RIP Roger Corman

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

So, it's time to say a very sad, but very fond farewell to the King Of Schlock'n'Roll Cinema, the mighty Roger Corman.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17127556

 

I had a whole long post planned about this. About the cult classics, the successes, the flops, the sheer guts, inventiveness and indefatigability of the guy, as well as being that oddity in Hollywood, a really lovely guy to work with.

 

But maybe the greatest gift he left us with... well.

 

In 2009, he was given an honorary Academy Award.

Cynics might have said he probably wouldn't ever have won one himself. He might have even agreed with you.

He won it for everyone he trained and inspired to make movies.

 

Hop over to Rog's Wikipedia entry and scroll down to The Roger Corman Film School.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Corman

So, so many people learned - or got early breaks, or career rebirths - working on his flicks: and if you worked well with Rog, people knew you were solid. And he tried things didn't always work, but that people built on: if you've seen The Trip, you can see that it paved the way for Easy Rider - written by and starring three of his protegés.

 

Beyond that, all the young moviemakers who watched his flicks, and thought... I can do that. Tarantino, Rob Rodriguez, Sam Raimi, The Coens, the Russos, so many more. It doesn't have to be perfect. There's stuff you can get away with. There's things you can improvise around. Things might not always be pretty, but there's ways to get it done.

 

Roger never retired - he was still active in production and distribution right up till his credits rolled, at 98 years old. 

 

So if there's a fanfare in whatever afterlife moviemakers and fans go to when he shows up...

 

...it's gotta be this, hasn't it?

 

 

[InvaderStych]

RIP. One of the true greats of the game.

 

15 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Hop over to Rog's Wikipedia entry and scroll down to The Roger Corman Film School.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Corman

So, so many people learned - or got early breaks, or career rebirths - working on his flicks: and if you worked well with Rog, people knew you were solid. And he tried things didn't always work, but that people built on: if you've seen The Trip, you can see that it paved the way for Easy Rider - written by and starring three of his protegés.

 

So glad you added this. Mentioning it was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title. RFCS was more than just writers, actors, and directors. The sheer number of BTL crew that got their start working under Corman boggles the mind. Met a more than a few during my crewing days; the immense respect and adoration for Corman among them was universal.

[MaceVanHoffen]

So much of my youth had Roger Corman movies in it.  I remember at summer camp the counselors would have movie nights with actual reel projectors with Corman movies, many of which were probably not fit for 8-10 year olds.   Battle Beyond the Stars was a minor obsession of mine in my preteen years.  The local drive-in had "Corman nights" where they'd do double features of his films, which we'd have to sneak in to see (not hard when the drive-in is in a Texas cow pasture).

 

I get that Corman was a huge influence on modern cinema and those who make it.  But honestly I'll miss Corman more for personal reasons.  A lot of my memories have some kind of Corman schlock in the foreground or background.

 

It's hard to find a trailer for a Corman movie that isn't age-restricted, NSFW, or possibly in violation of this site's posting guidelines 😕 However, in tribute of his penchant for aliens, nudity, and horror, just imagine that I posted a link to the Forbidden World trailer here and go watch it.

 

Sleep well, Roger. /em holdtorch

 

Edited May 15 by MaceVanHoffen
typo

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Well, there’s at least one that’s well within our wheelhouse…

And here is a message (via Threads) from his Sue Storm, Rebecca Staab…

Quote

I starred in 2 Roger Corman films: the original “Fantastic Four” and “Stray Bullet” (shot in Ireland). Corman films to the core—never enough time or money—BUT 2 of my favorite projects ever. They lacked budgets, but were abundantly rich w/ collaboration, creativity, passion, & lifelong memories. I loved every minute—casts, crews, & production days were always fun, exciting, & rewarding.  Roger came to the screening of “Doomed” doc on how our Fantastic Four became a cult hit.  RIP Roger Corman.

 

 

Edited May 15 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[UltraAlt]

On 5/12/2024 at 4:40 PM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

So, it's time to say a very sad, but very fond farewell to the King Of Schlock'n'Roll Cinema, the mighty Roger Corman.

 

I found out about his passing over the weekend.

I really didn't know who to say anything to about it.

 

He loved to make movies and he made them ... regardless of what other people thought of them.

He wasn't a Russ Meyer or an Ed Wood. He wasn't really something between those two, but kind of in the same spirit on some levels. Some Sci-fi. Some tease. Some horror. Some fantasy. It look like he was able to make what he wanted to make and make some money at it, so good on him.

