Corman's second film for ARC was one he decided to direct, "Five Guns West" (1955), a Western, made in color for around $60,000, with Malone and John Lund. The script was written by Robert Wright Campbell, who worked with Corman on several more occasions. Corman announced he would make four more projects for ARC: "High Steel", "Cobra", "Fortress Beneath the Sea", and an untitled film from Campbell. Instead, Corman did some uncredited directing on "The Beast with a Million Eyes" (1955), then made another Western, "Apache Woman" (1955), starring Lloyd Bridges, written by Lou Rusoff. Rusoff and Corman reunited on "Day the World Ended" (1955), a postapocalyptic science-fiction film, which was popular.
Director
Roger Corman
Roger Corman | Director
"Five Guns West" "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" Uncredited one, Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film "A Time for Killing". His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round".
when was kingdom of the crystal skull filmed
user
2008
assistant
what is its genre?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
what is the significance of the crystal skull in the film?
user
It was believed that it belonged to an alien life form and holds great psychic power, and finding more skulls will grant the Soviet Union the ability to rule the world through the use of telepathy.
assistant
who played the role of jones?
user
Harrison Ford.
assistant
how is he related to aviation?
user
He is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
assistant
was he into archaeological expeditions as well?
user
Yes, he serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America.
assistant
what opinions does he hold on politics?
user
He holds the opinion of being a Democrat.
assistant
any other famous movie he acted?
user
"A Time for Killing"
assistant
who was his co- star in this film regarding killing?
user
"Glenn Ford" and "George Hamilton"
assistant
what is the storyline of this film?
user
It revolves during the Civil War period, Confederate soldiers escape from a Union prison and head for the Mexican border. Along the way, they kill a Union courier bearing the news that the war is over. Keeping the message a secret, the captain has his men go on and they soon find themselves in a battle with the Union search party who also is unaware of the war's end.
assistant
where was the filming done?
user
Columbia
assistant
who directed it?
user
The direction was initially by Roger Corman but was finished by Phil Karlson.
assistant
any reason behind it?
user
The reason is not known.
assistant
which was his debut film?
user
He worked as an assistant to agent Dick Hyland, a literary agent.
Roger Corman | Early film career
He was going to make a film of "Couples", a novel by John Updike for United Artists, and "In" from a script by Richard Schupe, but decided to take a break from directing.
Roger Corman | Final films as director
He returned to directing once more with "Frankenstein Unbound" (1990).
Roger Corman | "Frankenstein Unbound"
Roger Corman Presents was a series of films made for Showtime by movie producer Roger Corman.
Roger Corman Presents | Introduction
The IMDB credits Corman with 55 directed films and some 385 produced films from 1954 through 2008, many as uncredited producer or executive producer (consistent with his role as head of his own New World Pictures from 1970 through 1983). Corman also has significant credits as writer and actor.
Roger Corman | Filmography
Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Much of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of low-budget cult films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. In 1964, Corman—admired by members of the French New Wave and "Cahiers du Cinéma"—became the youngest filmmaker to have a retrospective at the Cinémathèque Française, as well as in the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art. He was the co-founder of New World Pictures, the founder of New Concorde and is a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Roger Corman | Introduction
His autobiography, titled "How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime" (), documents his experiences in the film industry. In 1964, Corman was the youngest producer/director to be given a retrospective at the Cinémathèque Française, as well as retrospectives at the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art. Corman won the Lifetime Achievement Award at Stockholm International Film Festival in 1990.
Roger Corman | Remembrances and awards
This is a list of films directed or produced by Roger Corman. This is a partial list. Corman is famously prolific, in his American International Pictures years and afterward. The IMDb credits Corman with 55 directed films and some 385 produced films from 1954 through 2008, many as un-credited producer or executive producer (consistent with his role as head of his own New World Pictures from 1970 through 1983). Corman also has significant credits as writer and actor.
Roger Corman filmography | Introduction
"I got into the habit of writing very quickly without realising it and, because I was raised in a radio family, I didn't know that you were supposed to take a long time to write a film script", said Griffith.
Charles B. Griffith | Meeting Roger Corman
His first film written specifically for Universal, was an adaptation of the James Roland novel, "This Way Out", late in 1944, titled "The Suspect", for which he received good reviews. The film was directed by Robert Siodmak, and starred Charles Laughton and Ella Raines. His next film at Universal saw him once again writing for Abbott & Costello. Released in early 1945, "Here Come the Co-Eds" was co-written by John Grant, from a story by Edmund Hartmann, and directed by Jean Yarbrough.
Arthur T. Horman | Life and career
Corman used his script fee and personal contacts to raise $12,000 to produce his first feature, a science-fiction film, "Monster From the Ocean Floor" (1954). It was produced by Corman's own company, Palo Alto, and released by Robert L. Lippert. The film did well enough to encourage Corman to produce another film, the racing-car thriller "The Fast and the Furious" (1955), directed by its star, John Ireland, and co-starring Dorothy Malone. Corman sold the movie to a new independent company, the American Releasing Company, run by James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff. Although Corman had a number of offers for the film from Republic and Columbia, he elected to go with ARC because they undertook to advance money to enable him to make two more movies.
