In the pantheon of directors and producers, in all the history of American cinema, very few have made contributions on the level of Roger Corman. Sure, he's primarily known as a schlockmeister, but let's not forget that he didn't just direct B movies, he defined them. Schlocky B movies were his bread and butter, how he supported his production house, and he owned that genre. Additionally, he used the money he made from these monster flicks and girly shows and used it to produce some real American classics. Shame is one of them, and belongs on your queue the next time you login to your movie download service.
The film is remarkably brave, focusing on racial hatred and tension in the south. This may not sound like a big deal, and civil rights movement films have since become a genre. However, you have to consider... It's easy to make a movie about tolerance in the 1990's, filming on Hollywood sets designed to look like towns in Georgia and Alabama. Corman actually took his crew to a small southern town at the start of the movement. It's not hyperbolic at all to say that he really risked his life for this movie, as he and his team received death threats.
William Shatner turns in one of his finest performances as the charming villain, a political agent who has arrived in town for one purpose only: To incite racially motivated violence so as to sway the vote in favor of his segregationist employers. He enjoys doing this, and he uses his boyish good looks and innocent charm to deliver a villainous performance that really crawls under your skin.
The concept of the charming racist villain may have been inspired by Adolf Hitler. Corman could have hired a villain actor to play the villain, but the inspired choice of casting someone who seems innocent on the outside exemplifies a primary theme of the film, that being that you need a handsome spokesman to sell ugly ideas.
Corman and his crew were actually run out of town when the local police got wise to what sort of a movie he was doing, and the last few shots he grabbed were literally filmed with the police only a few blocks away and closing in. Literally, the police were walking towards Corman at the time he was filming the last few shots, and he had to hurry up and wrap the shoot, and then pack everything in the truck and vamoose.
Corman may have his lifetime achievement Oscar by the time you read this. It's about time. Corman's reputation as a schlockmeister has always seemed to invalidate the immense contributions he's made to the world of American film.
Corman primarily made his name producing and directing schlocky monster movies, girly flicks and so on, but he also directed some real classics, and launched the careers of many cinematic legends, including Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese and Dennis Hopper. His studio taught many young actors, writers and directors the ropes, showing them how to produce a good movie on a limited budget and schedule, and he truly was one of the key figures in shaping the world of the modern American cinema.
If you've never bothered with Corman, start with Shame, then watch X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. These are two of his best, and Shame in particular is an example of what the artist is truly capable of when he's willing to take a break from his more marketable B movies and really put his heart into a film that takes courage to write, direct and release.
The film is remarkably brave, focusing on racial hatred and tension in the south. This may not sound like a big deal, and civil rights movement films have since become a genre. However, you have to consider... It's easy to make a movie about tolerance in the 1990's, filming on Hollywood sets designed to look like towns in Georgia and Alabama. Corman actually took his crew to a small southern town at the start of the movement. It's not hyperbolic at all to say that he really risked his life for this movie, as he and his team received death threats.
William Shatner turns in one of his finest performances as the charming villain, a political agent who has arrived in town for one purpose only: To incite racially motivated violence so as to sway the vote in favor of his segregationist employers. He enjoys doing this, and he uses his boyish good looks and innocent charm to deliver a villainous performance that really crawls under your skin.
The concept of the charming racist villain may have been inspired by Adolf Hitler. Corman could have hired a villain actor to play the villain, but the inspired choice of casting someone who seems innocent on the outside exemplifies a primary theme of the film, that being that you need a handsome spokesman to sell ugly ideas.
Corman and his crew were actually run out of town when the local police got wise to what sort of a movie he was doing, and the last few shots he grabbed were literally filmed with the police only a few blocks away and closing in. Literally, the police were walking towards Corman at the time he was filming the last few shots, and he had to hurry up and wrap the shoot, and then pack everything in the truck and vamoose.
Corman may have his lifetime achievement Oscar by the time you read this. It's about time. Corman's reputation as a schlockmeister has always seemed to invalidate the immense contributions he's made to the world of American film.
Corman primarily made his name producing and directing schlocky monster movies, girly flicks and so on, but he also directed some real classics, and launched the careers of many cinematic legends, including Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese and Dennis Hopper. His studio taught many young actors, writers and directors the ropes, showing them how to produce a good movie on a limited budget and schedule, and he truly was one of the key figures in shaping the world of the modern American cinema.
If you've never bothered with Corman, start with Shame, then watch X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. These are two of his best, and Shame in particular is an example of what the artist is truly capable of when he's willing to take a break from his more marketable B movies and really put his heart into a film that takes courage to write, direct and release.
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