All language subtitles for The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs S27E01 A Bucket of Blood REPACK 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DDP2 0 H 264-BFM_track3_[eng]

[Insects chirping]

[Cheers and applause]

[Indistinct conversations]

[Cheers and applause]

♪

♪

♪

[Cheers and applause]

-Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to Las Vegas, Nevada,

at the West Wind Drive-In.

[Cheers and applause]

Yeah. It's going to be
a beautiful night.

It's going to be all about love.

Jimmy, give me a beat.

Oh, yeah, that's some
sleazy lounge. I like that.

Joe, take the bass
for a walk.

Yeah, that's a good walk.

Levi, finger some chords for me.

Oh, yeah. He's finger-blasting.

Yuki, tap on that colander
with that stick.

He's got a colander
with a stick.

♪ Hey, everybody, have you
heard the news yet? ♪

♪ Joe Bob is back in town ♪

Thank you so much.

♪ He's over in Las Vegas ♪

♪ Hanging around,
watching creepy movies ♪

♪ So come on down to ♪

♪ "Joe Bob's
Last Drive-In Show" ♪

Thank you so much.

♪ Blood, beasties,
boobies, and more, yeah ♪

♪ "Joe Bob's
Last Drive-In Show" ♪

♪ It's a spooky good time
with monsters and ghosts ♪

♪ Crazy, kooky fun with
the world's greatest host ♪

Yeah.

♪ "Joe Bob's
Last Drive-In Show" ♪

-♪ It's gonna be legendary ♪

-♪ "Joe Bob's
Last Drive-In Show" ♪

-♪ It's gonna be very scary ♪

-♪ "Joe Bob's
Last Drive-In Show," yeah ♪

Let's go. Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome

Darcy the Mail Girl
and Joe Bob Briggs!

[Cheers and applause]

Yeah!

-Alright. Thank you, John.

Welcome to the

2023 World Drive-In Movie
Festival and Jamboree.

[Cheers and applause]

Okay.

[All chanting "Joe Bob!"]

[All chanting "Darcy!"]

Thank you.
-Alright.

Welcome to the 2023

World Drive-In Movie
Festival and Jamboree.

We're at the beautiful
West Wind Las Vegas Drive-in

out here on the Mojave Desert,

where nothing grows
except cactus and casinos.

And this is the second
night of the Jamboree,

and as I look out
over all these cars

and these pods of mutants,
I see many of you

still haven't finished
the firstnight of the jamboree.

So, a guy just asked me,

"Why don't you
keep showing movies

during the daytime, Joe Bob?"

So indicating that, you know,

the Las Vegas
Chamber of Cannabis

is doing a very great job here.

I -- You think I made that up?

There actually is a Las Vegas
Chamber of Cannabis.

That's what they call it.

And speaking of cannabis,
welcome Darcy the Mail Girl.

She's with me here tonight.
[Cheers and applause]

Darcy is a veteran
of Vegas, as I am.

You came out -- I came --
I first came out here to Vegas

to do a magazine article
on Wayne Newton.

But why did you
come out here, Darcy?

-I came to dance.
-Oh, really?

And because, you know, you made
a fortune dancing, right?

-I don't know about a fortune,

but I definitely made more money
here than anywhere else.

-Okay. Were you
one of those Vegas girls

that they asked to blow
on the dice at the craps table?

-I was, and I hate that.
-Why?

Too much responsibility, right?
-Yes!

-Everybody gets mad at you
if you throw the dice wrong.

-Okay, well, I'm sure
nobody got mad at you

for throwing the dice wrong.

-Oh, my God. They got so mad.
You have no idea.

-Alright, well, the reason
we're here tonight

is that in the year 1953,

a black-and-white film --
actually, a film noir

called "Highway Dragnet"
opened nationwide.

And the title sequence

is all Fremont Street
of downtown Las Vegas,

where drifters and con men
and cops and beautiful,

conniving women
all mixed together

in what turns out
to be a chase movie,

with the Las Vegas P.D.

in hot pursuit
of this suspected killer,

who leads them all the way
to the Salton Sea.

Y'all know where
the Salton Sea is?

Okay, well, the movie
takes place from here,

from Las Vegas,
to the Salton Sea,

which is near
Riverside, California.

So, the writer and the producer
of "Highway Dragnet"

was Roger Corman,
and that was the beginning

of a 70-year career
in Hollywood.

And tonight,
we're celebrating that career,

and Roger will be with us
here later tonight,

along with his movie-producer
wife, Julie Corman,

an amazing filmmaker
in her own right,

for a program
that we are calling

"Roger Corman's first 70 years
in Hollywood."

And somebody -- You know,
this is really kind of hard

for me tonight,
because somebody counted up,

how many people
I've interviewed in my life.