Roger Corman | Producer
He had a four-picture deal with 20th Century Fox, making "Capone" (1975), "Fighting Mad" (1976) (directed by Demme), Moving Violation (1976) and "Thunder and Lightning" (1977).
Roger Corman | 20th Century Fox
Film elements and prints for many movies directed, produced, and/or distributed by Corman are held at the Academy Film Archive as part of the New Horizons Collection. The Academy Film Archive restored Corman's film "The Masque of the Red Death" in 2019.
Roger Corman | Archive
It was successful enough for Corman to give both men jobs directing features on their own: Dante with "Piranha" (1978) and Arkush with "Rock 'n' Roll High School" (1979). "Piranha" was written by John Sayles, who had been discovered by Corman's story editor, Frances Doel. Sayles later wrote "The Lady in Red" (1979) for Corman, which was directed by Lewis Teague.
Roger Corman | Peak of New World
By the end of 1964, Roger Corman was one of the most successful low-budget filmmakers in Hollywood, mostly working for American International Pictures. "Everything had been interesting, artistically satisfying, economically satisfying", Corman said eighteen months later. "But I decided I was going nowhere and wanted to move directly into the business." So he accepted a contract with Columbia. Corman had a deal to make three films with Columbia. "But every idea I submitted was too strange, too weird", he later said. "Every idea they had seemed to ordinary to me. Ordinary pictures don't make money today [in 1966] because audiences today are too intelligent...
A Time for Killing | Pre-production
In a 10-year period, New World Pictures won more Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film than all other studios combined.
Roger Corman | Distributing foreign films
After a year of not directing, Corman took a leave of absence under his contract with Columbia to make a film for AIP, the first biker movie, "The Wild Angels". It starred Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra, from a script by Griffith; Peter Bogdanovich worked as Corman's assistant. The film opened the 1966 Venice Film Festival and was hugely successful at the box office, making over $6 million on a $350,000 budget and kicking off the "biker movie" cycle. He wanted to make a film about the Red Baron, but Columbia turned it down because of "The Blue Max" (1966).
Roger Corman | "The Wild Angels"
Because of the shoestring-budget, most of the film had to be block-shot. Most of the takes were done only twice. "Virtually Heroes" was Roger Corman's first submission to enter the Sundance Film Festival. Reviews of the film were in general not positive.
Virtually Heroes | Production
Director Jim Wynorski first got the idea of remaking the film after he found an original print of Roger Corman's 1957 original. He wagered that he could remake the film on the original shooting schedule and budget, adjusted for inflation. The film was reportedly originally going to be a musical comedy. When it came to casting for the film, Wynorski said he came up with who should play the lead almost immediately: While we were at an optical house doing some effects work for "Big Bad Mama II" (1987), I came across an original print of the old Corman film.
Not of This Earth (1988 film) | Production
Corman found work at 20th Century Fox initially in the mail room. He worked his way up to a story reader. The one property that he liked the most and provided ideas for was filmed as "The Gunfighter" with Gregory Peck. When Corman received no credit at all, he left Fox and decided he would work in film by himself. Under the G.I. Bill, Corman studied English literature at Oxford University and lived in Paris for a time. He then returned to Los Angeles and tried to re-establish himself in the film industry. He took various jobs, including television stage hand at KLAC and a messenger at Fox.
Roger Corman | Early film career
From 1960 to 1963, Rothman studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California where she was mentored by the chairman of the cinema department, Bernard Cantor. She became the first woman to be awarded the Directors Guild of America fellowship, awarded annually to the director of a student film. This, along with her academic qualifications, garnered her a job offer from Roger Corman in 1964, to work as his assistant. (Corman chose her over another applicant, who later became his wife Julie.) "It was rare for anyone who did not have family connections to find employment in the film industry, in or outside of the jurisdiction of the labor unions", recalled Rothman later.
Stephanie Rothman | Roger Corman
Also, Roger is an extremely clever person. Even though most of his material was exploitive, he always had a very intelligent approach. I learned a lot from the way he dealt with directors and editors. He was extremely well-organized, very insightful, very quick to make decisions." Outside of New World he edited "Summer Run" (1974) and the Oscar-winning short documentary "Number Our Days" (1976).
Lewis Teague | Roger Corman
In January 1959, Corman announced he would be moving into distribution. In 1959, Corman founded The Filmgroup with his brother Gene, a company producing or releasing low-budget black-and-white films as double features for drive-ins and action houses. In February 1959, Filmgroup announced they would release 10 films. Their first movies were "High School Big Shot" (1959) and "T-Bird Gang" (1959) produced by Stanley Bickman. For AIP, Corman and Griffith made a black comedy, "A Bucket of Blood" (1959). Corman announced he would follow it with a similar comedy, "The Bloodshot Private Eye". It does not seem to have been made.
