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R.I.P. Roger Corman
This post, originally written in 2013, used to be called Vive Roger Corman, but I’ve only just learned that the legendary director/producer passed away a couple of days ago, so…so much for that. The picture above is from his film The Premature Burial (1962), kind of a grim joke, for Corman was 98 years old when he passed, born in 1926! Nothing premature about that.
At one point I had an agent interested in a book about Corman. I wanted to explore the connection between beatnik culture and Gothic horror, and Corman’s connection to both in general. I think I reached out to him (this was years ago) and didn’t get a reply, then didn’t follow up very aggressively, because it was a little far afield for me anyway.
Anyway, I admired Corman immensely. An enthusiasm for his work was a cement that bound me to many friends and artistic collaborators. It didn’t do anything for our fame or our fortune, but it did tons for our productivity. The Indie Theatre of our time emulated low-budget film. One wanted to say a lot in a hurry. I think many of us forgot (I certainly did) that Corman’s movies never lost money, a fact he was very proud of. Whereas low-budget plays are lucky to break even. It’s a mug’s game. But Corman’s primary motivation didn’t seem to be profit either. He just wanted to make movies. On the one occasion when he went to work for a major studio he couldn’t wrap his mind around all the money they wasted, and never tried the experiment again. He was independent, in every glorious sense of the word.
70 posts on this blog mention Corman. I won’t link you to all of them, but here are some key ones:
* On American International Pictures, his workshop for many a year.
* On his collaborations with the greatest screenwriter of all timeCharles B. Griffith, in particular the satires: Bucket of Blood (1959), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) and Death Race 2000 (1975). Little Shop (Corman’s one) was my favorite movie when I was in my early 20s.
* Corman’s cycle of Poe adaptations and other horror films starring Vincent Price from 1959 to 1964 are included in this post.
* Teenage Caveman (1958) saluted here.
* The Wasp Woman (1959) treated of here.
* X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes (1963) touted here.
* Corman’s biker and LSD films of the mid to late 60s which provided much of the inspiration for my Manson Family play (and screenplay)Willy Nilly(as did those satires mentioned above)
* Frankenstein Unbound (1990) written about here.
Some notable artists who worked with Corman:
There will be more…blogposts, that is. No more Corman films unfortunately, at least not in this realm.
Thanks for the inspiration, sir!
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