Movie Talk with Roger Corman
Description
American producer and director Roger Corman discusses his film The Haunted Palace 1963 set in China, they had to change the original title of the film 'Ghosts' this title wouldn't be popular with the Chinese. Corman reflects on his prolific, rich and diverse career during which he has made so many films back to back covering all genres. He has been instrumental in the careers of many successful industry professionals such as Frances Ford Coppola, Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese. He hired Scorsese to direct a film he was producing called Boxcar Bertha 1972 which took him away from his native New York. Dementia 13 1963 was another film Corman produced which Coppola directed, he gave him an empty cheque book and trusted him to stay within the budget, which he succeeded in doing. Corman goes on to discuss his fascination with horror and science-fiction films, such as Alien - that tie the two genres together. Corman loved directing films written by Edgar Allen Poe, films such as The Raven 1963 and The Masque of the Red Death 1964. He further discusses fostering great directors helping to start their careers and his fair approach, never bothering his directors on set for example. He met Jack Nicholson at an acting class, where he went to learn how to communicate with actors. Nicholson ended up writing a few scripts for him and starring in his films, he reflects on Jack being very creative all round. Corman also started the careers of several Hollywood actors including, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Charles Bronson and Robert De Niro who he cast in his film Bloody Mary 1970. Corman then details his time filming the WW1 'flying picture' titled Von Richthofen and Brown 1971 filmed in Ireland where he felt completely burned out, leading to the decision to take a year off. Corman quickly became restless so he started a distribution company New World. He then details his dislike and distrust of the big distribution companies and explains why. He decided to distribute films to Drive-in cinemas and in particular Ingmar Bergman films that surprisingly did okay. Corman wrote a memoir titled How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime, he says the books title is a slight exaggeration. The Wild Angels 1966 comes next, starring Peter Fonda and a cast of real life Hells Angels, it was low budget but it's success generated a lot of money. Piranha 1978 was another hit especially in the Drive-in movie theatres. However, The Intruder 1962 although very well received by the critics was ultimately a financial loss. In 2010 Corman was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Oscar. He intends to carry on making movies but at a much slower pace.