Roger Corman | The Filmgroup
For AIP, Corman returned to the director's chair for a gangster film, "Bloody Mama" (1970), starring Shelley Winters and a young Robert de Niro. It was a big hit at the box office. He also directed a black comedy, "Gas-s-s-s" (1970), written by George Armitage; it was cut without his permission by AIP, and was a financial failure. United Artists finally agreed to finance his Red Baron project, although they asked it be given emphasis on American characters. Accordingly, it was filmed as "Von Richthofen and Brown" (1971), shot in Ireland in July 1970. There were several plane crashes during filming and one person died.
Roger Corman | Final films as director
In 2010, Roger Corman teamed up New Horizons Pictures with Shout! Factory to release new DVD and Blu-ray editions of Corman productions under the name Roger Corman's Cult Classics. The releases have concentrated on 1970–1980s films he produced through New World rather than directed. These titles include "Rock 'n' Roll High School", "Death Race 2000", "Galaxy of Terror", "Forbidden World" and "Piranha", with additional titles continuing to be released.
Roger Corman | Cult classics
He returned to Stanford to finish his degree, receiving a bachelor of science in industrial engineering in 1947. While at Stanford University, Corman was initiated in the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. In 1948, he worked briefly at U.S. Electrical Motors on Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles, but his career in engineering lasted only four days; he began work on Monday and quit on Thursday, telling his boss "I've made a terrible mistake." His brother Gene was already working in the film industry as an agent and Roger decided to go into filmmaking, instead.
Roger Corman | Early life
It includes all the staples of the exploitation film—a drag race, a necking party, the flip and shallow conversation of a segment of youth, the slight and unconvincing nod to conventional morality at the ending." In 1954, a young filmmaker named Roger Corman received his first screen credits as writer and associate producer of Allied Artists' "Highway Dragnet". Later that year, he independently produced his first movie, "The Monster from the Ocean Floor", on a $12,000 budget and a six-day shooting schedule. In 1955, Corman produced and directed the first official ARC release, "Apache Woman", one of five movies he had a hand in directing that year.
B movies in the 1950s | AIP and Corman
In 1975, Corman said New World was "the most successful independent film company in the country...if you count AIP as a major". He said they were "the best of the cheap acts."
Roger Corman | New World Pictures
Corman was to make "The Devil on Horseback" by Charles B. Griffith about the Brownsville Raid, but it was too expensive.
Roger Corman | Director
We couldn't develop all the scripts so a picture called "Terminal Virus" was the script that we bought and it will be the last one to go on, and all the rest were scripts that we developed ourselves."
Roger Corman Presents | Production
For producer Edward Small, Corman made a historical horror piece about Richard III, "Tower of London" (1962), starring Vincent Price. It was meant to be the first in a three-picture deal with Small, but Corman did not enjoy working with the producer.
Roger Corman | "The Intruder"
In 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Academy Award "for his rich engendering of films and filmmakers." Corman mentored and gave a start to many young film directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, John Sayles, and James Cameron, and was highly influential in the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He also helped to launch the careers of actors like Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Sylvester Stallone, Diane Ladd, and William Shatner. Corman has occasionally taken minor acting roles in the films of directors who started with him, including "The Silence of the Lambs", "The Godfather Part II", "Apollo 13", "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Philadelphia".
Roger Corman | Introduction
He also financed two films directed by Dan Haller, "Devil's Angels" (1967), a follow-up to "Wild Angels" written by Griffith; and a car racing film shot in Europe, "The Wild Racers" (1968). He announced a comedy about the population explosion, "There Just Isn't Any Room", but it appears to have never been made. Corman directed "The Trip" for AIP, written by Jack Nicholson and starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Bruce Dern. This began the psychedelic film craze of the late 1960s, and was the American entry at Cannes that year. AIP made some changes to the film in post-production which made Corman unhappy.
Roger Corman | Return to independence
Corman says the film opened and the Edinburgh Film Festival and he "got a cable from the organizers of the festival saying, ""gasss" explodes. Five minutes standing ovation." I thought, "Boy, I've really got one." The film premiered in New York as part of a retrospective on Roger Corman's work. In 1971, Corman stated:
Gas-s-s-s | Reception
In 1966, following the example of "Cahiers du Cinéma" critics Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Éric Rohmer, who had created the Nouvelle Vague ("New Wave") by making their own films, Bogdanovich decided to become a director. With his wife Polly Platt, he headed for Los Angeles, skipping out on the rent in the process. Intent on breaking into the industry, Bogdanovich would ask publicists for movie premiere and industry party invitations. At one screening, Bogdanovich was viewing a film and director Roger Corman was sitting behind him. The two struck up a conversation when Corman mentioned he liked a cinema piece Bogdanovich wrote for "Esquire".
