"... as an electrical engineer, he quit engineering forever. He was hired as a messenger at 20th Century Fox for $32.50 a week and eventually rose to story reader. But, he wrote in his memoir, 'I knew I was going to be a writer, producer or director of motion pictures, and I needed more background in the arts of the 20th century.' He enrolled at the University of Oxford on the G.I. Bill to study the work of T.S. Eliot and D.H. Lawrence. After six months at Oxford and six months in Paris, he came home and sold a chase-across-the-desert script to Allied Artists for $3,500. He was so unhappy with the finished film, 'Highway Dragnet'... that he decided to become his own producer. With the $3,500, a borrowed one-man submarine and $6,500 raised from a dozen friends, he was almost ready to film 'Monster From the Ocean Floor'..."
From
"Roger Corman, 98, Dies; Prolific Master of Low-Budget Cinema/He had hundreds of horror, science fiction and crime films to his credit. He also helped start the careers of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and many others" (NYT)(free access link — read the whole amazing story).
२१ टिप्पण्या:
THEM is still the best.
Rewatched Attack of the 50-Foot Woman last night for the first time in decades. Spectacular fun. 1950s low-budget kitsch is like comfort food to boomers (at least to this one).
Jaws wouldn't have been a phenomenal cultural touchstone without Roger Corman's tutelage of Steven Spielberg.
You can smell the Formica acid in THEM,
Roger Corman, favorite movie of
St. valentene's day massacre
Especially good is Jason Robards as the over-the-top scene chewing Anglo version of Al Capone.
I loved his films growing up as a pre-teen in the 1970s- they were the staples of late-night television on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings. I googled him a few months ago and was surprised to find he was still alive and was still producing the same kinds of films.
He often showed up in cameos in films like "Silence of the Lambs", the "Godfather" movies, and even "Apollo 13". RIP- you won't be forgotten any time soon.
As prolific a director as he was, his greatest achievement was influencer... An entire generation of directors and actors owe their careers to him and his spot on assessments. Ron Howard has publically thanked him for his career. And, there would be no Jack Nicholson without Roger. RIP, influential one. As movie goers, we are all the better for your influence.
Vicki from Pasadena
Thank you, Ann. That link to Cheepnis made my day. My God the crush we had on Ruth Underwood. That George Duke/Zappa band was so good.
Hope you enjoy this Mother's Day.
My favorite is They Saved Hitler's Brain.
my theory for the popularity of monster movies is it is because they tap into our ancestral memory of the time when we shared the earth with neanderthals and perhaps other quasi-human species like the denisovians. "The sleeper must awaken."
"neanderthals and perhaps other quasi-human species"
Hey! I've got Neanderthal genes, and proud of it.
I've always been partial to 1959's "Caltiki the Immortal Monster" as an exemplar of cheepnis.
I bet few of you knew that FZ had a secret, second life as a Baroque conductor. Go to Youtube and look for "Lulli Marche pour la Ceremonie des Turcs Modo Antiquo."
Roger Corman films are a guilty pleasure. It's a Hollywood legend that he made the movie, Little Shop of Horrors, in two days on a bet. And it wasn't just the films that he personally made, his distribution companies brought us a lot of great, but cheesy, films. If you get a chance, you should read his Wikipedia page.
I remember when the Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors came to Los Angeles, a prominent theater critic (I forget which one) was friends with Jackie Joseph. (Who had played Audrey in Roger Corman's film in 1960.) Jackie was sad that she couldn't get tickets for the premier. The reviewer contacted the theater and suggested that getting one of the stars of the original film, like Jackie Joseph, would be a great "hook" for her review. So Jackie was able to be at the premier as a guest of honor.
I believe it's worth mentioning that Frank Zappa was kind of an awful outlook, even for a rockstar, and so it's just as well that the BlogSpot software wouldn't let you embed his words. Were Frank alive still he'd want payment for that. The Zappa estate makes his own son's pay it royalties for his music. No joke. GIFYS.
Email has eliminated the sort of foot-in-the-door jobs like "messenger" that gave Roger Corman entry into the film world. Today he would have to have majored in Film Studies when he went to Stanford and taken out enormous loans to do it.
I liked A Bucket of Blood for what it's worth. (Note proper use of apostrophe. Punctuation!)
The messages Corman ran carried one word "Entertain!"
Frank Zappa was kind of an awful outlook,
Say what?
Roger grasped the basic concept that you could make a living off film making by making more money than you spent to make it. It is blindly obvious in a way, but a lesson that Hollywood has forgotten. They got so enamored with the huge billion dollar hauls that everything needs a 200 million dollar budget, and that's a great way to lose money. There is a place for the blockbusters, but Hollywood should be producing a lot more of the $50 million dollar (or cheaper) films. Unfortunately, they seem to have forgotten their own business model. They are so terrified of either not following the trend and/or catering to SJWs who do not go see their films, that they keep trying to hit home runs.
RIP. Will he become a Zombie now? "Night of the Living Dead Director"
"They are so terrified of either not following the trend and/or catering to SJWs who do not go see their films, that they keep trying to hit home runs."
I don't want or need to be beat over the head with the latest progressive woke nonsense and I'm not a big fan of CGI or stunts for the sake of it. Fuck that shit. I used to go to the movies regularly but in the past 15 years, I've seen a total of TWO new releases at a theater. Anymore, I just record older stuff on the DVR and watch (and rewatch) that instead. When Hollywood starts making movies like "Secondhand Lions" or "Road to Perdition" (I'm sure "Blazing Saddles" and "Airplane!" have got to be out of the question- pity, that) again, I might consider going back. Until then? Forget it.
All these comments and not one mention of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K)? For shame.
These are the Roger Corman episodes.
311 It Conquered the World
315 Teenage Caveman
317 The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent
406 Attack of the Giant Leeches
503 Swamp Diamonds
511 Gunslinger
617 The Sword and the Dragon
618 High School Big Shot
701 Night of the Blood Beast
703 Deathstalker and the Warriors From Hell
806 The Undead
1104 Avalanche
1106 Starcrash
1110 Wizards of the Lost Kingdom
1111 Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II
1203 Lords of the Deep
1304 Munchie
I wrote this back in film school...
I love Roger Corman. Not so much his movies, which on the whole suck, but the way he makes them. He knocks them out on the cheap, in a hurry, and finishes the whole thing in a frickin week. Make the movie! Get it done! Move on to the next one! I find him inspirational. Whenever I worry about my future career, or lack thereof, I think of Roger Corman. If you make it cheap enough, you'll make money, and you can make your next movie.
Despite all the odds, by the way, Bucket of Blood is a nice film, darkly funny. It's far superior to Corman's Little Shop of Horrors, which despite the presence of a young Jack Nicholson, isn't very good. Bucket of Blood, on the other hand, has really cool cinematography and a wicked sense of humor. You know all those low-budget movies that people rave about, like Mad Max or El Mariachi? Those films suck. Most Roger Corman films suck. People who rave about those films are doing charity work. Bucket of Blood ain't like that. It's like the best Twilight Zone episode, ever. Yeah yeah, even better than the girl on pig planet who wanted plastic surgery.
RIP, B man.
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