Roger Corman

Right let's get this thing started by trying to save the world. That's right I'm going to recycle. And by that I mean post something I've already posted elsewhere. The question was Roger Corman: Awful or Misunderstood? Here's my reply;

On a business level the man may well be a genius, spotting a gap in the market and filling it repeatedly with films of such a low budget that it was almost impossible to actually lose money on them. The model of independent production that Corman introduced was, dare I say it, revolutionary, and so for that fact alone he is a majorly important figure in the world of film making.

That said, he is an awful director! His films are on the whole cinematic sludge, assembled with absolutely no care for quality, only that the title attracted teens and, as a previous poster said, that there was enough "action" in it to make a two minute trailer. I don't buy into the argument that it was merely the budget constraints that made his films unwatchable, most big money blockbusters are awful thanks to the "talent" involved in them, and COrman is no different. Give him $100m to make Teenage Caveman and it may have had some better effects and big cool set pieces, but the film would still have been poor, albeit one with a decent twist.

As for his films having a message, that may be the case, Corman putting his own fears into his movies, but again they tend to be the messages that many other movies of the times that they are made have. It is not out of the question to suggest that Corman was again riding the zeitgeist with anti-nuclear messages and whatever.

The point about the talent he fostered is a legitimate one, the list of names is incredible, but hanging around with talent does not mean that he himself was talented. Bare in mind that Corman was churning out movies on a ridiculous schedule, one that would need a number of people to realise. Corman simply gave breaks to people desperate to get into the film industry, for all the greats the list of duds is probably just as long. Getting involved with Corman would have been far easier than trying to hook up with a major studio. The acting's good in alot of the movies in spite of Corman in my opinion, he just lucked out with some of the talent. He does deserve some credit for the breaks he gave people, but again I'd be scepticle as to how much he eyed people like Howard, Cameron and Bogdanovich as talent. He more than likely viewed them as people who would keep his industry running. If they made anything of merit it was down to their own talent, not his.

Proof that Corman is shite, he even manages to make Jack Nicolson look like a useless cunt: