The world needs more Roger Corman types. In his 50+ year career, Corman directed something like 50 movies, and alongside his wife Julie, produced 493. Some might say that just meant he’d put his name on anything. But those of us who know the truth know that what they were really doing was putting their money and names on the line to bring the world movies that were so wild, or inventive, or otherwise fiscally risky that no other producers were liable to touch them. That, I think, is a legacy to be proud of. They helped art get made for the sake of art – not for recordbreaking profit potential.
And Roger Corman could make a movie for amounts so low, it was considered legendary in the field. He could stretch a budget in ways that were nearly unbelievable. That doesn’t mean he always worked on shoestring budgets though. He did a handful of Poe-inspired films with Vincent Price for American International Pictures in the 60s that not only had reasonable budgets, but are largely hailed as great films (which they certainly are). Those, if you’re interested, are House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, Premature Burial, Tales of Terror, The Raven, The Haunted Palace, and The Tomb of Ligeia.
The Poe Cycle:
Roger Corman was born in Detroit, MI in 1926. He started his Hollywood career as a messanger for 20th Century Fox and worked his way up the ladder. His first story credit came in 1954 for Highway Dragnet – he also co-produced it. And by the next year, he would get his first producer credit in 1955’s The Fast and the Furious.
He was also a prolific mentor to other talents. Among those are such legends as Burce Dern, Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Dick Miller. And through his enterprise New World Pictures, he released films by Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Gale Anne Hurd, and Joe Dante. All names I’m sure you’ve heard a time or two. Oh, not to mention his role in the early careers of Peter Fonda, Diane Ladd, Tommy Lee Jones, and Peter Bodganovich.
We lost the King of Cult (one of many monikers he was known by) on May 9, 2024 at 98 years old. Forever too soon.
My Selected Filmography (Director):
- Battle Beyond the Stars (he is uncredited)
- The Pit and the Pendulum
- A Bucket of Blood
- The Wasp Woman
- Attack of the Crab Monsters
My Selected Filmography (Producer):
- The Terror
- The Big Doll House
- Death Race 2000
- Deathsport
- Rock n’ Roll High School
- Humanoids from the Deep
- Battle Beyond the Stars
- Galaxy of Terror
- The Slumber Party Massacre
- Sorceress
Ok, you know what, if he produced or directed it, just watch it. That list was about to get REALLY long.
