Roger Corman Movies
A former engineering student, Roger Corman entered the picture business as a messenger and ended up a producer/director after a stint as a story analyst and a brief detour to Oxford University. After returning to Hollywood, he saw an opportunity to make money and gain experience by making low-budget films to feed the drive-in and neighborhood theater circuits, which had been abandoned in large part by the major studios. Working from budgets of as little as 50,000 dollars, he quickly learned the art of creating bargain-basement entertainment and making money at it, producing and directing pictures for American International Pictures and Allied Artists. Five Guns West, Apache Woman, The Day the World Ended, It Conquered the World, Not of This Earth, The Undead, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Doll, Machine Gun Kelly, The Wasp Woman, and Sorority Girl were only a few of the titles, and they were indicative of their subjects. These films were short (some as little as 62 minutes) and threadbare in production values. (Reportedly, distributor Samuel Z. Arkoff used to look at the film footage at the end of each day of shooting and call Corman, telling him, "Roger, for chrissake, hire a couple more extras and put a little more furniture on the set!") But his films were also extremely entertaining, and endeared Corman to at least two generations of young filmgoers.During the early '60s, Corman became more ambitious, and made the serious school desegregation drama The Intruder. Adapted for the screen by his brother Gene Corman from Charles Beaumont's novel, it was the only one of his movies to lose money -- because few theaters would book it -- although it was one of the finest B-movies ever made. Corman also began working in color, most notably on a series of adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories starring Vincent Price that won the respect of younger critics and aspiring filmmakers alike. Corman also employed many young film students and writers during this period, including Francis Ford Coppola, Curtis Harrington, and author Robert Towne. His output decreased as his budgets went up, and Corman moved away from directing and into producing. In the 1970s, '80s and '90s, Corman was still producing exploitation films (such as Humanoids From the Deep), but his New World Pictures also distributed several important foreign movies, including Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers and the groundbreaking Jamaican crime drama The Harder They Come. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Highway Dragnet is best known to modern movie buffs as the first film to carry Roger Corman's name in the credits. Corman was one of six screenwriters contributing to this location-filmed suspense melodrama, which stars Richard Conte as an ex-Marine on the lam from a murder charge. Conte hitches a ride from glamour-magazine photographer Joan Bennett, who is travelling cross-country with her principal model, Wanda Hendrix. True to audience expectations, the murderer will at one time or another be an occupant of Bennett's car, though it won't be the person whom the police are looking for. The tense climax takes place in a flooded tract house, with the killer stalking the next potential victim. Criticized for its low production values at the time of its release, Highway Dragnet actually stands up pretty well when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Conte, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1954
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Julie Blair (Anne Kimball), a tourist visiting Mexico's Yucatan region, encounters deep-sea researcher Steve Dunning (Stuart Wade). They hear stories about people and animals that have disappeared from the area around the beach where they meet, but she doesn't believe the legend of a monster until she sees it herself. Then she must do her best to convince Steve and the authorities of what she saw. The creature turns out to be a mutation, probably spawned by recent atomic testing, and Steve must rescue her when she is caught by the monster as she searches for it. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Kimbell, Stuart Wade, (more)
Frank Webster (John Ireland) is a man on the run. Newly broken out of prison, the former truck driver and convicted murderer takes Connie Adair (Dorothy Malone) hostage at a lonely roadside diner and commandeers her car, a racing job than she intended to drive in a rally. At first Connie is as frightened as any woman should be in such a situation, but she soon sees that Frank is more than a wanted criminal -- he's an innocent man trying to redeem his life, and forced by circumstance to commit acts of violence. Soon the two are on the run together, lovers and fugitives using the cover of the road rally as a dodge so he can get to the border and freedom. Connie tries to convince Frank to take a stand, get the evidence out that framed him, and redeem his honor, as the authorities close in on the fast-driving pair. The second movie ever produced by Roger Corman, The Fast and the Furious marked the first release of Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson and the beginning of their American Releasing Corporation, soon to be renamed American International Pictures. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, (more)
