Roger Corman and Val Lewton:
Producer as Mother Hen
by Anonymous
As James Cameron basks in the glow of his Oscar triumph, there is one name that will probably not enter into the lists of people he thanks and calls, and that's Roger Corman. Not mentioned on stage in either, Corman, and his predecessor, Val Lewton, made careers out of this kind of standing just outside the limelight, as their sucessful prodigies cavort in the world of critical acceptance and 200 million dollar budgets. While grinding out B-movies and making profitable films, both producers shared an uncanny eye for talent, giving first jobs to many of the leading lights of their separate generations. But because of their focus on genre films, and the blunt capitalism of their enterprises, many filmmakers are reluctant to acknowledge their their debt to these 'poor' cousins, without whom many would still be without a job.

There are those, however who acknowledge their debt, like Jonathan Demme, who has said that Roger Corman is "Arguably the greatest independent filmmaker America has ever seen, or ever will see." Though his name is synonymous with cheap quickies and exploitation, Corman has left a deeper stamp on modern American cinema then any other single man. As filmmaker, he infused old genres with new life and intelligence, as producer he gave jobs to a generation of geniuses, and as distributor he introduced many Americans to Fellini, Bergman and other foreign directors for the first time. His impact cannot be underestimated, especially as mentor and financier to budding filmmakers.

Peter Bogdanovich, long before his Last Picture Show established him as an American Maverick, was re-splicing Russian Sci-Fi flick Planeta Burg into the Corman feature Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women. Also taking a hack at the same material, Curtis Harrington, former NY expiremental filmmaker, created Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet. Realizing great savings on special effects, Corman bought another Russian film, Niebo Zowiet, which none other then Francis Ford Coppola turned into the film Battle Beyond the Sun. Thus, Coppola earned his way into a feature film, his first, which Corman financed, the torrid Dementia 13.

Corman studios were a training ground, tough on deadlines, but free on subject matter and style. As Joe Dante has said, "If you can make a film for Roger Corman, you can make a film for anyone." Dante and erstwhile political provacateur and man of the people John Sayles teamed up for the darkly comic Piranha, showing how much wit and satire could be used in a Corman film, as long as you showed the requisite gore and pretty women. Sayles became a Corman stalwart, writing the screenplays to such gems as Alligator, and Battle Beyond the Stars.

Which brings us back to James Cameron. Believe it or not, he hasn't always directed bloated films with elegant costumes. Cameron got his start as a feature director turning out gritty genre films like The Terminator, and not only does he owe Corman for keeping genre film alive, Corman put him to work building miniatures for him, eventually graduating him up to Art Director on Battle Beyond the Stars. Though not a Corman film, Piranha 2 was Cameron's first directorial effort, obviously indebted to his original.

Just what is that frightens filmmakers so obviously delivered into the world by Corman away from mentioning his name in public? Scorsese has given him limited praise, mentioning how on Last Temptation of Christ he used 6 guys changing costumes to play 12 Centurions, a trick he learned from the old master. His first film, Boxcar Bertha was financed by him as well. It may be that in order to establish themselves as ARTISTES, guys like Nicholas Roeg, who was cinematographer on Masque of the Red Death, feel it necessary to deny the unrepentant capitalist. But we have all the records right here at Le Video of their 'funky' background, so no matter how many Oscars fill up the closet, the tacky skeleton of Corman will always rattle somewhere in the shadows.

Val Lewton

Val Lewton did the same thing for horror that Corman did for Science Fiction. He gave a struggling and denigrated genre new life and a literary bent which was often inspired by a lack of funds. Like Growtoski, in his book "Towards a Poor Theatre", Lewton boiled spectacle down to it's basic elements. What was necessary and what was window dressing? His films were marked by an elegance and attention to detail over cheap shocks, using sound and lighting to make up for the low special effects budget. In this atmosphere, his directors honed their craft, every one of them going on to illustrious careers in Hollywood.

Perhaps his most definitive director, and yet least succesful after leaving Lewton, was Jacques Tourneur. His work on I Walked with a Zombie, Leopard Man, and Cat People is near brilliant, as close to film noir as horror ever got. I Walked with a Zombie in particular is a showcase for high contrast lighting effects and heavy shadows, working up steamy atmospherics for this tale of voodoo and zombies. The opening shot is one of the more beautiful ever comitted to film.