Much of my life
was as a journalist.

And, you know,
so, how many people

have I formally interviewed,

you know, so that
I could write about them?

And it's well over 2,000 people,

including a couple of presidents
and a lot of famous movie stars

and business leaders and priests
and gangsters and athletes

and guys on death row and guys
living in penthouses in Monaco.

And one thing journalism
teaches you

is that most people are not that
impressive, you know?

And human nature
being what it is,

you know,
the more money you have

and the more power you get
and the more fame you have,

the more you get cut off
from reality

and you start living
in your own little world.

And the hardest thing
in the world

is to be both successful

and connected to the
here and now

and connected to the other
people in the world.

Roger Corman is one of those
connected, successful people.

There are probably three people
out of that 2,000

that I am truly in awe of,

and Roger Corman
is at the top of that list.

And --
[Cheers and applause]

Yeah. Roger Corman --

I'm going to talk about him
before he gets out here,

because it'd be embarrassing
if I tried

to talk about him
while he's here.

Roger Corman is first
and foremost a producer,

and there are not many
producers left in the world.

Have you noticed,
when you go to the theater,

there's sometimes 10 or 15
people in the credits

that have the word "producer"
in their title, you know?

Executive producer,
associate producer,

line producer, supervising
producer, co-producer,

coordinating producer,
field producer.

And what does that
usually mean?

It means the movie
had no producer, you know?

It means it had
no creative force

on the business side
of the movie.

Several people
did various jobs,

but they were all like CPAs
working in a factory, right?

Now, when Roger received
his honorary Academy Award

a few years back, he gave a
tidy little acceptance speech

in which he said,
"Film is a compromised art form.

It's 50% business and 50% art."

And Roger's special talent

is that he's a great manipulator
of the business half

of that equation,
turning it into art.

He makes the business
part art, as well.

Now, everybody loves
to tell stories

about how cheap Roger is,
and they're all true.

You know, how he made 700 movies
and he never lost money,

how he once lit
a car-chase scene

by having all the crew park
their cars along the highway

and point their headlights
at the roadway.

He found an unused set
in a studio

and decided to make
a movie in two days

just so he could use that set.

That movie was, by the way,
"The Little Shop of Horrors,"

you know?

So, they tell the story
of how the title creature in

"The Beast with a Million Eyes"
had about 10 eyes

and it was about 18 inches tall

and it was built in a day
and shot in 10 minutes.

You know,
but all of these decisions

are the decisions of a producer
who's being an artist.

Roger Corman used his own money
for all of his films.

He would take the proceeds
from his last movie,

use it to finance his next movie
or his next two movies,

and all those stories
that start out,

"Let me tell you how cheap
Roger Corman is"

are stories about decisions
that got that movie made,

and they got it made
at a price point

that made
future movies possible.

And of all the stories ever told

about mercenary
Hollywood producers --

and I've heard them all --
the one story I have never heard

is that somebody
got stiffed by Roger.

He paid for everything.
He just didn't pay very much.

And, so, he paid the least
that the market would allow.

Now, the other thing
that has made

Roger a great producer
over the years

is that he has a complete, 100%

understanding of the artistic
side of film.

He actually started
as a film critic.

He was -- While he was a student
at Stanford University.

He's a great director.

He's a great --
He's an expert on camera.

He's an expert on lenses.
He's a first-rate editor.

He knows how to get
a script into shape.

And he can work
in either direction.

He can take an existing script
and make it better.

He has a great eye
for talented writers, though.

He had some of the best writers
in Hollywood

working for him
before they were --

before anybody knew they were
the best writers in Hollywood.

He can also take the bare bones
of an idea

and turn it into
a motion picture.

When the Russians
launched Sputnikin 1958,

he called up
American International Pictures

and he said, "Give me the money,
and I'll have a satellite movie

in theaters in two months."

And he did that,
and the result was the movie

"The War of the Satellites,"
a hit movie.

It was a big hit.

It was scripted by three people,
but those three people were,

of course,
closely shepherded by Roger,

who was telling them
what he wanted in the movie.

He's not a writer,
but he knows writing.

He's not an actor,
but he knows acting.

And, in fact,
he enrolled in the famous

method-acting classes of
Jeff Corey

just so he would better
understand the acting craft.

He hates wasted words
and wasted images.

And it's not uncommon for Roger
to watch a rough cut of a movie

and say, "This is a good movie.

Now let's take 10 minutes
out of it

and make it into a greatmovie."

And so tonight, we are going to
watch two Roger Corman movies.

The first movie
is a 1959 horror-comedy called

"A Bucket of Blood" that --

[Cheers and applause]
Yeah.

