Corman's World Exclusive: What Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard and More Learned from Roger Corman

What's second unit? What's the 180 degree line? These questions and more were often answered by "King of the Bs" Roger Corman in his grindhouse movie heyday, when he famously took newbie future auteurs like James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese under his wing while churning out B-movies left and right. In an exclusive deleted scene from Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, almost a dozen of his former proteges, including Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, and Penelope Spheeris recall the crash course in filmmaking he gave them at the start of their careers.

Corman's World opened in limited release to critical acclaim last winter (read Michelle Orange's review here) and hits DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday. In Movieline's exclusive 10-minute deleted scene, fans of Corman's legendary body of work get a slice of what it was like to be on the ground making movies with him in the '70s and '80s, when he gave an entire generation of future American auteurs their start.

Included here are Demme recounting the lasting lesson he took from a one-hour lunch with Corman decades ago ("You’ve got to keep the eyeball of the viewer stimulated. That’s why we move the camera around"), Howard admitting that he applied Corman's lessons on shooting action in his later films, and Spheeris unearthing the meticulously typed notes Corman gave her as she began filming 1984's Suburbia ("Any plans to get Penelope to France? In France, it is VERY important to advertise the director").

Terminator superproducer (and one-time Corman assistant) Gale Anne Hurd recalls a moment when, freaking out during production, Corman's soothing words put it all into perspective: "Just calm down and remember, it’s only a movie.” Allan Arkush, John Sayles, Frances Doel, Jim Wynorski, and the late Polly Platt also pop up to share their stories.

And finally, Bogdanovich shares the story of how he first got behind the camera, after Corman explained to Bogdanovich and Platt that "anybody could shoot second unit."

Watch Movieline's exclusive clip:

CORMAN'S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL is a tantalizing and star-studded tribute to Roger Corman, Hollywood's most prolific writer-director producer, and seminal influencing force in modern moviemaking over the last 60 years. Featuring interviews with Hollywood icons and cinematic luminaries, some who launched their careers within Corman's unforgettable world of filmmaking, including Paul W.S. Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert De Niro, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson , Eli Roth, Martin Scorsese, William Shatner, along with many others, this documentary chronicles how Corman created his cult film empire, one low-budget success at a time, capitalizing on undiscovered talent, and pushing the boundaries of independent filmmaking.

Director Alex Stapleton weaves archival footage following Roger's illustrious career: From his early days of genre-defining classics including the original Fast and Furious, the original Little Shop of Horrors, The Crybaby Killer, The Intruder, House of Usher, and The Wild Angels (which at that point in 1966 was his 100th film) - to present day video of him and his wife Julie on location, still at work as they continue to produce and distribute films outside the studio system: fast, cheap and out-of-this-world!

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel hits DVD and Blu-ray on March 27.

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Comments

  • Patrick Hallstein / McEvoy-Halston says:

    Thanks Jen. They're good story-tellers. Especially liked the writer.

  • metroville says:

    Is Ron Howard being chased?

  • I think it's great how Corman gave so many people a chance to learn the fundamentals of filmmaking that they then went on to apply to great effect later, but... we do still all recognize that his movies were awful? Like, really bad?

  • Jake says:

    Man that was an enjoyable clip. And bourgeois nerd is right. Corman's productions were awful. But he was so smart. He started by using public domain stories from Poe as the basis for most of his films before branching out. And there's something great about how he let film makers find the art in the commerce. Because they went on to make all these amazing films that still kept the audience in mind. And I'm sure Corman had a lot to do with that.

    Thanks Jen.

    - Jakey