With Leopard Man, a film he and Lewton diavowed as too crass, Tourneur nevertheless created a tour-de-force of sound as terror, footsteps and leaves rustling as much as you needed to know about the 'monster'. Closer to a noir, then horror, Leopard Man is a distillation of everything that made Lewton's studio great, the mysticism, literary flavor, and creeping dread over easy shocks.

Because Lewton focused mainly on the scripts, and stayed off the sets entirely, his directors were allowed plenty of leeway. Though a Lewton film has a definite stamp, the films of Robert Wise and Mark Robson differ sharply from Tourneur's. Wise worked on Curse of the Cat Woman with co-director Gunther Frisch, a sequel that shared almost nothing except the main actress from Tourneur's Cat People. Where Cat People hinted at the supernatural, it also delved into sexuality and socialization. Curse is much more overtly mystical, and is really more of a fantasy then a horror film. Wise's Body Snatcher which paired Bela Lugosi with Boris Karloff, also had less of the atmospere of a Tourneur film, feeling more like the literary adaptation that it was, being based on a Robert Louis Stevenson story.

Mark Robson, who directed the most films for Lewton, was in many ways the least successful, and most atypical. Isle of the Dead, Seventh Victim, Ghost Ship, and Bedlam all vary greatly in quality, Ghost Ship coming closest to the kismet the other directors had developed with Lewton.

Sample Filmography:

Roger Corman

• Alligator (1983) (Screenplay by John Sayles)
• Apollo 13 (1995) (Directed by Ron Howard)
• Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) (Art Direction by James Cameron; Screenplay by John Sayles)
• Battle Beyond The Sun (1963) (Found Footage Supervised By Francis Ford Coppola)
• Born To Kill (aka Cockfighter) (1974) (Directed by Monte Helleman; Cinematography by Nestor Alemendros)
• Boxcar Bertha (1972) (Directed by Martin Scorsese)
• Caged Heat (1974) (Directed by Jonathan Demme)
• Chinatown (1974) (Screenplay by Robert Towne)
• Creature From The Haunted Sea (1961) (Screenplay by Roberet Towne)
• Days of Heaven (1978) (Cinematography by NestorAlemendros)
• Death Race 2000 (1975) (Directed by Paul Bartel)
• Dementia 13 (1963) (Directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• Easy Rider (1969) (Directed by Dennis Hopper)
• Eat My Dust (1976) (Cowritten by Ron Howard)
• Eating Raoul (1982) (Directed by Paul Bartel)
• Full Fathom Five (1990) (Directed by Carl Franklin)
• The Godfather (1972) (Directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• Grand Theft Auto (1973) (Directed by Ron Howard)
• The King of Comedy (1982) (Directed by Martin Scorsese)
• The Last Picture Show (1971) (Directed by Peter Bogdanovich)
• The Last Woman on Earth (1960) (Screenplay by Robert Towne)
• The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) (Directed by Nicholas Roeg)
• Matinee (1993) (Directed by Joe Dante)
• The Masque Of The Red Death (1964) (Cinematography by Nicholas Roeg)
• Night Tide (1963) (Directed by Curtis Harrington)
• One False Move (1991) (Directed by Carl Franklin)
• Planeta Bur/Planet of Storms (1962) (Provided Found Footage for several Corman films)
• Planet of Blood (1966) (Directed by Curtis Harrington)
• Saint Jack (1979) (Directed by Peter Bogdanovich)
• The Shooting (1968) (Directed by Monte Helleman)
• The Silence of The Lambs (1990) (Directed by Jonathan Demme)
• Tomb of Ligeria (1966) (Sceenplay by Robert Towne)
• The Trip (1967) (Screenplay by Dennis Hopper)
• The Wild Ride (1964) (Screenplay by Jack Nicholson)
• Voyage to The Planet of Prehistoric Women (1967) (Directed by Peter Bogdanovich)
• Voyage to The Prehistoric Planet(1965) (Directed by Curtis Harrington)