Y'all all seen
"A Bucket of Blood"?

[Cheers and applause]
Yeah.

He also directed this movie.

And the second movie
is a 1983 sword-and-sorcery

extravaganza called
"Deathstalker."

And that movie --
Most people don't know this.

That movie exists only because
of numerous very complicated

business decisions made by Roger
as head of New World Pictures.

And that was Roger's
groundbreaking,

innovative distribution company
in the '70s and '80s.

And at the time, he had a deal
with the largest back lot

and the largest studio
in Argentina,

and that's
how "Deathstalker" got made.

Let me talk about "A Bucket of
Blood" for a minute.

"A Bucket of Blood"
is a damn near perfect movie,

and, partly, that's the result

of the
Charles B. Griffith screenplay.

Charles B. Griffith was

Corman's go-to screenwriter
for several years,

though the first --

I would say Charles Griffith
was the screenwriter

through the first three phases
of Roger Corman's career.

Low-budget Westerns.

That's what -- That's the
first stuff that Roger made.

He made like five of them
in a row.

Low-budget monster movies,

and then low-budget
wild-youth movies, you know?

So, Charles Griffith's
first movie for Roger

was called "Gunslinger" in 1956

with John Ireland
and Beverly Garland.

And then he wrote
"It Conquered the World,"

"Attack of the Crab Monsters,"
"Not of This Earth,"

"Rock All Night,"
"Teenage Doll."

And then Roger entered
kind of a transitional period

where instead of just following
the popular genres of the day,

he started following
his own personal interests.

And one of those
personal interests

was the Beat generation,

the beatniks, the poets,
and the vagabonds

who traveled
from Greenwich Village

to San Francisco,

to the coffee bars
of Venice, California,

back when Venice, California,
was kind of a rundown,

neglected neighborhood
full of flophouses

and dive bars and stuff.

So, it was a time when names

like Ferlinghetti and Kerouac
and Ginsberg and Burroughs

were ripping apart
the worlds of literature

and music and nonfiction
and poetry

and they were speaking
in this new, hip vernacular.

And, of course, Roger started
going to these beatnik

cafés and clubs and hangouts,

because Roger was always
fascinated by anything new,

anything that was
in the headlines,

anything groundbreaking.

And "A Bucket of Blood" was what
he and Charles B. Griffith

came up with
as the ultimate parody

of the whole Beat generation.

And that's just exactly
what it is.

But what's great about it is,

it's kind of
an accurate portrayal

of what those beatnik
coffeehouses were really like.

And the opening poem
in this movie,

accompanied by jazz saxophone,

which is -- that's the way they
did poetry in the beatnik era.

They thought that --
That thing didn't continue

after the beatniks.

They thought free-form poetry
and jazz saxophone

together
was the future of poetry.

Anyway, that thing
is so spot-on accurate

that I could never again look at
that actor, Julian Burton,

without thinking of him
as Maxwell Brock,

the existential Beat poet
in this movie.

He is so obnoxious
that he almost steals the movie.

But the key to his performance

is the beautiful writing
of Charles B. Griffith.

But I'll talk more about that
as we go through the movie.

And the film is
perhaps the best evocation

ever put on film
of what it was like

to be a beatnik in the 1950s,

even though it's totally
making fun of that scene.

And as satirical movies go,
it's one of the best ever made.

It shot in five days,
using just two or three sets.

And it is a masterpiece.

Do you like this movie, Darcy?

-Oh, yeah. It's hilarious.

-The beatniks were --
I think they were sort of --

I would call them proto-hippies.

They were early hippies.
-Yeah, they brought the weed.

-Yeah, they did. That's true.

They brought the weed
into our culture,

you know,
back when it was dangerous

to bring the weed, actually.

-I mean, it can still be
dangerous to bring the weed.

-Well, I mean,
hard prison time, you know,

especially I grew up in Texas.

In Texas,
you'd get life in prison

just for possession
back in the --

-Did they have beatniks
in Texas?

-Well, probably not.

I mean, in 1959,
the beatniks would get beat up.

So, no, the beatniks wouldn't be
safe in Texas in 1959.

-I think the places
that you mentioned

are still the safest for weed.

-California and New York?
-Yeah.

-I would say Colorado is
probably the safest place.

-Or Oregon. Oregon.
-Oregon?

-Washington. Washington's good.

-See, now I'm wondering, is --
Now I'm wondering,

is weed safe here in Nevada?

-Yeah!
-They say "yes."

-Okay. You know that
for sure, though.

-I mean, would you doubt me?

-No, I would
never doubt you on weed.

-It's totally safe. Go for it.
-Alright.

-Well, I'm gonna
call you later, then.

-Get in line, baby.
-Okay. "A Bucket of Blood."