Five convicted outlaws, sentenced to hang, are recruited by a Confederate Army officer on what could easily be a suicide mission -- they're each given a full pardon in exchange for a quick ride through hostile Indian territory to Dawn Springs, Kansas, where their job is to stop a stagecoach coming in from California. The coach is carrying Stephen Jethro, the head of intelligence for the Confederacy in California, who has sold out to the Union, and $30,000 in gold that Jethro was to use for espionage work on behalf of the south -- their job is to bring Jethro in alive if possible, but to stop him from reaching Union territory, and to bring the gold back to the Confederacy. But the temptation of that gold weighs on all of these men -- Hale Clinton (Touch Connors) and Govern Sturgess (John Lund) seem destined to fight it out to the death -- and the presence of Dorothy Malone at the Dawn Springs relief station doesn't help matters. Before it's over, there will be multiple double-crosses, one important partial redemption, and an ever growing list of casualties. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lund, Dorothy Malone, (more)
Swamp Diamonds is the family-trade title for the sweaty Roger Corman crime melodrama Swamp Women. Policewoman Carole Mathews dons her torpedo bra and tight jeans to infiltrate a dangerous all-female criminal gang, currently serving time in a Louisiana Prison. The ladies escape and head to the swamp, where they've hidden a fortune in diamonds. Along the way, they kidnap geologist Touch Connors (later known as Mike Connors). For a while, it looks as though the girls will get away with their perfidy and Connors will end up as alligator bait, but Mathews saves the day. The supporting cast of Swamp Diamonds is a roll-call of 1950s "tough broads": Marie Windsor, Beverly Garland, Susan Cummings, Jil Jarmyn. Watch for Jonathan Haze, future star of Little Shop of Horrors, and Ed Nelson, future talk-show host and politician, in minor roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Windsor, Carole Mathews, (more)
- 1955
In 1870s Arizona, Anne LeBeau (Joan Taylor) is caught between two cultures in a conflict that may kill her and her brother Armand (Lance Fuller). They're the children of a white French father and an Apache mother (the daughter of a chief, no less), and they find that they're equally despised by both sides. With a series of raids on the stage-line killing whites, and apparently carried out by the Apaches, there's very little prospect for peace in their lives. Enter Rex Moffet (Lloyd Bridges), sent in by the government to try and settle the situation -- instead of being a militarist, Moffet is a conciliator, much to the outrage of the townspeople, who want all of the Apaches driven out or killed, starting with the LeBeaus. When Moffet starts to fall in love with Anne (and visa versa), he must face the wrath of her embittered brother and the Apaches as well as the whites. It turns out that Armand -- who is college educated, and a lawyer, no less -- is the man leading the attacks, out of his bitterness and anger over the rejection he's faced by the whites all of his life. One thing that Rex has on his side is the truth, that the raids are actually the work of a small band of renegades working in tandem with opportunistic whites from the town. But can he stay alive long enough to uncover the identities of those responsible and prevent an Indian War? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Bridges, Joan Taylor, (more)
- 1956
Though Roger Corman was still new to sci-fi in 1956, he made up for lost time with the above-average quickie It Conquered the World. Peter Graves heads the cast as Paul Nelson, who suspects that his best friend, eccentric genius Tom Anderson (Lee Van Cleef), is up to no good. Sure enough, Tom has contacted the denizens of the planet Venus, who hope to exploit Tom's weak nature in order to take over the world. Before long, the Venusians have taken over the minds and bodies of virtually all of Tom's friends and loved ones. It is up to Paul and a handful of un-brainwashed earthlings to halt this subversive alien invasion. Scripted by Charles Griffith (of Little Shop of Horrors fame), It Conquered the World is a thinly disguised attack on totalitarianism, from both the Left and Right. Corman regulars Beverly Garland, Dick Miller and Jonathan Haze make brief but significant appearances. The film represented first "monster" creation of Paul Blaisdel, whose Venusian leader looks like a surly carrot. It Conquered the World was remade--badly--as Zontar, the Thing from Venus (1968). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Beverly Garland, (more)
- 1956
The Day the World Ended was filmmaker Roger Corman's modest entree into the realm of science fiction. The film begins at "The End"--or rather, the years following an all-out atomic war. A group of survivors find refuge in a well-protected valley owned by Maddison (Paul Birch) and his daughter Louise (Lori Nelson). Conflicts of a romantic nature erupt among Louise and her two erstwhile suitors, gun-wielding Tony (Touch--later Mike--Connors) and geologist Rick (Richard Denning), but these are shunted aside when it develops that the valley is infested with mutated, radioactive animals. Before long, a few similarly mutated human beings begin wandering into view (one of these is played by Jonathan Haze, the future star of Corman's Little Shop of Horrors). Carefully staying within its limited budget, The Day the World Ended is a well-crafted, thought-provoking apocalyptic fable. The film was inadequately remade in 1966 as Year 2889. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, (more)