Peter Bogdanovich | Move to Los Angeles and Roger Corman
Corman said "for ten years as an independent I could get financing for $100-$200-$300,000 pictures. Everything had been interesting, artistically satisfying, economically satisfying. But I decided I was going nowhere and wanted to move directly into the business. So I accepted a contract with Columbia." In August 1965, Corman announced he had signed a contract with United Artists to make two films over three years. He also signed with Columbia to make a Western, "The Long Ride Home", based on a script by Robert Towne. He was announced for a number of other projects at Columbia: the biopic of Robert E.
Roger Corman | Working for major studios
Instead Griffith reused the same script structure and Corman employed many of the same cast in "The Little Shop of Horrors" (1960). This film was reputedly shot in two days and one night.
Roger Corman | The Filmgroup
New World sued Corman in return, claiming he was seeking to return to distribution, and was discrediting New World to potential investors. They said Corman bypassed New World for some of his films, such as Columbia's "Hardbodies" (1984). Corman argued "My whole point in selling was to free myself of the burden of running the company and to get guaranteed distribution. If I can't get my guaranteed distribution, I'm forced to go back to running the company."
Roger Corman | New Horizons
Corman employed Francis Ford Coppola on "Burial" as an assistant director.
The Premature Burial (film) | Production
Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel is a 2011 documentary film about the life and career of filmmaker Roger Corman.
Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel | Introduction
Lee, an adaptation of "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", an adaptation of Kafka's "The Penal Colony", and a script by novelist Richard Yates about the Battle of Iwo Jima. He intended to make "The Deserters" for UA, from a script by Wright, but that was not made either.
Roger Corman | Working for major studios
Showtime approached Corman with the idea of doing a series of science fiction and horror feature films. They started filming in January 1995 and finished shooting 13 films in mid June. Corman said, "I don't think a day went by that we weren't shooting. We were shooting on weekends, we were shooting at our studio here. We were shooting at local locations, and we shot one film in Moscow and one film in Manila. So we were all over the world with this thing." Corman ended up re-making two more films in the first season. According to Corman, "They were actually chosen by Showtime who did a lot of market research.
Roger Corman Presents | Production
Corman received his first serious critical praise for "Machine-Gun Kelly" (1958), an AIP biopic of the famous gangster, which gave Charles Bronson his first leading role and co-starred Cabot. Campbell wrote the script. Also for AIP, he did "Teenage Caveman" (1958), with Robert Vaughn, originally titled "Prehistoric World". He helped produce two films for Allied Artists, both from scripts by Leo Gordon: "Hot Car Girl" (1958), directed by Bernard Kowalski and produced by his brother Gene (the first film they made together) from a script by Gordon; and "The Cry Baby Killer" (1958), which gave Jack Nicholson his first starring role.
Roger Corman | "Machine Gun Kelly" and producing
Corman says filming commenced using a first draft, which was rewritten constantly throughout the shoot. "Winter was coming and I wanted to do the film", said Corman. "I was going to be shooting in New Mexico. I actually shot in December and to wait one more month would have put me in January and I could not have made the film. To wait till next summer would have dated the material I was dealing with, so I wanted to bring the film out early." Armitage recalls, "We went back in '69 to shoot in New Mexico and Texas. I was the associate producer as well, and we were writing it as we went—which is something that Roger liked to do.
Gas-s-s-s | Shooting
He prefers to describe his metier as "low-budget exploitation films." In later years Corman, both with AIP and as head of his own companies, would help launch the careers of Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Robert Towne, Jack Nicholson, and Robert De Niro, among many others.
B movies in the 1950s | AIP and Corman
Roger Corman had money in the film. His former company, New World Pictures refused to distribute it, contributing to Corman suing New World.
Wheels of Fire (film) | Production
"It was even rarer for a woman to be hired. It was traditional to exclude us from nearly all types of work behind the camera." Rothman worked in a variety of jobs for Corman, on films such as "Beach Ball" (1965), "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet" (1965), and "Queen of Blood" (1966). Rothman:
Stephanie Rothman | Roger Corman
Eugene Harold "Gene" Corman (September 24, 1927 – September 28, 2020) was an American film producer and agent. He is the younger brother of Roger Corman.
Gene Corman | Introduction
Corman entered the film industry before his brother, working as an agent. He became vice president of MCA, representing such clients as Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Richard Conte, Harry Belafonte, and Ray Milland. He moved into producing in the late 1950s, making a number of movies with Bernard L. Kowalski and Robert L. Lippert as well as his brother. In the early 1970s, he had his own producing unit at MGM. He later became vice-president of 20th Century Fox Television.
Gene Corman | Biography
Many of Corman's protegés have paid their mentor homage by awarding him cameos in films, such as in "The Godfather Part II", "The Silence of the Lambs", "Apollo 13", and as recently as Demme's 2008 film "Rachel Getting Married".
