Roger Corman books
Related: Roger Corman
Books on Corman
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How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime [Amazon.com]
A terrific book, loaded with great stories and anecdotes about the world of low-budget film making-- from its heyday in the 50's and 60's, to the 1980's, when the industry kind of petered out because the major studios began making the types of visceral horror, science fiction, and exploitation movies previously reserved for "quickie" independent producers like Mr. Corman. It was fun to read this book and rent some of the films as they were being discussed. Another plus: the book is peppered with informative and revealing guest essays by the likes of Francis Coppola, Joe Dante, Martin Scorcese, Jack Nicholson, and various other directors, actors, and producers who worked with and/or got their start with Roger Corman. Though most of the comments about Mr. Corman in these essays are predictably laudatory, we are also allowed to read the occasional critical or negative observation, which permits the reader to get a nicely balanced view of the subject. The book is rounded out by a great selection of photos from the dozens of movies covered. -- Joseph P. Menta, Jr [Life and times of Roger Corman according to Roger Corman] -
Roger Corman: Blood-Sucking Vampires, Flesh-Eating Cockroaches, and Driller Killers (2004) - Beverly Gray
[Amazon.com]
The original King of the Exploitation Film, Roger Corman has filled his movies with images of blood-sucking vampires, rampaging biker gangs, vigilante strippers, and abducting aliens. During a career that spans fifty years, he has produced more than five hundred films on shoestring budgets, making a profit on nearly every one.
In the process, Corman has become the role model for today’s independent filmmaker, laying the groundwork for the success of directors like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. This guru with a vision has also demonstrated an uncanny eye for talent, being among the first to recognize and employ the abilities of Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese,, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, Ron Howard, John Sayles, and James Cameron, to name but a few.
In this updated paperback version of 2000’s critically-acclaimed Roger Corman: An Unauthorized Biography of the Godfather of Indie Filmmaking, Beverly Gray takes you behind the cameras and into the heart of Cormanville for a first-hand, insider’s look at the man and the mogul. Interviewing over one hundred of Corman’s friends and associates, Gray provides a compelling look at the private and public lives of this soft-spoken giant of the cinema. --Book Description, amazon.com
"Kudos to Gray for her exhaustive work on the pop-culture icon who's given us all years of guilty cinematic pleasure" --Editorial Reviews, Total Movie