- 1956
Produced by Roger Corman, Gunslinger stars Corman's then-sweetheart Beverly Garland as tough lady-marshal Rose Hood. Dance-hall girl Erica Page (Allison Hayes), Rose's bitterest enemy, hires gunslinger Cane Miro (John Ireland) to bump off the marshal. When he falls in love with Rose, Cane is faced with the most delicate dilemma in his entire murderous career. Cheaply made, Gunslinger has a raw, dusty integrity often lacking in more expensive westerns. The best scenes involve the confrontations between Beverly Garland and Allison Hayes, two of the most fearsome females ever captured on celluloid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Ireland, Beverly Garland, (more)
- 1956
In this western, a gunfighter is finally released from prison and returns to his hometown only to discover that it is being torn apart by conflicting forces. He is even more upset to discover that his girl has become the leader of the "evil" side of town and is completely committed to achieving a state of anarchy. He is disgusted by her and her new lover and so joins the good side of town. When the good politician leader and the sheriff are killed, the ex-gunfighter is blamed for the crime. Just as he is about to swing, the politician's daughter, who loves the ex-convict, forces the evil woman to sign a confession and save his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Denning, Peggie Castle, (more)
- 1957
The lurid title of this Roger Corman production refers to the Hawaiian Islands, where the film was shot in its entirety. Richard Denning stars as Duke, skipper of a Hawaii-based schooner. Duke's vessel is chartered by Zac (Leslie Bradley), who claims to be a toy manufacturer. In truth, Zac is the head of a criminal gang, bound and determined to rob a plantation payroll. In a similar vein, Zac's so-called secretary Max (Beverly Garland) is actually his mistress. A low-budget hurricane forces Duke into a confrontational denoument with the duplicitous Zac. Naked Paradise was originally released on a double bill with Flesh is the Spur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Denning, Beverly Garland, (more)
- 1957
By the time you've read the title, the film is half over. Anyway, the story concerns a group of proud female Nordic warriors (who look more like UCLA cheerleaders), who set out on a perilous sea journey, the better to locate their long-missing men. Halfway across the ocean, their vessel is destroyed by a deadly vortex (this special effect must be seen to be believed). The ladies are washed up on the shores of the Grimaults, a spear-wielding tribe which had previously enslaved the girls' menfolk. One attempted human sacrifice and several minor clashes later, the viking men and women try to make their escape. When the head viking (Brad Jackson) slays a rampaging monster (actually a harmless lizard, "blown up" by trick photography), he and his party are given safe passage by the grateful Grimaults. Abby Dalton is the star of Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, but only by default; when the film's original leading lady fell ill, all the other actresses were promoted to the next largest role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A group of scientists arrive on a remote Pacific island to investigate what became of the previous team, which was sent out there as observers of American hydrogen bomb tests and disappeared without a trace. They island is uninhabited and devoid even of most animal life, except for a few land crabs. The group's arrival is marred by the death of one of the navy crewmen accompanying them, who falls into the ocean and comes up with his head taken off. Then the navy plane that carried them there is blown out of the sky before it can get airborne, leaving them stranded and unaccounted for. Led by Dale Drewer (Richard Garland) and Dr. Karl Weigand (Leslie E. Bradley), they find the journal of the previous team, but no explanation of what happened to them, only that they'd noticed evidence of strange creatures and inexplicable physical phenomena on the island. Soon the scientists are hearing the voices of members of the previous scientific party, calling to them in the night. Their own radio is sabotaged and something has been probing the area where they're living; finally, the group is lured into the caverns where the real menace is hiding -- gigantic, bloodthirsty mutated land crabs that communicate telepathically and seem to have all of the knowledge of the previous team's members. One by one, all but three of the members -- Brewer, electrical engineer Hank Chapman (Russell Johnson), and scientist Martha Hunter (Pamela Duncan) -- are killed off and their minds and memories absorbed by the mutant crabs, who also have the power to focus infrared radiation into deadly, destructive beams that they use to gradually pulverize large sections of the island. By the end, a single giant crab has run the trio to ground on a remaining parcel of land just a few dozen yards across. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, (more)
- 1957
