and P. Sacks, Cineaste (New York), No. 3, 1994. Pearson, H., Films in Review (New York), No. 3/4, 1994. Harty, K.J., ‘‘The Failures of Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia’’ in Four Quarters (Philadelphia), Spring 1994. Stanbrook, Alan, Sunday Telegraph, 9 October 1994. Mechar, K.W., ‘‘‘Every Problem Has a Solution’: AIDS and the Cultural Recuperation of the American Nuclear Family in Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia,’’ in Spectator (Los Angeles), vol. 15, no. 1, 1994. Cante, R., ‘‘A Report from Philadelphia and Somewhere Else,’’ in Spectator (Los Angeles), vol. 15, no. 2, 1995. Weis, E., ‘‘Sync Tanks,’’ in Cineaste (New York), vol. 21, no. 1/2 1995. Sandler, A., ‘‘Philadelphia Suit Near Accord,’’ in Variety (New York), 12/18 February 1996. Evans, G., ‘‘Philadelphia Story Raises Muddy Issues in Filmmaking,’’ in Variety (New York), vol. 362, 18/24 March 1996. Evans, G., and A. Sandler, ‘‘TriStar Settles Philadelphia Suit,’’ in Variety (New York), vol. 362, 25/31 March 1996. Van Fuqua, Joy, ‘‘‘Can You Feel It, Joe?’: Male Melodrama and the Family Man,’’ in Velvet Light Trap (Austin), no. 38, Fall 1996. Kenny, Glenn, ‘‘Jonathan Demme,’’ in Premiere (Boulder), vol. 12, no. 3, November 1998. *** Knowing old heads around Hollywood shook with dismay when Jonathan Demme revealed his plan to follow up the surprisingly successful The Silence of the Lambs with another of the risky ventures he was noted for, a major production featuring homosexuality and AIDS. Films about homosexuality (since a revision in the Production Code in 1969 made the word even mentionable in films), from the camp The Gay Deceivers (1969) to the James Ivory/Ismail Merchant adaptation of E.M. Forster’s long suppressed novel Maurice (1986), had never done well at the box office. Films dealing with AIDS, such as Longtime Companion, had played to small audiences on the small art theatre circuit. It can be argued that the cinema is developing a new, more mature audience as Philadelphia was a financial and critical success in a year that saw Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List and Ivory/Merchant’s Remains of the Day. Nor did Philadelphia stir up as much controversy as nervous exhibitors had feared from protesting religious fundamentalists and other reactionary lobbies. Probably these pressure groups had given up any hope for an industry that wallowed in decadence and indecency. Surprisingly most objections to the film came from the expanding gay press that thought Demme should have taken a more militant line demanding action to conquer AIDS, the modern plague. Tom Hanks, who won the 1993 Academy Award for best actor for his extraordinarily demanding performance as AIDS victim Andrew Beckett, acknowledged this protest and explained to interviewer David Thomson:
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY FILMS. 4 EDITIoN I think it's all very legitimate criticism.. I,m not scene where Hanks tries to explain what opera means to gays. As prised at all that... anybody who is part of that Hanks stressed in this interview m does not attempt to represent aspect of the gay community that is, what? Counter some collective psyche of the gay community. The episode is culture or whatever. What they wanted was something a strictly personal statement, as he moves from routine questions that was going to represent their lives. Philadelphia about the litigation into the vision that explains his sometimes didn't do that.... But past that, you have to say, yes, inscrutable behaviour, when Beckett speaks for himself as an"ad- thats true. but look what the movie is for what it is, not venturous spirit, declaiming histrionically over the soaring music: what it is not I am divine. I am oblivious. I am the god come down from the heavens to earth to make of earth a heaven The storyline is for the most part straightforward. The mise-en This reference to divinity establishes the link between classic scene is, with one startling exception, as naturalistic as possible, tragedy and the film. Whether intentionally or not, scriptwriter Roy especially in colour. An outstandingly promising and personable Nyswaner echoes the myth of Philocetes, a great bowman, who is young lawyer is entrusted with a top assignment by the most promi- banished during the Trojan War by his fellow Greeks to a deserted hent and respected law firm in the city. (Viewers may wonder why island when a snakebite gives him noxious and incurable wound;but Philadelphia, not particularly prominent in the AIDS crisis, was they must bring him back as a seer decrees that Troy can only be taken chosen as the setting. The city has a traditional reputation in with his bow and arrows. Philocetes comes to a happier end thai United States for producing the sharpest lawyers, trained, like Beckett, at Andrew Beckett, but their relationship is highlighted by one of the the University of Pennsylvania Law School. The firm