Roger Corman | "The Corman Film School"
Corman was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Anne (née High) and William Corman, an engineer. His younger brother, Eugene Harold "Gene" Corman, has also produced numerous films, sometimes in collaboration with Roger. Corman and his brother were baptized in the Catholic faith. Corman went to Beverly Hills High School and then to Stanford University to study industrial engineering. While at Stanford, Corman realized he did not want to be an engineer. He enlisted in the V-12 Navy College Training Program with six months of study to complete. He served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946.
Roger Corman | Early life
ARC changed its name to American International Pictures. Corman was established as their leading filmmaker. They financed Corman's next film as director, the science-fiction story "It Conquered the World" (1956). Co-written by Griffith, it was a follow-up to "The Day the World Ended". It was a big hit. He optioned a TV play "The Stake" and hoped to get Dana Andrews to star. It was never made. Instead, Walter Mirisch of Allied Artists hired Corman to make "The Undead" (1957), inspired by "The Search for Bridey Murphy". Griffith wrote the script. In June, Corman made a science-fiction film for Allied Artists, "Not of this Earth" (1957), written by Griffith.
Roger Corman | American International Pictures and Allied Artists
"All films, he was producer unless otherwise noted."
Moritz Borman | Filmography
These films are currently owned by Shout! Factory and Ace Film HK Company.
New World Pictures | Roger Corman regime (1970-1984)
Her work impressed Corman enough to give her her first full directing job on "It's a Bikini World" (shot in 1965 but not released until 1967), which he financed. However she did not enjoy the experience: I became very depressed after making "It's a Bikini World". I had very ambivalent feelings about continuing to be a director if that was all I was going to be able to do. So I literally went into a kind of retirement for several years until more than anything in the world, I wanted to make films. Rothman returned to filmmaking on Corman's comedy "Gas-s-s-s" (1970), working as production associate.
Stephanie Rothman | "It's a Bikini World"
James Alan Ferman (11 April 1930 – 24 December 2002) was an American television and theatre director. He was the Secretary (later termed Director) of the British Board of Film Classification from 1975 to 1999.
James Ferman | Introduction
Roger Kumble (born May 28, 1966) is an American film director, screenwriter, and playwright.
Roger Kumble | Introduction
In the mid-1950s, film producer and director Roger Corman, along with his brother and fellow producer Gene Corman, hired then theatre director Hellman to direct a film from a screenplay by Roger Corman regular Griffith. According to Griffith, Corman was motived by the success of "Naked Paradise". He said "Roger said "I want NAKED PARADISE using a gold mine instead of a pineapple plantation. Put it in South Dakota and add a monster." I didn't know how to add a monster to that script, so I had it all wrapped up in a cocoon in a cave just threatening to break loose all the time.
Beast from Haunted Cave | Development
New World was the U.S. distributor for "Cries and Whispers" (1972), directed by Ingmar Bergman. Corman bought it for $75,000 and it earned over $2 million at the U.S. box office. and Corman's distribution side of New World brought many foreign films to mass audiences in the U.S. for the first time, including the works of François Truffaut ("The Story of Adele H.", "Small Change"), Peter Weir ("The Cars That Ate Paris"), Federico Fellini ("Amarcord"), Joseph Losey ("The Romantic Englishwoman"), Volker Schlöndorff ("The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum", "The Tin Drum") and Akira Kurosawa ("Dersu Uzala"). New World also released "Fantastic Planet" (1974).
Roger Corman | Distributing foreign films
Daniel Lacambre is a cinematographer best known for his work for Roger Corman.
Daniel Lacambre | Introduction
This was one of the first films made by B movie giant Roger Corman for his company New World Pictures. According to Stephanie Rothman, Corman originally purchased a screenplay by James Gordon White, which he then asked to be rewritten. Rothman says she, her husband Charles S. Swartz and New World story editor Frances Doel pitched story proposals to Jack Hill, who did not like any of them. They then plotted a new storyline themselves and hired Don Spencer to write the screenplay. Rothman also says that Corman wanted her to direct the picture but she turned it down, so Corman hired Jack Hill instead.
The Big Doll House | Production
Corman established his own company, Palo Alto Productions, in 1954, which was responsible for his first two movies. Filmgroup came out of a desire for Corman to move into distribution. In February 1959 Filmgroup announced they would release ten films. Their first movies were "High School Big Shot" (1959) and "T-Bird Gang" (1959) produced by Stanley Bickman. Corman would also buy films made by independent distributors, in addition to several films from the Soviet Union, which he would re-dub and have additional scenes shot and added to.
The Filmgroup | History
Griffith said that after he and Corman had collaborated on the film "Gunslinger", he suggested they make a science fiction film and Corman agreed; "Not of This Earth" was the result. He also said he originally wrote the part of the vacuum cleaner salesman for himself. Griffth said the film "started all this X-ray eye business. Most of Roger's themes got established right in the beginning. Whatever worked, he'd come and take again, and a lot of things got used over and over. During the production of "Not of This Earth", I was married to a nurse, and she helped me do a lot of medical research.
