May

17

Bucket of Money (Part 1)

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

May 17, 2007 |

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The title of Roger Corman’s memoir, How I Made A Hundred Movies In Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime, written with Jim Jerome, would seem to say it all. Corman’s known for directing and producing cheap, exploitative films with only a desire to make money. And yet Corman is more complicated than that. Early on in the book he takes the time to explain that his films are not “B” pictures, since that term applies to an earlier era of double features when one expensive film–the “A” film–would be paired with a cheaper film for a double feature. His films typically stood on their own, and he clearly takes some pride in his work. He is, of course, interested in money: the book’s includes some very dry details about how much money he made on a particular film, or how he bought a cheap foreign film, redubbed it, added an extra scene or two with American actors, and raked in the dough selling it as an American film. Why would anyone interested in making money go into filmmaking, though? For all that we hear about blockbusters more films fail than succeed, and there have been some huge disasters. Ishtar and Waterworld are just a couple of Hollywood’s biggest losers. Corman made small investments and made modest profits, usually enough to finance his next film. He also discovered, or helped out, some very well-known names: Francis Ford Coppola, Robert DeNiro, Dennis Hopper, Martin Scorsese, and even Jack Nicholson. He also concedes that, in spite of the book’s title, he did lose some money, in particular on The Intruder, a film about racism in the South, starring William Shatner.

Corman may not be the most careful director, and he has a reputation for shooting his films in record time with good reason. Teenage Cave Man, Not Of This Earth, It Conquered The World, and others were filmed in less than a week. Most famous, perhaps, is Little Shop Of Horrors, according to legend filmed in just twenty-four hours on a bet, although there’s some dispute about whether Corman actually accomplished that. Actor Jonathan Haze says he was brought back to film some extra footage after the day was over. Still what matters most is that Corman has made some funny, even memorable films that hold up well over time. One of my favorites is The Raven, a screamingly funny story of two duelling wizards. Featuring a fantastic cast of Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Jack Nicholson, The Raven was one of Corman’s adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe, although it’s the only one that’s a comedy. In true Corman fashion he recycled sets from his previous Poe films, then brought back Karloff and Nicholson for the horrendously bad The Terror. In fact, Corman’s directorial output, on the whole, has more misses than hits, at least in terms of quality. Even Little Shop Of Horrors, another of my favorites, has some serious weaknesses. Myrtle Vail, who plays Seymour Krelboin’s (or Krelboyne’s, depending on your source) mother is amusing, but her scenes add nothing to the film. And the film pushes our willing suspension of disbelief too far when the talking plant Audrey Jr. hypnotizes Seymour and sends him out in search of food. When composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman decided to write a musical adaptation, first produced off-Broadway in 1982 then made into a 1986 film by Frank Oz, they were right to make Seymour an orphan, and a much more complicated character. Unfortunately they also significantly watered down the character of Gravis Mushnik, played brilliantly by Mel Welles in the original film as a miserly, short-tempered, sarcastic flower shop owner with a short temper, a bizarre accent, and the occasional odd “finger of speech”.

Corman has been described as a filmmaker who never tried to make art, only entertainment. He did manage to make art, though. His film A Bucket Of Blood is not only art; it’s a powerful satire of the art world, as well as a crime drama, a black comedy, and classic film noir. Roger Corman and writer Charles B. Griffith, didn’t just make art: they made art history.


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