Remembering Roger Corman

Paying tribute to one of cinema's most important filmmakers who has sadly just passed. RIP Roger Corman (1926-2024).

While he's often dubbed "King of the B-movies", I think it's far more appropriate to view him as the father of indie cinema who (outside the big studio system) helmed some of cinema's most influential, daring and wildcard genre titles which took chances and inspired countless filmmakers and fans in the process. 

His movie productions gave work to, and mentored, future Hollywood titans like Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard; not to mention screen legends like Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone and many more, who all cut their teeth in the Corman stable. 

He recognised cinema trends and paid close attention to audience appetites. From horror and sci-fi in the 50's, to biker films of the 60's and gangster films of the 70's, in the 80's, he witnessed the rise of the martial arts B-movie and how it fit right into his stable. He launched the Bloodfist film franchise, making a new star of former kickboxing champion (and original Life of Action book alumni) Don "The Dragon" Wilson. Those films, like so many others, became a cult hit on video.

However, it wasn't just about low-budget action, horror or sci-fi; Corman also handled American distribution for films by critically acclaimed and award-winning foreign directors, such as Akira Kurosawa, François Truffaut and Federico Fellini, suggesting he had a far more diverse interest and appreciation for cinema than many would give credit. Without his efforts, many audiences wouldn't have easily been able to see these films, and some had the best US openings for those filmmakers.

In 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for "his rich engendering of films and filmmakers". In a career which started in 1954 and spanned over 70 years, he did it his own way and left a huge mark. Thank you sir for the moves and memories.

Apart from so many of his films to watch or revisit, I highly recommend the feature documentary Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, which does a fantastic and very entertaining job of charting his life’s work and the man behind the mythology.