Not of This Earth (1957 film) | Production
From there, Roger said: "Well, that didn't work, why don't we try something else?" Usually he has a title or something and he'll say: "Go ahead, write something, just keep the title."" "Gas-s-s-s" was an idea of Corman's, about a world where everybody over 30 had died. Corman later said "my first thought was to do a science fiction film with allegorical overtones." Armitage remembers the concept just being "a sentence, and that's what we went with...He let you make it your own, and I did." Corman said that although "there was some good work in" Armitage's first draft, "the points I was trying to make in the script either did not come through or came through too obviously different parts, and it became less science fiction and more and more a direct liberal left wing statement picture.
Gas-s-s-s | Development
AIP also distributed films Corman helped finance films, such as "Night of the Blood Beast", "She Gods of Shark Reef" and "The Brain Eaters" (all released in 1958).
American International Pictures | Roger Corman
Reportedly the film was based on a script called "The Unseen" by Tom Filer. Roger Corman was attracted to the project because in the original draft of the script, no monster was seen, which meant the film could be done cheaply. In April 1955 it was announced in "Variety" the film would be the first for Pacemaker Productions, a new company formed by Roger Corman. By that stage the film had been renamed "The Beast with a Million Eyes". It would be produced and directed by David Kamarsky, Corman's former aide, while Corman would executive produce. Corman was meant to direct "Cobra" in India instead (that film was never made).
The Beast with a Million Eyes | Production
Within a few months he would direct "Day the World Ended", half of Arkoff and Nicholson's first twin-bill package, and one of the first AIP films, "It Conquered the World". Corman would go on to direct over fifty feature films through 1990. As of 2007, he remained active as a producer, with more than 350 movies to his credit. Often referred to as the "King of the B's", the historically sensitive Corman has said that "to my way of thinking, I never made a 'B' movie in my life", as B movies, in the classic Hollywood sense of the term, were dying out by the time he began making pictures.
B movies in the 1950s | AIP and Corman
In 2006 Corman said he made 60% of his films overseas. "These foreign countries are offering subsidies that are so great that not only I but many independent producers are moving overseas", he said. He sold the remake rights of "Death Race 2000" to Universal, who made "Death Race" (2008) with Jason Statham, with Corman credited as executive producer. It led to two direct-to-video prequels and one direct-to-video sequel.
Roger Corman | Later career: Syfy Channel
He proposed a movie about the St Valentine's Day Massacre and also an adaptation of the novel "Only Lovers Left Alive". Nick Ray was meant to be making "Only Lovers" in Britain. Corman did begin directing "Long Ride Home" with Glenn Ford at Columbia. However, Corman left production a few weeks into the shoot in June 1966 and was replaced by Phil Karlson. The film was retitled "A Time for Killing" (1967).
Roger Corman | "The Wild Angels"
The film struggled to find an audience and Roger Corman said that it was the only movie that he backed in the 1970s that lost money. He had it re-cut and re-released under the title "Born to Kill", but it still did not succeed.
Cockfighter | Reception
Corman sold New World Pictures in January 1983 to a consortium of three lawyers for $16.9 million. Under the terms of the contract, he agreed to stay on as consultant for two years and to provide New World with at least five films they could release. New World agreed to distribute all of Corman's films until March 1984. He set up a new production company, Millennium – the title of which was taken from the name of a 1981 retrospective of Corman's work at the National Film Theatre of London. He announced plans to make films budgeted between $2–5 million using cash from his sale of New World to finance personally.
Roger Corman | Millennium Films
"All films, he was producer unless otherwise noted."
Roger Birnbaum | Filmography
I insisted each (nurse) had to work out her problems without relying on a boyfriend. Corman allocated the project to the husband and wife team of Stephanie Rothman and Charles S. Swartz, who had worked on a number of different projects for Corman, including "It's a Bikini World" and "Gas-s-s-s". Rothman would direct, and she and her husband would produce and provide the original story. Rothman: We made it while Roger was out of the country, directing a film of his own, "Von Richthofen and Brown" (1971), so we were free to develop the story of the nurses as we wished, as long as there was enough nudity and violence distributed throughout it.
The Student Nurses | Development
Corman continued to be an important member of AIP (though he also worked for Allied Artists and his own Filmgroup company during this period). He had a big hit for the company with the science fiction film "It Conquered the World" (1956) from a script by Rusoff that was rewritten by Charles B. Griffith. His films included "Rock All Night" (1956); "Naked Paradise" (1957), in which Arkoff had a small role; "The Undead", "Sorority Girl", "The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent" (1957), "Machine Gun Kelly" with Charles Bronson, and "Teenage Caveman" (1958), with Robert Vaughn.