Sabra Tanner (Susan Cabot) is a member of an exclusive sorority on a small California campus. Wealthy, attractive, and intelligent, she should be sitting on top of the world and feel like she is; but she's the product of an emotionally abusive upbringing, by an uncaring mother, and she's so twisted in her thinking, that she knows not a moment of peace. She believes that no one accepts her, and in her growing paranoia, lashes out at her fellow sorority members, their boyfriends and fiancés, and anyone else she can bully and threaten. Her machinations finally catch up with her, but not before she sets a tragedy in motion. This film was remade in 1994 for cable as Confessions of Sorority Girls. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Cabot
- 1957
One of Roger Corman's finest science-fiction endeavors of the 1950s, Not of This Earth is an excellent film by any standards. Paul Birch stars as Johnson, a taciturn gentleman in a dark business suit who hires nurse Nadine (Beverly Garland) to care for him. Curious that Johnson needs constant blood transfusions, Dr. Rochelle (William Roerick), Nadine's boss, discovers to his horror that Johnson has no blood of his own! Before he can make this information public, Rochelle is telepathically enslaved by the emotionless Johnson. It soon develops that Johnson is a space alien, sent from his home planet to see if the blood of earthlings can be used by his dying race -- the first step in their ultimate takeover of the world. The scenes involving hyperkinetic vacuum salesman Piper (Dick Miller) are the film's highlights, simultaneously hilarious and horrifying. Originally released on a double bill with Attack of the Crab Monsters, Not of This Earth was indifferently remade twice, in 1988 and 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Birch, Beverly Garland, (more)
The Teenage Doll in this Roger Corman-directed "J. D." opus is a little number named Barbara (June Kenney). Basically a good girl, she falls into bad company when she impulsively decides to rebel against her parents. It isn't long before Barbara accidentally kills her tough-babe romantic rival (Barboura Morris), whereupon she is pursued all over town by femme gang leader Hel (Fay Spain) and her henchgirls (Barbara Wilson, Ziva Rodann). Barbara runs to her punk boy friend Eddie (John Brinkley) for protection, setting the stage for a climactic rumble. And remembers, kids: This could happen to you, so keep your record clean and stay home nights! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Kenney, Fay Spain, (more)
- 1957
Legendary shlockmeister Roger Corman and long-time collaborator Charles B. Griffith attempted to cash in on the popular 1950s surge in Bridey Murphy reincarnation mania with this confusing and throughly weird thriller. It begins with researcher Richard Garland hypnotizing streetwalker Pamela Duncan in an attempt to record her past-life experiences as a condemned witch in the Dark Ages. After numerous silly attempts by Garland to save her -- including regressing himself into the same period, where, by remarkable coincidence, he also lived as a soldier -- Duncan decides not to alter the course of history, and she resigns herself to her fate. Despite the spooky ambience, a cast of Corman regulars (including Mel Welles and Allison Hayes), and some clever plot twists -- including one which finds the tables turned on our meddling scientist -- Griffith's static and talky screenplay is so absurdly crammed with half-baked metaphysical musings that it becomes almost impossible to discern the plot. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pamela Duncan, Richard Garland, (more)
- 1957
Its title notwithstanding, Roger Corman's Rock All Night is a tense little hostage melodrama. Corman regular Dick Miller stars as Shorty, a much-maligned hanger-on at the Cloud Nine tavern. Shorty's hotheaded pugnaciousness comes in handy when a pair of gunmen (played by Russell Johnson--yes, "The Professor" on Gilligan's Island! -- and Jonathan Haze) invade the Cloud Nine and terrorize the patrons. Mel Welles, who later played the kvetching flower-store proprietor in Little Shop of Horrors, is a riot as a hip-talking showbiz agent. Also on hand is Abby Dalton, the soon-to-be star of Corman's Viking Women and the Sea Serpent. The film's very brief musical interludes are provided by the Platters and the Blockbusters. Rock All Night was originally released on a double bill with Dragstrip Girl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Abby Dalton
- 1957
Producer-director Roger Corman serves up another thinly plotted musicfest in Carnival Rock. Corman regular Susan Cabot stars as Natalie, a singer for an oceanside carnival. Smitten by Natalie, high-stakes gambler Stanley (Brian Hutton) wins the carnival in a poker game so that he can be near the girl. Christy (David J. Stewart), the carnival's ex-owner, is likewise in love with the girl, so he stays on as a baggy-pants burleycue comic. As in most films of this nature, the plot can be blissfully ignored in favor of the musical highlights, which in this case are performed by the likes of The Platters, David Houston, Bob Luman, The Shadows and The Blockbusters. And what would a Roger Corman flick be without Dick Miller in a supporting role? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Cabot, Brian G. Hutton, (more)
- 1958