claims that he key lines in the film as the jury playing the role of the classic chorus has been dismissed for inefficiency and failure to live up to his decides that when the firm gave Beckett the big assignment, they were promise; but he claims that he was fired when they discovered he h sending in not a disappointing employee, but their"top gun. AIDS, and he sues on the grounds that it is against the law to fire an Even more pervasive as a subtext throughout the film is the myth individual for a disability that does not prevent the fulfillment ofhis or of Icarus, the son of the ingenious Daedulus, who made the men wax her duties. No other lawyer, however, is willing to oppose the wings with which to fiy out of the labyrinth where they were powerful firm until Beckett breaks through the prejudices of a former imprisoned. Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax melted,so that he fell to his death in the sea. andrew beckett is another adversary, struggling black lawyer Joe Miller, who wins the case. adventurous spirit'who has flown too high and taken too many Justice is done in legalistic terms, but everyone loses. Beckett dies shortly after the jury decides in his favour: the old law firm loses risks. In the surrealist opera episode, viewers are presented a glimpse a good deal of money and some of its long-cherished reput beneath the quotidian reality of the legal proceedings into the inner eckert family loses a brilliant son; and the future of Joe Miller and of vision of Andrew Beckett, who is motivated by a principle that David Thomson finds at work in Becketts Hispanic-American lover do not appear promising despite Hanks other films, that"Fantasy heir immediate financial rewards soars above any hope of duty or intelligence. Beckett is brilliant The film is not about ADS as a social and political problem. It seeking to end injustice and make a heaven on earth; but he is als uses the enormous present concern over the epidemic as a means to an and still puzzling film shows the possibilities rarely realized so far of end in broaching a far larger, timele concerns the filmmakers is based upon a distinction that has been using the cinema to update classic myths as they have been used in the crucially central to the American protest movements--whether this is past in literature to probe our present condition a nation based upon people or upon law, as Andrew Beckett makes lear when he justifies his suit by explaining, ' I love the law, to see Warren french justice done. The film is a very rare example of the oldest form of drama in the European tradition, classical tragedy in a medium that has been THE PHILADELPHIA STORY almost entirely exploited by melodrama. So far the most substantial and challenging reservations about the film have been directed at the sudden change three-quarters of the way through, from the neutral USA,1940 naturalism of the visual image to an unprecedented surrealistic sequence during an interview between Beckett and Joe Miller, his Director: George Cukor attorney. Miller has been trying to keep his client's mind on the testimony that he will give the next day; but Beckett becomes evasive Production: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corp. black and white, and puts on a recording of Maria Callas singing the aria"La Momma 35mm; running time: 112 minutes. Released December 1940. Filmed Morta"from Umberto Giordano's opera Andre Chenier. The screen is suffused with a demonic red glow as a smouldering fireplace blazes forth, symbolizing the passionate fire burning in Beckett Producer: Joseph Mankiewicz: screenplay: Donald Ogden Stewart The producers tried to cut this episode, and many reviewers have and Waldo Salt(uncredited), from the play by Philip Barry; photog- found it irrelevant and fatuous; but Demme and Hanks fought to retain raphy: Joseph Ruttenberg; editor: Frank Sullivan; sound: Douglas it, even though its significance has been generally misunderstood. Shearer: set decorator: Edwin Willis: art directors: Cedric Gibbons Typical of the bewildered reaction is Alan Stanbrook's comment in and Wade B. Rubottom; music: Franz Waxman; costume de- he Sunday Telegraph that"many will wince at the embarrassing signer: Adrian