American International Pictures | Roger Corman
He returned to New York City in 1973 where he drove a taxi. He moved to Los Angeles on October 4, 1973. He got his start in the film industry working (with the assistance of Jon Davison and Jonathan Kaplan) in the trailer department for Roger Corman's New World Pictures, where he met Dante. They cut trailers and TV spots for "Death Race 2000", "Crazy Mama", "Amarcord", "TNT Jackson", "Small Change", "Eat My Dust" and at least 100 others. He co-directed Corman-produced films "Hollywood Boulevard", "Deathsport", was second-unit director on "Grand Theft Auto" for Ron Howard, and directed "Rock 'n' Roll High School", starring The Ramones.
Allan Arkush | Early life
Corman offered him a directing job, which Bogdanovich accepted immediately. He worked with Corman on "Targets", which starred Boris Karloff, and "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women", under the pseudonym Derek Thomas. Bogdanovich later said of the Corman school of filmmaking, "I went from getting the laundry to directing the picture in three weeks. Altogether, I worked 22 weeks – preproduction, shooting, second unit, cutting, dubbing – I haven't learned as much since." Returning to journalism, Bogdanovich struck up a lifelong friendship with Orson Welles while interviewing him on the set of Mike Nichols's "Catch-22" (1970). Bogdanovich played a major role in elucidating Welles and his career with his writings on the actor-director, most notably his book "This is Orson Welles" (1992).
Peter Bogdanovich | Move to Los Angeles and Roger Corman
Roger E. Young (born 13 May 1942 in Champaign, Illinois) is an American TV and film director.
Roger Young (director) | Introduction
Of New World's second year, Corman says 11 of the 12 releases were successful. Corman produced one more film at AIP, "Boxcar Bertha" (1972), the second feature directed by Martin Scorsese, starring David Carradine. He also executive produced "Unholy Rollers" (1972) for AIP. A proposed political satire, "The Wild Political Prank", was not made. He made "I Escaped from Devil's Island" (1973) with his brother and produced "Cockfighter" (1974) with Monte Hellman, which was a rare financial failure for New World. A big hit was "Big Bad Mama" (1974), a gangster film directed by Carver and starring Angie Dickinson. It led to a follow-up, "Crazy Mama" (1975), produced by his wife and directed by Demme.
Roger Corman | New World Pictures
The director of each film is indicated in parenthesis.
Ralph Rosenblum | Selected filmography
In 1995 Corman was executive producer on "Roger Corman Presents", a special series of 13 movies for Showtime with budgets of around $1.5 million each. "I think the Corman name means action, humor and some titillation", says Mike Elliott, the producer of the series. "It's going to deliver the goods – and it will have a little moral statement in there as well." Corman ended up doing a second season of 11 movies. The films were "Bram Stoker's Burial of the Rats", "Hellfire", "Virtual Seduction", "Suspect Device", "Unknown Origin", "Terminal Virus", "Where Evil Lies", "Vampirella", "Shadow of a Scream", "Subliminal Seduction", "House of the Damned" (a.k.a.
Roger Corman | "Roger Corman Presents"
The director of each film is indicated in parenthesis.
Ralph Kemplen | Selected filmography
Wynorksi had written a number of films for Roger Corman and this was his directorial debut. Finance came from a theatre owner, Henry Plitt. Wynorski said Plitt "wanted to make a low budget sci-fi action picture as a tax loss. I never knew that when I made the show, so I put my heart and soul into the project." Corman did not finance the film but Wynorski used Corman's studio to build many of the interior and exterior sets.
The Lost Empire (1984 film) | Production
Glantz's first job in film was as Roger Corman's assistant. He worked on the writing and production of 9 films and the TV series "Black Scorpion".
Peter Glantz | Early career
Corman says that the script was developed by AIP. He did not like it and had some of it rewritten, although not as much as he liked. Shooting started 15 July 1957 at Ziv Studios. Filming also took place at the mansion of Ruta Lee in Laurel Canyon. Susan Cabot later recalled working on Corman films: We would have some sort of a script, but there was a lot of, “Who’s going to say what?” and “How ’bout I do this?’ ’ — plenty of ad-libbing and improvising. But Roger was really great in a way; he was very loose.
Sorority Girl | Production
In May 1970, Corman founded New World Pictures which became a small independently owned production/distribution studio, and were an immediate success with "Angels Die Hard" (1970), a biker film, and "The Student Nurses" (1971), directed by Rothman. "The Big Doll House" (1971), directed by Jack Hill in the Philippines, was a big hit, making a star of Pam Grier. The company made a profit of $3.2 million in its first financial year and Corman says all eleven out of his first eleven films were successful. "Angels Die Hard" led to a series of biker films, including "Angels Hard as They Come" (1971), produced by Jonathan Demme with Jack Fisk working as art director.
Roger Corman | New World Pictures
Corman also remade "Not of this Earth" (1988) and released "Big Bad Mama II" (1987), and "Transylvania Twist" (1989); all three were directed by Jim Wynorski. He produced another version of "Masque of the Red Death" (1989), directed by Larry Brand.