The real-life "Machine Gun" Kelly was a clumsy, two-bit petty thief, goaded into bigger and badder things by a publicity-hungry wife; legend has it that when Kelly was finally captured by the FBI, he had a smile on his face, as if relieved to get away from the gorgonlike Mrs. Kelly. This film version of Kelly's life alters the facts considerably: as played by Charles Bronson, "Machine Gun" is a cold-blooded sadist who kills because he's sensitive about his height. Together with his ever-lovin' moll Flo (Susan Cabot), Kelly decides to top off his criminal achievements with a high-profile kindapping, a decision that leads to his bloody downfall. Comedian Morey Amsterdam delivers a surprisingly effective performance as a stool pigeon who "gets his" from the business end of Kelly's eponymous weapon. Directed with sweaty intensity by Roger Corman, Machine Gun Kelly was originally released on a double bill with The Bonnie Parker Story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Susan Cabot, (more)
- 1958
In this crime drama, three teens are sorely tempted when they stumble across two pounds of pure heroine. They think about the consequences of selling the dope and then try doing it anyway in the hope that they will become wealthy. Unfortunately, none of them are experienced in the dangers of drug dealing and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The familiar rocks and rills of LA's Bronson Caverns are seen to good advantage in Night of the Blood Beast. The story begins when a manned space rocket develops trouble and plummets back to earth, apparently killing its occupant, Major John Corcoran (Michael Emmet). Unfortunately, Corcoran's body has become a breeding ground of extraterrestrial embryos, picked up while the rocket was in outer space. The tiny monsters grow and multiply, and before long Corcoran revives from the dead, literally impregnated by the alien beasts. After this promising and decidedly unorthodox buildup, the film goes downhill, settling for standard eek-eek shocks and a most unconvincing "blood beast", whose costume wouldn't have even passed muster at a Halloween party. Still, Night of the Blood Beast is at least half of a good, well-constructed horror flick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Emmet, Angela Greene, (more)
- 1958
Wanting to cash in on the launching of Russia's Sputnik satellite, director Roger Corman hastily made this Earthlings vs evil aliens space opera. The trouble begins when an extraterrestrial warns humans that any attempt to send a man into orbit will result in the destruction of the planet. Despite his threats, the stubborn U.N. agrees that Mankind must not be stopped and so call in a prominent astro-scientist to begin preparations for the first manned space flight. Unfortunately, he is killed in an accident. Eventually another scientist is given the task. Just before the launch, the supposedly dead scientist (actually his alien-reanimated corpse) shows up with dire warnings. Even though it is suspected that the recently returned researcher is a zombie, he is allowed on the first flight. Once in the air, he tries all he can to sabotage the mission. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Cabot, Richard Devon, (more)
By 1958, director Roger Corman had switched from making low-budgeters like Apache Woman to movies like the gangster flic I, Mobster that might be found outside of the drive-in setting. The ungrammatical title refers to Joe Sante (Steve Cochran) and his career of climbing the ladder in the hierarchy of organized crime. Now at the top rung, Sante is taking the Fifth Amendment before a Senate subcommittee on racketeering and as he does so, his life is recalled in flashbacks. His first job was working for a bookie, next he becomes involved in a drug ring, and then he expands into intimidating striking workers. Since the last rung of the ladder is open game for any ambitious gangster, Sante would do well to also recall how homicide got him where he now stands. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, (more)
- 1958
Filmed under the title Prehistoric World, Teenage Caveman stars future Man From UNCLE Robert Vaughn as the eponymous hero, known only as The Boy. A member of a primitive tribe living in a desolate valley, The Boy has been warned never to journey into the Forbidden Area, lest disaster or death befall him. But after participating in a bear hunt, The Boy and his spear-carrying fellow tribesmen head into the Forbidden Area in search of fresh game. One by one, the intrepid hunters are killed off by quicksand, stock-footage dinosaurs and other such impediments to progress. Exiled by his tribe for venturing into the Forbidden Area, The Boy is compelled to live for a time in an isolated cave, where he is comforted by the Maiden (Darrah Marshall), who has fallen in love with him. Later on, the Boy once more risks life and limb by entering the Forbidden Area. It is at this point that he is told the horrible truth of the Valley's history by a very old man who is dressed in what looks like a 20th-century radiation suit. Without revealing the "surprise" denoument (surprising only to those who've never seen a post-apocalyptic movie), it can be noted that Teenage Cavemen comes to a close with the words "The Beginning." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Vaughn, Leslie E. Bradley, (more)
