Roger Corman is one of the most important figures in the history of cinema: a self-taught filmmaker who became a trailblazing producer and director of independent films. Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, Pam Grier, Robert De Niro, Penelope Spheeris, and many more credit Corman with mentoring them and jump-starting their careers.
This 4-week study of Corman's career will be hosted by Hollywood Theatre head programmer Dan Halsted. Each installment will focus on a different film produced in Corman's "factory" and will explore different facets of Corman's career.
Dan will be joined by four acclaimed filmmakers, three of whom were mentored by Corman: Peter Bogdanovich, John Sayles, and Joe Dante. These guests will join Dan Halsted in discussion and take questions from the audience. Filmmaker Alex Stapleton (CORMAN'S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL) rounds out this incredible roster of Corman experts. These guests will join in discussion and take questions from the audience.
Halsted is a film collector and programmer who has hosted dozens of special guests at the Hollywood over the years, including Quentin Tarantino, Pam Grier, and Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. He has also presented his collection of rare 35mm prints in theaters across the country and online with RZA as part of 36 Cinema.
Using the four films highlighted below as a jumping off point, we'll explore Corman's remarkably diverse and prolific career, from the low-budget sci-fi movies of the 1950s through his chronicle of the rebellious counterculture of the 1960s to the exploitation and horror films of the '70s and '80s.
We can't provide the films themselves, but all are easily rentable on major streaming platforms. The classes will be streamed via Vimeo, and attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions for Dan and our guests via chat. If a package is purchased after any of the events have taken place, recordings will be provided.
Please contact education@moviemadness.org if you have questions about accessibility.
Tuesday 1/5 at 7pm - THE INTRUDER (1962) with special guest Alex Stapleton
After nearly a decade of directing genre films, Roger Corman turned to dramatic social commentary with this film about a charismatic stranger (William Shatner) who stirs up racist sentiment in a small Southern town to prevent school integration from happening there. This lightning rod of a film is blistering in its critique of American racism, and considered by many to be Corman's masterpiece. Filmmaker Alex Stapleton joins us for the discussion.
Tuesday 1/12 at 7pm - TARGETS (1968) with special guest Peter Bogdanovich
Roger Corman is well known for his "two movies for the price of one" approach to filmmaking. Once the cast and crew were on location, he'd direct the primary film. Then he'd have one of his young proteges make a secondary film, shooting new scenes with the actors, and incorporating footage from the primary film.
TARGETS is the best example of a "secondary" movie, in which an unhinged Vietnam vet suddenly goes on a brutal shooting spree that culminates at a drive-in movie theater, where a horror film icon (Boris Karloff) is making a promotional appearance. Director Peter Bogdanovich joins us for the discussion.
Tuesday 1/19 at 7pm - THE LADY IN RED (1979) with special guest John Sayles
In 1970, Julie Corman married Roger Corman, and began producing movies as well. Using the same core group of actors and directors, she produced a string of hits in the 1970s and ’80s. Her best film (and possibly the best film ever made in the Corman factory) was THE LADY IN RED, written by John Sayles (MATEWAN) and directed by Lewis Teague. Writer John Sayles joins us for the discussion.
Set during the Great Depression, a young woman (Pamela Sue Martin) leaves the family farm and heads to Chicago. She toils away in a sweatshop, works in a dance hall, does a stretch in prison, is forced into prostitution, and becomes the unsuspecting girlfriend of notorious gangster John Dillinger. Fed up with the limits society has placed upon her, she grabs a Tommy Gun and sets out with a plan.
Tuesday 1/26 at 7pm - PIRANHA (1978) with special guest Joe Dante
In the wake of the success of JAWS, dozens of films attempted to cash in on what became an "animals on a rampage" craze. One of the best is this fast-paced and highly entertaining Roger Corman production (written by John Sayles), featuring thousands of piranhas that are accidentally released into a river near a summer camp. Director Joe Dante joins us for the discussion.