Roger Corman | Concorde Pictures
In the early 1970s, when Welles was having financial problems, Bogdanovich let him stay at his Bel Air mansion for a couple of years.
Peter Bogdanovich | Move to Los Angeles and Roger Corman
The resulting film, "House of Usher" (1960), shot in early 1960, was a critical and commercial hit. Following this, Corman bought two scripts, "Sob Sisters Don't Cry" and "Cop Killer". In March 1960, Corman announced that Filmgroup would be part of an international production group, Compass Productions. He directed a peplum in Greece, "Atlas" (1961) in August.
Roger Corman | "House of Usher"
He announced an intention to make less commercial films, movies more like "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" and "Cries and Whispers". Millennium's films included "Space Raiders" (1983), a science fiction epic using footage and music from "Battle Beyond the Stars"; "Love Letters" (1984), a serious drama from Amy Holden Jones; "Screwballs" (1984), a sex comedy in the vein of "Porky's"; "Suburbia" (1984), directed by Penelope Spheeris, which he acquired, "Deathstalker"; and "Kain of Dark Planet" (which became "The Warrior and the Sorceress").
Roger Corman | Millennium Films
I had said I didn't want to remake the Edgar Allan Poe pictures, because I didn't want to do those without Vincent, and also the period style of the pictures means that they're as new now as they were when they were made. Because the 19th century is the 19th century. Whereas the other pictures... being contemporary films could easily be remade, brought up to date, re-written for the '90s." The other nine were originals. Corman said, "One of them, we purchased a screenplay because we couldn't develop enough. We had three of the thirteen shot before this year, and I shot the other ten in five and a half months.
Roger Corman Presents | Production
One of Lucas' film scripts, "The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes" (co-written with Charlie Largent), a comedy about the filming of Roger Corman's 1967 film "The Trip" is currently optioned by Metaluna Productions for director Joe Dante. In October 2016, the script was the subject of a live table reading at the Vista Theater in Los Angeles, promoted as "The Best Film Never Made." The performance starred Bill Hader as Corman, Roger Corman himself as Roger Today, Ethan Embry as Jack Nicholson, and Claudia O'Doherty as Corman's longtime assistant Frances Doel. Lucas has reportedly since adapted the script as a novel, but no release has yet been announced.
Tim Lucas | Screenwriting/Directing
"House of Usher" is now regarded as a high point in Corman's filmography, with a 90% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews and a critics consensus: "Scary, strange, and maybe a little silly, "House of Usher" represents an early high mark for Vincent Price and a career triumph for director Roger Corman."
House of Usher (film) | Reception
Independent filmmaker Roger Corman hired Flender out of college to run the advertising department of his Concorde-New Horizons Films. With his goal toward directing, Flender moved into production and was Corman's Vice President of Production for two years. He produced or co-produced titles including "Body Chemistry", "Streets", and "Full Fathom Five". Flender made his feature directing debut with the Corman-produced thriller "The Unborn", which received favorable reviews. Flender next wrote and directed "In The Heat of Passion," also for Roger Corman. Over the next decade, Flender's feature directing credits included "Leprechaun 2" for Trimark, and the Columbia Pictures release "Idle Hands".
Rodman Flender | Career
Julie Ann Corman (née Halloran; born ) is an American film producer. Corman is married to film producer and director Roger Corman.
Julie Corman | Introduction
Wynorski made two films for Corman's Showtime series, "Roger Corman Presents": a remake of "The Wasp Woman" (1995) and "Vampirella" (1996). "Vampirella" was an unhappy experience for him - in 2013 he said that film and "Victim of Desire" were the only films he regretted making in his career.
Jim Wynorski | "Roger Corman Presents"
The supporting cast is solid and the art direction by Daniel Haller is really quite good for such a low-budget film. Roger Corman did an admirable job as the first American feature-film director to stake out some cinematic high ground for the cosmos-crushing adaptations of [H. P. Lovecraft] to follow."
The Haunted Palace | Critical reaction
In the late 1980s, Julie Corman got summer interns to go through several hundred old scripts. The best one they discovered was one written by Charles Beaumont for Roger Corman in the 1960s. Director Adam Simon liked it and updated it for modern times.
Brain Dead (1990 film) | Production
Corman says when he cut together the work of the five directors "we all had interpreted the story differently and it showed. I saw two things working against it. There were some gaps in logic; and frankly it struck me as a little dull." Corman felt the story "made sense but it had no spark. It all seemed so predictable." He also felt the lighting from the first two days was flat. Corman says that when he cut together Karloff's footage, he realized that "it didn't make sense" so he filmed a scene between Dick Miller and Jack Nicholson (in close-up because the sets had been taken down) and got them to explain the plot.
The Terror (1963 film) | Corman reshoots
Director Actor Producer
Roger Fritz | Selected filmography
The following films were among those which Corman announced would be produced by Filmgroup but which were never made:
The Filmgroup | Unmade Films