In 1997, a documentary came out about four seemingly-ordinary gentlemen with extraordinary careers entitled Fast, Cheap & Out of Control. The title had always bugged me (and still does) because I felt it had been assigned to the wrong damn project. In my eyes, there was only one man — one — whose story fit such a heading. His name was (and still is) Roger Corman, and he had been a personal favorite of mine (as well as hero) since I first saw Pit and the Pendulum (1961) for the first time on VHS in the ‘80s. I joyfully thumbed through his autobiography in high school, learning various tidbits about his life and career, but I had always felt there should have been a movie about one of the most revered revolutionaries of exploitation filmmaking.
It never came to pass in 1997, obviously. Or 1998. 1999 wasn’t rewarding for me, either. Actually, when you stop to consider how long Roger has actually been making his famous brand of independent low-budget movies (since 1954, kids), and how many different careers he launched just by saying “Yeah, sure, come onboard” (Corman was the first to employ many a famous actor and filmmaker), a movie about this prolific filmmaker has been overdue for far too long. Strangely enough, though, nobody had ever felt the urge to do something about it, apart from the odd foreign documentarian.
As such, you can imagine the breath of relief I expelled upon hearing about Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel. The 2011 documentary is the brainchild of writer/director Alex Stapleton, and is brought to us via heartfelt anecdotes and humorous yarns from his various friends, protégés, and Roger’s ever-loving wife (and producing partner) Julie, too. Touching, funny, and intimate, the film can only afford to give us a small glimpse at some of the more notable periods in the director/producer’s career, whose notoriously cheap working values and hurried productions (he shot 1960's The Little Shop of Horrors in just two days!) have ensured him an everlasting place in the Hall of Fame, if for the fact that he never lost a dime on a single one if nothing else.
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