Roger Corman is a name synonymous with low budget B-movies.
He was known as a prolific purveyor of schlock cinema and exploitation films.
It would be easy to dismiss Corman's contributions to the movie industry simply
because his pictures would never be considered high art. Frankly, Hollywood
could use more folks like Roger Corman and less of Michael Bay, Jerry
Bruckheimer or anyone else of their ilk. It warmed my heart to see the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award Corman an honorary Oscar in 2009.
Sadly, he wasn't given the chance to make a speech on the actual Oscars
broadcast. They have to save time for all those self-indulgent montages, you
know.
Luckily, fans will get the chance to hear from the man
himself in Alex Stapleton's documentary, Corman's
World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel. Those unfamiliar with Roger Corman
may be surprised at how soft-spoken, intelligent, and articulate he is. After
all, this is a man who made movies where women were raped by giant worms or sea
monsters. Born in Detroit, Corman studied industrial engineering at Stanford
and literature at Oxford University. He got his start in the movie business as
a script reader for 20th Century Fox. After dismissing nearly every
screenplay he read, Corman championed The
Gunfighter and contributed several ideas to improve the story. It was
turned into a successful Western starring Gregory Peck, but Corman received no
credit and decided to strike out on his own.
Corman began writing, producing, and directing his own films
in the mid-50's and had a successful run adapting some of Edgar Allen Poe's
most renowned short stories. Corman really hit his stride in 1970 when he
formed his own independent studio in New World Pictures, which produced cult
classics, including Death Race 2000, Rock 'n' Roll High School, and Big Bad Mama. Corman was also
responsible for launching a staggering amount of careers. Actors like Robert
DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, David Carradine, Chuck Norris, Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern,
and William Shatner all worked on Corman productions. Filmmakers such as Martin
Scorsese, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, Curtis Hanson, Francis Ford Coppola,
Peter Bogdanovich, and John Sayles started out on a Corman picture in some
capacity. Long before becoming the king of the world, James Cameron did
production design and special effects on films like Galaxy of Terror, which was a clear precursor to his work on Aliens.
Nearly every one of these individuals makes an appearance in
Corman's World to reminisce about the
master. I've always enjoyed hearing Scorsese and Bogdanovich speak because of
their clear love of the medium, but Nicholson provides some of the best moments
and anecdotes. Nicholson actually breaks out in tears and recalls how Corman
was the only one who would employ him when he started, along with encouraging
his early efforts to write and direct. Most interesting are Corman and
Shatner's recollections of the 1962 picture, The Intruder. It was a rare attempt at more serious minded fare
with the future starship captain as a bigot stirring up racial violence in the
Deep South. At the time, it was the only Corman production to lose money as
exhibitors avoided it like the plague. So, it was back to cheap scares and
creature features.
Eventually, Hollywood caught up with the genius of Corman
and started making B-movies with A-budgets. Jaws
and Star Wars gave birth to the
summer blockbuster and could have easily sprung from the New World factory. It
became tougher to compete with the unlimited resources of the major studios as
Corman played catch-up with knockoffs like Piranha
and Battle Beyond the Stars.
Alien invasions, giant robots, vampires, wizards, and super-powered
men in tights, sure sound like the type of thing Roger Corman would have churned out. If Corman had his druthers, he'd rather make a hundred $1 million
movies than one $100 million production. Corman's
World isn't a deep delving expose, but a loving tribute to an unsung
filmmaker.
Rating: *** (*****)
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