Roger Corman directed some truly commendable films in his day, and Shame may be one of his crowning achievements. The director may be most well known for his proficiency at churning out schlocky B movies with cheap monster costumes, cute girls in their underwear and Z grade scripts, but he found time now and then to really put his heart and soul into creating more personal, meaningful films in between all the more marketable drive-in flicks. Put Shame on your queue next time you sign into your movie download service.
Shame is a truly courageous film. It deals with the issue of racism in the south, but it did so at the dawn of the civil rights era. It was easy to make a movie about racism in the eighties or nineties. Making a movie about racism in the early sixties, that's another story entirely. Corman actually made this film in the south, in the early sixties, and he was constantly threatened and harassed by the populace of the small rural town where the film was set.
The real star of the film is William Shatner as a villainous political agent. He's currently working for a segregationist running for office, and he moves into this town with one purpose in mind: Stir up racially motivated violence. It's a dark, disturbing character, and Shatner is incredible in the role. He usually plays the sort of roles that play off of his boyish charm and good looks, his uniquely friendly sense of machismo and his humor. To see this reversed in this early role is something like seeing Henry Fonda as the villain in Once Upon a Time in the West.
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.
The final shots of the film were literally grabbed on the run. The shots used at the start of the film were actually recorded while the police were literally, physically closing in and chasing Corman out of town, forcing him to hurry up and wrap the shoot, throw all the equipment in the trucks, and get the heck out of there.
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.
It's true that Corman is primarily remembered as the maker of some truly cheap B films, but that's only one aspect of what he's done for American film. Besides making some true classics like Shame, he also launched the careers of Dennis Hopper, Martin Scorsese and Jack Nicholson, to name only a few of his many efforts and gifts to the modern cinematic landscape.
If you haven't really given Corman his day in court yet, watch Shame, and then check out X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. By creating low-profile B flicks on low budgets, Corman was able to get away with pretty much anything by simply flying under the radar and making every film as a low-risk investment, opening up several doors for creativity and the ability to deal with sensitive issues. - 40725
Shame is a truly courageous film. It deals with the issue of racism in the south, but it did so at the dawn of the civil rights era. It was easy to make a movie about racism in the eighties or nineties. Making a movie about racism in the early sixties, that's another story entirely. Corman actually made this film in the south, in the early sixties, and he was constantly threatened and harassed by the populace of the small rural town where the film was set.
The real star of the film is William Shatner as a villainous political agent. He's currently working for a segregationist running for office, and he moves into this town with one purpose in mind: Stir up racially motivated violence. It's a dark, disturbing character, and Shatner is incredible in the role. He usually plays the sort of roles that play off of his boyish charm and good looks, his uniquely friendly sense of machismo and his humor. To see this reversed in this early role is something like seeing Henry Fonda as the villain in Once Upon a Time in the West.
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.
The final shots of the film were literally grabbed on the run. The shots used at the start of the film were actually recorded while the police were literally, physically closing in and chasing Corman out of town, forcing him to hurry up and wrap the shoot, throw all the equipment in the trucks, and get the heck out of there.
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.
It's true that Corman is primarily remembered as the maker of some truly cheap B films, but that's only one aspect of what he's done for American film. Besides making some true classics like Shame, he also launched the careers of Dennis Hopper, Martin Scorsese and Jack Nicholson, to name only a few of his many efforts and gifts to the modern cinematic landscape.
If you haven't really given Corman his day in court yet, watch Shame, and then check out X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. By creating low-profile B flicks on low budgets, Corman was able to get away with pretty much anything by simply flying under the radar and making every film as a low-risk investment, opening up several doors for creativity and the ability to deal with sensitive issues. - 40725
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