Michael Hopcroft Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 The excellent run of independent film pioneer Roger Corman, producer and director of countless movies that were seemingly produced to be "cheap schlock" but often turned out to be so much more, has come to an end after 98 years. Very few "hacks" have had so much impact on the history of film, not only by their own work but by the innumerable people he employed, mentored, and inspired. Jack Nicholson? Corman put him in movies because his father had a stake in his company, then found the light switch and helped him become a real actor, finally giving him his breakthrough role in the counterculture road trip Easy Rider. Vincent Price? Corman took the aging Price and made him a global icon as the lead in numerous films inspired by the stories and poems of Edgar Allen Poe, from the heights of madness (The fall of the House of Usher) to one of the truly sublime fantasy comedies (The Raven) to a tragedy of hubris and hedonism that resonates today more than ever (The Masque of the Red Death). As a producer, he mentored many directors who would go on to do great things. Coppola, Howard, Cameron, Scorsese -- all worked for Corman early in their careers. He was a great judge of talent and found it in the most unlikely of places. He had a genius for bringing things to the theater on time and under budget, and often making them entertaining and even thought-provoking. (Can you imagine a huge controversy brewing over a Direct-to-DVD release with a fading TV star in the lead? Well, a film like that went straight to the drive-ins in 1976, and Corman produced it -- the dark comedy masterpiece Death Race 2000). As he ended his masterpiece comedy -- "Quoth the raven nevermore". Lawnmower Boy, tkdguy, Hermit and 4 others 1 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 RIP Mr. Corman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 Corman made the best Fantastic Four film, sadly. But for me, Frankenstein Unbound will always be his masterpiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 RIP As Michael said, it was not just the actors but the people who worked with him and who went to become names themselves. Apart from the Poe pictures with Price he directed the original Little Shop of Horrors, Machine Gun Kelly with Charles Bronson, Ray Milland in the Man with the X-Ray Eyes and the St Valentine's Day Massacre. He produced Dementia 13 which Coppola directed, Targets which Peter Bogdanovich directed (and Boris Karloff is in), the Dunwich Horror, Boxcar Bertha which Scorsese directed, Caged Heat which Demme directed, Piranha which Joe Dante directed and Suburbia which Penelope Spheeris directed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 I got "Targets" for Christmas. This might be the right time to watch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted May 12 Author Report Share Posted May 12 He also may have been the first person to view faded child star Ron Howard as director material. He also gave him the encouragement to revive his acting career with American Graffiti and Happy Days before he became a full-time director and made some great movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 RIP Mr. Corman. You did good, and on budget. Also The Terror, but even that has its points of interest. "I have Boris Karloff on contract for two more days [or whatever], darn it we're making another movie!" But yeah, The Raven is one of my favorite movies, and IMO one of the best fantasy movies ev er. Dean Shomshak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted May 12 Author Report Share Posted May 12 6 hours ago, DShomshak said: RIP Mr. Corman. You did good, and on budget. Also The Terror, but even that has its points of interest. "I have Boris Karloff on contract for two more days [or whatever], darn it we're making another movie!" But yeah, The Raven is one of my favorite movies, and IMO one of the best fantasy movies ever. It also has the wittiest wizard duel ever set to film. Corman was a frequent client of Richard Matheson, writer of The Incredible Shrinking Man and several great Twilight Zone episodes. Matheson's screenplay for The Raven is fantastic. Another note about The Raven is that it played a role in supporting Peter Lorre and boosting his career as well. By that time, the star of M and frequent supporting actor to Humphrey Bogart was a bloated shell of his former self, thanks to chronic pain that had been going on for decades, and the drugs he took (on doctor's orders and otherwise) to control it. But he was still quite capable actor, and had developed a comedic talent that would serve Corman well. And at that time, what Lorre needed most of all were checks that cleared and the chance to keep on acting. Corman gave him both. DShomshak 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Certified Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 For anyone with Sudder, this was a great watch. https://www.shudder.com/series/watch/the-last-drive-in-live-a-tribute-to-roger-corman/82b16830edc9af34?season=1 Cygnia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 While you can, watch the Fantastic Four he did. Its actually better than I expected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 15 Report Share Posted May 15 Cygnia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 15 Report Share Posted May 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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