I could never sum up the importance of Roger Corman to B-Movies. Perhaps no one can. Mr. Corman, who has just passed away at the age of 98, was a towering figure for over half a century, arguably as important to American B-movies as Stan Lee was to American comic books. And not just B-movies but rather to film in general. His legendary eye for hungry young talent provided the first or extremely early opportunities to a storied list of some of modern American cinema’s greatest talents. You know the list; Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Jonathon Demme, Joe Dante, Francis Ford Coppolla, John Sayles, Robert Towne, Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson…. The roster goes on and on and on.
That’s as a producer. As a director and producer in the ’50s, Corman proved you could bring puckish, often subversive wit and intelligence to even the cheapest drive-in fare. He then elevated his artistic game with a series of Vincent Price-starring Poe films that, along with what Hammer was doing, pretty much defined the last gasp of classic gothic horror before the genre was completely altered in the wake of Night of the Living Dead.
Perhaps even more important–and I remain committed to the idea that this played a very great role in his artistic success–Corman always, always, kept his eye on the prize, believing that every film of his should be profitable. I always think of the anecdote of his and his wife Julie breaking out the champagne in Hawaii the morning they were to commence shooting Sharktopus. The reason? They had just concluded pre-selling more of the international rights to the movie, at which point it was, before a frame had be shot, already in profit.
Even given this determination, it’s nearly incredible how close he came to getting there with quite nearly 100% of his projects. He probably has the greatest sheer success rate in Hollywood history, both artistically and financially. That’s because–gasp–he unfailingly strove to give audiences what they wanted. He certainly wasn’t afraid of progressive politics in his films…as long as the action and boobs came first.
And unlike his peers, he never lost his way in striving to become “respectable.” Of course, he didn’t need to. A large percentage of America’s greatest and most successful directors in the 1970s and 80s graduated from his productions. When prospective young talked with him and mentioned his reputation as a skinflint and brutal taskmaster, he cheerfully copped to it. “But If you do your job well,” he often said, “you won’t ever have to work for me again.”
We will never see his like again.
