Posted on 10/22/2022 7:25:29 PM PDT by DallasBiff
Roger William Corman was born April 5, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. Initially following in his father's footsteps, Corman studied engineering at Stanford University but while in school, he began to lose interest in the profession and developed a growing passion for film. Upon graduation, he worked a total of three days as an engineer at US Electrical Motors, which cemented his growing realization that engineering wasn't for him. He quit and took a job as a messenger for 20th Century Fox, eventually rising to the position of story analyst.
After a term spent studying modern English literature at England's Oxford University and a year spent bopping around Europe, Corman returned to the US, intent on becoming a screenwriter/producer. He sold his first script in 1953, "The House in the Sea," which was eventually filmed and released as Highway Dragnet (1954
(Excerpt) Read more at imdb.com ...
I tried watching Little Shop Of Horrors ( via Elvira box set collection ) for the 2nd time the other night but couldn’t make it halfway through . Off the top of my head one Corman flick I highly recommend is NOT OF THIS EARTH . I believe someone uploaded it to Youtube .
Yes, I saw one of his earliest films last week "Swamp Women" from 1956 with Beverley Garland and Marie Windsor and Mike Connors. It's free on Tubi.
Cheesey and fun. Perfect Corman schlock!
Corman gave a lot of directors their start in the movie business. He made a lot of cheesy movies, but 99% of Hollywood movies are dreck anyway.
The Creeping Terror is as bad (so bad its good) as any I have seen.
Machine Gun Kelly with Charlie Bronson is actually pretty good. Great thread for FR movie buffs!
the worst he could find (la la la)
And Roger is still among the living....amazing.
“Little Shop of Horrors” was great...especially the short performance by an obscure actor named Jack Nicholson.
I’ve seen many Coreman movies in my 76 years. Cheesy and cheap, then came the fun Technicolor Vincent Price movies.
The two worst ones I can think of are ATLAS which was so cheap some of the Greek warrior’s paper mache helmets, spray painted bronze, split and fell of their heads during the battle scenes.
The other was THE DUNWITCH HORROR, based on an H.P. Lovecraft tale. It had none of the horror of the story. That movie was so bad I wish I could get two hours of my life back.
Roger Corman ping.
compared to what’s made nowadays, Corman’s movies hold up pretty well.
Beverley Garland was also in NOT OF THIS EARTH - a must watch . I’ll have to check out Swamp Women . Big Marie Windsor fan . Connors I can take or leave .
I decided to give the Alien franchise movie “Prometheus” go last night, but am having a hard time getting through it. Talk about cheesy, this one has it covered. What a miserable flick. Fortunately, I also have Michael Cain’s “Sleuth” and North By Northwest to make up for this goose egg.
It Conquered the World. Peter Graves, Kee Van Cleef. Don’t get no better than this.
Every time I see one of their names, I cannot remember which one is which, or the other first name, or how they spell their last names.
Thank goodness for Wikipedia.
Roger Corman is 96. According to Wiki, his last film (Executive Producer) was 2018, and, in his last ten active years, most of his work went to the SyFy Channel.
Sadly, he appears to be having End of Life money issues. His children have sued him, and he and his children are both suing a business advisor. He is still married to his first wife, who was a director and producer in her own life.
I thought Corman gave Roger Ebert his start in pictures, but it was Russ Meyer who produced Ebert’s script. Most of what Corman produced was schlock, but his New World Pictures distributed some quality foreign films. Oscar winners even.
Very strange movie that was very ahead of its time. Vincent Price is great; recommend it as part of a Hammer run of horror movies since it has the same vibe, set design, and mood of the Hammer stuff.
Don’t miss Hound of the Baskervilles with Peter Cushing as Holmes!
“Movies” channel showing horror films all month. Tonight, Bad Seed & The Other. Tomorrow, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. Just finished watching Svengoolie. Have MST3K & Rifftrax on all the time. Grew up on “Creature Features” and “Chiller Theater”.
During COVID, the Mrs. & I binged out on every Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Basil Rathbone, etc. movie we could find.
Often seek out the work of auteurs like William Castle, Roger Corman, Ed Wood, etc.
IMHO, those “B” and “Z” movies have better stood the test of time (”rewatchability”) than the blockbusters that won all the awards.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.