 

Follow that dream. Sometimes it pays off if you keep at it.

 

How can I phrase it so as not to give away too much? (because I'm keeping on my mask) ...

Someone once told me something to the effect of "I've seen people that do what you do a lot better that never got any exposure, didn't make any money, and gave up; but I've seen people that are way worse at what you do that got exposure and made money because they kept doing what they do."

Now that I'm older, I see examples of this all the time.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

5 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

How can I phrase it so as not to give away too much? (because I'm keeping on my mask) ...

 

Don't worry, we're pretty good at not doing spoilers round here. (Oh, and please cast Gillian Anderson or Cassandra Peterson as amiable psychic/witch/child psychologist Dr. Amy Weaver, Jim. That'd give a nice insight into Clark/Kal-El's upbringing, and explain why his glasses hide his identity even from AI and Facebook. Glaimr magick, y'know.)

 

Anyway...

 

5 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

He wasn't a Russ Meyer or an Ed Wood. He wasn't really something between those two, but kind of in the same spirit on some levels. Some Sci-fi. Some tease. Some horror. Some fantasy. It look like he was able to make what he wanted to make and make some money at it, so good on him.

 

Honestly... I think he wanted to make movies people wanted to watch, and if he saw a movie he liked, he'd have a crack at it himself. Hammer movies, apocalyptic sci-fi, Star Wars and Alien (reusing the same sets and FX shots from BTBTS), stalker horror, detective dramas, counterculture flicks, Hallmark dramas, cape flicks... a movie magpie.

 

And I think he loved the challenge and creativity of doing it against all the odds. Though I do wonder what would have happened if someone - maybe even a couple of the people he trained up - turned round and handed him a decent script and a proper budget. 

[Techwright]

I remember watching, as a young teen, Battle Beyond the Stars and at the end saying "What did I just watch?".  This from someone who was just fine with Battlestar Galactica, Jason of Star Command, the campy Buck Rogers in the 24th Century TV series, and who was about to discover the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who.  Apparently Corman's work was something of an acquired taste.  I did like the cast, the music (Horner rocked), and some of the other stuff in BBtS, and have watched it twice more in the years since.  It's quite possible I've seen other Corman works, especially the ones named for Edger Allen Poe works.  Our local ABC affiliate used to have "Shock Theater" on Saturday afternoons, and I'd watch all of the horror films it put on, though time has robbed me of most of those memories.

 

I've long known of the infamous Fantastic Four film, and knew it was done on a thread of a shoestring budget, but had forgotten just how threadbare it was until re-seeing that blurb.  Despite it having more cheese than a Wisconsin tourist shop, I do have to give credit to costume/makeup team for making the Thing's face look exceptionally comic book accurate.

 

Reading through a list of his works, I think the thing that most surprises me is the number of really big name films he's appeared in as an actor, probably most as cameos, but still, he's in The Godfather Part II, The Howling, The Silence of the Lambs, Apollo 13, and several others, even to Looney Toons: Back In Action.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

9 hours ago, Techwright said:

Despite it having more cheese than a Wisconsin tourist shop,

...may be stealing that... 🤣🧀 

I gotta say though, both The Thing and DOOM himself look pretty dead-on compared to some of Sony's outings.

Even though you just know this thing was likely shot on less of a budget than a single episode of Incredible Hulk.

 

9 hours ago, Techwright said:

Reading through a list of his works, I think the thing that most surprises me is the number of really big name films he's appeared in as an actor, probably most as cameos, but still, he's in The Godfather Part II, The Howling, The Silence of the Lambs, Apollo 13, and several others, even to Looney Toons: Back In Action.

Yup. And if you read the list of directors of those movies - Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, and Joe "Gremlins" Dante...

...you'll never guess who gave every one of them a big damn break in movies.

And was on the end of the phone if they needed advice or just a friendly ear throughout their careers.

https://people.com/ron-howard-mourns-director-roger-corman-death-98-8647362

 

(And seriously, who else would have taken a chance on Richie from Happy Days as a director?) 

Edited May 16 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

7 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

...may be stealing that... 🤣🧀 

LOL

 

(And seriously, who else would have taken a chance on Richie from Happy Days as a director?) 

 

I'd always thought American Graffiti was his big breakout as an adult, so I always assumed it was his connection to George Lucas.  Of course, glancing back at the movie, I see Francis Ford Coppola was producer, so...six degrees of separation from Roger Corman.