like a lot of people, I tended to deride RC when I was a young whippersnapper immersing myself in "great" film because I'd spent my entire childhood in movie theaters every chance I got. I even got into some sort of primitive "script analysis" because I'd come in whenever I came in and watch the movie from the be…
like a lot of people, I tended to deride RC when I was a young whippersnapper immersing myself in "great" film because I'd spent my entire childhood in movie theaters every chance I got. I even got into some sort of primitive "script analysis" because I'd come in whenever I came in and watch the movie from the beginning, figuring out how the plot worked. if the second feature was good enough, I'd watch it again as well. my parents were cool about this and let me go to the local movie theaters alone from the age of seven or so. in the summer, the movie theater was the coolest (as in "air conditioned by refrigeration") place to be. and I LIKED the Roger Corman movies I saw there, even if--even then--I resented some of the plot liberties taken with the original Poe stories.
later, when I was doing my film education in HS and college (in any NYC summer, one could get a pretty firm grounding in great older movies by following the "festivals" at the Thalia, New Yorker, Bleecker Street, Garrick, 8th Street Playhouse, Theatre 80 St Mark's, Elgin et al). the prints were deplorable but it was fun having everybody in the audience giggle when a bad splice was coming because we'd all seen it many times before. and of course, the reigning "hipness" was that RC wasn't to be taken "seriously."
much later, of course, I started to read and hear about the myriad ways in which Corman was all about finding and nurturing young talent; for this, he seemed to have been one of the most loved presences in Hollywood.
he had a great run. may his memory be a blessing, as we say in my "religion." I can occasionally cite my religion in a positive way because it's a religion of practice, not faith (a quick and elegant formulation I only recently came across). I was born without the faith gene. but this does mean I am any kind of pure materialist. for example, I'm waiting impatiently for Jubal to show up in a dream to let me know he's okay. and that is NOT a metaphor. actually, the day after he passed, my superintendent and close friend told me (very excitedly) that he saw Jubie in a dream, running to greet him as fast and with the same intense sense of purpose he displayed in life. I told this to the friend I was with when we went to pick him up from the final car in the rescue group's relay trip from Virginia. she asked me if I'd had a dream about him and I said no. she stopped sobbing (we both were) and said "Nah...he's gonna make you wait...he knows that now he has you in his power forever." he already did and he always will.
sorry for the digression, but I can't help it.
anyway, thank whatever powers may be for guys like RC. he was a real mensch.
sorry for your loss, Tom.
like a lot of people, I tended to deride RC when I was a young whippersnapper immersing myself in "great" film because I'd spent my entire childhood in movie theaters every chance I got. I even got into some sort of primitive "script analysis" because I'd come in whenever I came in and watch the movie from the beginning, figuring out how the plot worked. if the second feature was good enough, I'd watch it again as well. my parents were cool about this and let me go to the local movie theaters alone from the age of seven or so. in the summer, the movie theater was the coolest (as in "air conditioned by refrigeration") place to be. and I LIKED the Roger Corman movies I saw there, even if--even then--I resented some of the plot liberties taken with the original Poe stories.
later, when I was doing my film education in HS and college (in any NYC summer, one could get a pretty firm grounding in great older movies by following the "festivals" at the Thalia, New Yorker, Bleecker Street, Garrick, 8th Street Playhouse, Theatre 80 St Mark's, Elgin et al). the prints were deplorable but it was fun having everybody in the audience giggle when a bad splice was coming because we'd all seen it many times before. and of course, the reigning "hipness" was that RC wasn't to be taken "seriously."
much later, of course, I started to read and hear about the myriad ways in which Corman was all about finding and nurturing young talent; for this, he seemed to have been one of the most loved presences in Hollywood.
he had a great run. may his memory be a blessing, as we say in my "religion." I can occasionally cite my religion in a positive way because it's a religion of practice, not faith (a quick and elegant formulation I only recently came across). I was born without the faith gene. but this does mean I am any kind of pure materialist. for example, I'm waiting impatiently for Jubal to show up in a dream to let me know he's okay. and that is NOT a metaphor. actually, the day after he passed, my superintendent and close friend told me (very excitedly) that he saw Jubie in a dream, running to greet him as fast and with the same intense sense of purpose he displayed in life. I told this to the friend I was with when we went to pick him up from the final car in the rescue group's relay trip from Virginia. she asked me if I'd had a dream about him and I said no. she stopped sobbing (we both were) and said "Nah...he's gonna make you wait...he knows that now he has you in his power forever." he already did and he always will.
sorry for the digression, but I can't help it.
anyway, thank whatever powers may be for guys like RC. he was a real mensch.