Roger Corman
Movie maverick lauded for career
On the one hand, Corman is the exploitation filmmaker whose speed and frugality are the stuff of legend (1960's "Little Shop of Horrors," for instance, was filmed in two days and a night). On the other, he is the cineaste whose love of film prompted him to distribute such distinguished foreign films as Ingmar Bergman's "Cries and Whispers" and Fellini's "Amarcord." He is renowned as the master of bug-eyed-monster programmers like "It Conquered the World," but also made the daring message film "The Intruder." And after rescuing Edgar Allan Poe from Lit 101 and making him popular, he abandoned the costumes and cobwebs to address the growing counterculture with films like "The Wild Angels."
One thing, however, remains constant: Corman has always been steadfastly independent.
"I've worked occasionally for the major studios and it's been a good experience, but I prefer the independence of making my own decisions," he says.
Troma's Lloyd Kaufman puts it succinctly: "Roger Corman is the Mozart of the independent film."
After majoring in engineering at Stanford, Corman turned his attentions to Hollywood and in 1954 produced "Monster From the Ocean Floor" on a shoestring. That same year he pacted with American Releasing Corp. (ARC) -- the seminal American Intl. Pictures -- to distribute his racing picture "The Fast and the Furious." He quickly became AIP's biggest asset, producing and directing low-budget Westerns, sci-fi pics, Gothic horrors and quirky comedies for the next 15 years.
Everything turned around, however, in 1970, when Corman left AIP, declared a moratorium on directing after helming UA's "Von Richthofen and Brown" ("I was just tired, having directed something like 50 or 60 films in about 13 years," he recalls), and formed his own company, New World Pictures, which would quickly become the most successful low-budget production and distribution outfit in the industry.
As a producer, Corman continued his reputation for launching the careers of major players. Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich and Monte Hellman got their starts through Corman at AIP, while Martin Scorsese, Joe Dante, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, Gale Anne Hurd and James Cameron launched their filmmaking careers through New World or Corman's subsequent company, Concorde Pictures (and several have subsequently used him in their films as an actor).
At 74, Corman is in charge of the company (now called New Concorde), and maintains studios in Venice, Calif., and Ireland, though he admits to taking things a bit slower.
"I deliberately leave the office around 4 o'clock every afternoon," Corman says, "I feel enough is enough."
Still, he has no plans to retire, and has not stopped innovating. For his new television TV "Black Scorpion," a ratings hit for the Sci Fi Channel, Corman decided to forego a pilot and instead make the entire first season on spec.
"I felt that by making the whole 22, I'd be the first person, as far as I know to go to the market and say, 'What you see is what you get,'" he says.
While Corman loves talking about film, he remains remarkably, if not incredibly low-key, regarding his own contributions to the medium.
"I don't think I've been a major figure," he says. "An English poet wrote, 'One's reach should always exceed one's grasp,' and I think my reach might have been a little more than I achieved, but what I achieved I'm happy with. And it's not over yet."