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY FILMS, 4th EDITION 938 I think it’s all very legitimate criticism . . . I’m not surprised at all that . . . anybody who is part of that aspect of the gay community that is, what? Counterculture or whatever. What they wanted was something that was going to represent their lives. Philadelphia didn’t do that. . . . But past that, you have to say, yes, that’s true, but look what the movie is for what it is, not what it is not. The storyline is for the most part straightforward. The mise-enscène is, with one startling exception, as naturalistic as possible, especially in colour. An outstandingly promising and personable young lawyer is entrusted with a top assignment by the most prominent and respected law firm in the city. (Viewers may wonder why Philadelphia, not particularly prominent in the AIDS crisis, was chosen as the setting. The city has a traditional reputation in the United States for producing the sharpest lawyers, trained, like Beckett, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.) The firm claims that he has been dismissed for inefficiency and failure to live up to his promise; but he claims that he was fired when they discovered he had AIDS, and he sues on the grounds that it is against the law to fire an individual for a disability that does not prevent the fulfillment of his or her duties. No other lawyer, however, is willing to oppose the powerful firm until Beckett breaks through the prejudices of a former adversary, struggling black lawyer Joe Miller, who wins the case. Justice is done in legalistic terms, but everyone loses. Beckett dies shortly after the jury decides in his favour; the old law firm loses a good deal of money and some of its long-cherished reputation; the Beckett family loses a brilliant son; and the future of Joe Miller and of Beckett’s Hispanic-American lover do not appear promising despite their immediate financial rewards. The film is not about AIDS as a social and political problem. It uses the enormous present concern over the epidemic as a means to an end in broaching a far larger, timeless problem. The issue that concerns the filmmakers is based upon a distinction that has been crucially central to the American protest movements—whether this is a nation based upon people or upon law, as Andrew Beckett makes clear when he justifies his suit by explaining, ‘‘I love the law, to see justice done.’’ The film is a very rare example of the oldest form of drama in the European tradition, classical tragedy in a medium that has been almost entirely exploited by melodrama. So far the most substantial and challenging reservations about the film have been directed at the sudden change three-quarters of the way through, from the neutral naturalism of the visual image to an unprecedented surrealistic sequence during an interview between Beckett and Joe Miller, his attorney. Miller has been trying to keep his client’s mind on the testimony that he will give the next day; but Beckett becomes evasive and puts on a recording of Maria Callas singing the aria ‘‘La Momma Morta’’ from Umberto Giordano’s opera André Chénier. The screen is suffused with a demonic red glow as a smouldering fireplace blazes forth, symbolizing the passionate fire burning in Beckett. The producers tried to cut this episode, and many reviewers have found it irrelevant and fatuous; but Demme and Hanks fought to retain it, even though its significance has been generally misunderstood. Typical of the bewildered reaction is Alan Stanbrook’s comment in The Sunday Telegraph that ‘‘many will wince at the embarrassing scene where Hanks tries to explain what opera means to gays.’’ As Hanks stressed in this interview, the film does not attempt to represent some collective psyche of the gay community. The episode is a strictly personal statement, as he moves from routine questions about the litigation into the vision that explains his sometimes inscrutable behaviour, when Beckett speaks for himself as an ‘‘adventurous spirit,’’ declaiming histrionically over the soaring music: ‘‘I am divine. I am oblivious. I am the god come down from the heavens to earth to make of earth a heaven.’’ This reference to divinity establishes the link between classic tragedy and the film. Whether intentionally or not, scriptwriter Roy Nyswaner echoes the myth of Philocetes, a great bowman, who is banished during the Trojan War by his fellow Greeks to a deserted island when a snakebite gives him a noxious and incurable wound; but they must bring him back as a seer decrees that Troy can only be taken with his bow and arrows. Philocetes comes to a happier end than Andrew Beckett, but their relationship is highlighted by one of the key lines in the film as the jury playing the role of the classic chorus decides that when the firm gave Beckett the big assignment, they were sending in not a disappointing employee, but their ‘‘top gun.’’ Even more pervasive as a subtext throughout the film is the myth of Icarus, the son of the ingenious Daedulus, who made the men wax wings with which to fly out of the labyrinth where they were imprisoned. Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax melted, so that he fell to his death in the sea. Andrew Beckett is another ‘‘adventurous spirit’’ who has flown too high and taken too many risks. In the surrealist opera episode, viewers are presented a glimpse beneath the quotidian reality of the legal proceedings into the inner vision of Andrew Beckett, who is motivated by a principle that David Thomson finds at work in some of Hank’s other films, that ‘‘Fantasy soars above any hope of duty or intelligence.’’ Beckett is brilliant, seeking to end injustice and make a heaven on earth; but he is also oblivious to dangerous risks in his pursuit of the ideal. This complex and still puzzling film shows the possibilities rarely realized so far of using the cinema to update classic myths as they have been used in the past in literature to probe our present condition. —Warren French THE PHILADELPHIA STORY USA, 1940 Director: George Cukor Production: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corp.; black and white, 35mm; running time: 112 minutes. Released December 1940. Filmed 1940 MGM studios. Producer: Joseph Mankiewicz; screenplay: Donald Ogden Stewart and Waldo Salt (uncredited), from the play by Philip Barry; photography: Joseph Ruttenberg; editor: Frank Sullivan; sound: Douglas Shearer; set decorator: Edwin Willis; art directors: Cedric Gibbons and Wade B. Rubottom; music: Franz Waxman; costume designer: Adrian
FILMS. 4th EDItION THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 图世 回 The Philadelphia Story Cast: Katharine Hepburn(Tracy Lord); Cary Grant(C. K. Dexter Cary, Grant, Cukor and Company: The Films of George Cukor ar Haven); James Stewart(Macauley Connor): Ruth Hussey(Liz Imbrie); His Collaborators. New York. 1971 John Howard( George Kittredge): Roland Young (Uncle willie): Dickens, Homer, The Films of Katharine Hepburn, New York, 1971 John Halliday (Seth Lord): Virginia Weidler(Dinah Lord); Mary Lambert, Gavin, On Cukor, New York, 1972. Nash(Margaret Lord); Henry Daniell (Sidney Kidd): Lionel Pape Marill, Alvin H, Katharine Hepburn, New York, 1973 (Edward): Rex Evans(Thomas): Russ Clark(John): Hilda Plowright Clarens, Carlos, George Cukor, London, 1976 (Librarian); Lita Chevret (Manicurist); Lee Phelps(Bartender): Deschner, Donald, The Films of Cary Grant, Secaucus, New Jer Dorothy Fay, Florine McKinney, Helene Whitney, and Hillary Brooks 1978. (Mainliners): Claude King(Uncle Willie's butler); Robert de Bruce Pomerance, Diane Linda, The Cinematic Style of George Cukorin the (Dr. Parsons): Veda buckland (Elsie Comedy of Manners FilmsHoliday'andThe Philadelphia Story: A Comparative Srudy, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1980. Awards: Oscars for Best Actor(Stewart)and Best Screenplay, 1940; Cavell, Stanley, Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of New York Film Critics Award, Best Actress(Hepburn), 1940 Remarriage, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1981 ene Britton, Andrew, Cary Grant: Comedy and Male Desire, Newcastle upon-Tyne, 1983 Carey, Gary, Katharine Hepburn: A Biography, London, 1983. Books Schickel. Richard. Cary grant: A Celebration. London. 1983 Britton, Andrew, Katharine Hepburn: The Thirties and After, New- Langlois, Henri, and others, Hommage a George Cukor, Paris, 1963 castle-upon-Tyne, 1984. Domarchi, Jean, George Cukor, Paris, 1965 Eyles, Allen, James Stewart, London, 1984 939
FILMS, 4 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY th EDITION 939 The Philadelphia Story Cast: Katharine Hepburn (Tracy Lord); Cary Grant (C. K. Dexter Haven); James Stewart (Macauley Connor); Ruth Hussey (Liz Imbrie); John Howard (George Kittredge); Roland Young (Uncle Willie); John Halliday (Seth Lord); Virginia Weidler (Dinah Lord); Mary Nash (Margaret Lord); Henry Daniell (Sidney Kidd); Lionel Pape (Edward); Rex Evans (Thomas); Russ Clark (John); Hilda Plowright (Librarian); Lita Chevret (Manicurist); Lee Phelps (Bartender); Dorothy Fay, Florine McKinney, Helene Whitney, and Hillary Brooks (Mainliners); Claude King (Uncle Willie’s butler); Robert de Bruce (Dr. Parsons); Veda Buckland (Elsie). Awards: Oscars for Best Actor (Stewart) and Best Screenplay, 1940; New York Film Critics Award, Best Actress (Hepburn), 1940. Publications Books: Langlois, Henri, and others, Hommage à George Cukor, Paris, 1963. Domarchi, Jean, George Cukor, Paris, 1965. Cary, Grant, Cukor and Company: The Films of George Cukor and His Collaborators, New York, 1971. Dickens, Homer, The Films of Katharine Hepburn, New York, 1971. Lambert, Gavin, On Cukor, New York, 1972. Marill, Alvin H., Katharine Hepburn, New York, 1973. Clarens, Carlos, George Cukor, London, 1976. Deschner, Donald, The Films of Cary Grant, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1978. Pomerance, Diane Linda, The Cinematic Style of George Cukor in the Comedy of Manners Films ‘‘Holiday’’ and ‘‘The Philadelphia Story’’: A Comparative Study, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1980. Cavell, Stanley, Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1981. Phillips, Gene D., George Cukor, Boston, 1982. Britton, Andrew, Cary Grant: Comedy and Male Desire, Newcastleupon-Tyne, 1983. Carey, Gary, Katharine Hepburn: A Biography, London, 1983. Schickel, Richard, Cary Grant: A Celebration, London, 1983. Britton, Andrew, Katharine Hepburn: The Thirties and After, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1984. Eyles, Allen, James Stewart, London, 1984