This is the sensitive story
of a dimwitted,

impressionable busboy
in a beatnik café,

who somehow infuses
the pretentious poetry

of the pseudo-intellectuals
into his life

and accidentally becomes
a locally famous artist

whose creations
are worth thousands of dollars,

until the secret of his
life-like, death-like art

becomes revealed and he has to
make one last desperate move

to capture the woman
of his dreams.

Sure, we've seen it before,

but have we seen it
with a surreal jazz score

that courses through the mean
streets of Southern California

like a send-up of every
film noir of the 1950s?

I think not.

So let's look at those drive-in
totals and get started.

We have...
[Cheers and applause]

We have...

Driving Academy Award
nominations

for Barboura Morris as Carla

for being the unsuspecting
object of desire

and for saying, "Walter,
there's a body in that statue,"

Antony Carbone
as club owner Leonard de Santis,

who discovers Walter's secret

but doesn't try all
that hard to stop him,

Julian Burton as
beatnik poet Maxwell H. Brock

for encouraging Walter's
art and for saying,

"I will talk to you of art,

for there is nothing else
to talk about,

for there is nothing else.

Life is an obscure hobo bumming
a ride on the omnibus of art."

The fantastic Dick Miller as --

[Cheers and applause]
Yeah.

As Walter, the
busboy-turned-murderous artiste

for saying,
"You said I'm a genius,

I don't want to be
a busboy no more"

and "I know what it's like
to be ignored."

And, of course, Roger Corman

for being the original
exploitation filmmaker.

Four stars.
Joe Bob says, "Check it out."

And you know the one thing
that the beatniks had

that did not get
passed down to the hippies?

-Bad poetry?
-No, no.

No, actually,
the hippies also had bad poetry.

That's not what
I was thinking about.

-Jazz?
-Yeah, jazz.

That's exactly right.

The hippies were there
at the dawn of album rock.

So, you know, rock 'n' roll.
So no jazz for the hippies.

But that's not
what I was thinking of.

I was thinking of the beret.

They all wore those
fucking berets.

I mean, nobody has ever looked
good in a beret, you know?

Even French people, who know
how to wear a beret, so...

-I don't know. I like a beret.

-Really?
What's the purpose of a beret?

It's not a real hat.

-It makes you look cool.

-No, it doesn't.
It makes you look like a dork.

-Like a French dork.

-Yeah, the worst
kind of French dork.

You know, they were Americans.
Why were they aping the French?

Why were the beatniks
always aping the French,

in criticism and berets
and everything?

-I think French people
were cooler in 1959.

-No, they weren't.

-Why do you pick
on the French so much?

-Because they wear berets,
Darcy. They wear berets, so...

-Okay, I think it was originally
a military thing, right?

-You know what?
Like sailor hats?

-Yeah. I don't know.

-They wore berets
like sailor hats?

-The Green Berets --
they're not dorky.

-Actually, that's true.

Army Special Forces
wears berets.

You're right.

You know, the only guys
that ever made

the beret a macho thing, so...

-So you're admitting
you're wrong.

-I wouldn't go that far.

[Laughter]
-I tried.

[Cheers and applause]

♪

-I will talk to you of art...

[Saxophone plays]
...for there is nothing else

to talk about.

For there is nothing else.

Life is an obscure hobo

bumming a ride on
the omnibus of art.

Burn gas, Buggies,

and whip your sour cream
of circumstance.

And hope.

And go ahead and sleep
your bloody heads off.

Creation is,

all else is not.

What is not creation
is graham crackers.

Let it all crumble
to feed the creator.

The artist is,

all others are not.

A canvas is a canvas.

Or a painting.

A rock is a rock
or a statue.

A sound is a sound.

Or is music.

♪

A creature is a creature.

Or an artist.

♪

Where are John, Joe,
Jake, Jim, Jerk?

Dead, dead, dead.

They were not born
before they were born.

They were not born.

Where are Leonardo,
Rembrandt, Ludwig?

Alive, alive, alive.

They were born.

Bring on the multitude
with a multitude of fishes.

Feed them to the fishes
for liver oil.

Nourish the artist,

stretch their
skins upon an easel

to give him canvas.

Crush their bones into a paste

that he might mold them.

Let them die.

And by their miserable deaths

become the clay
within his hands.

He might form an ashtray

or an ark.

For all that is comes through
the eye of the artist.

The rest are blind fish swimming
in the cave of aloneness.

Swim on, you mortal and
muddling, maddened fools.

And dream that one bright
and sunny night,

some artist will bait a hook
and let you bite upon it.

Bite hard and die.

In his stomach,

you are very close
to immortality.

[Music fades out]

-Walter?

Walter, what are you doing here?

-I'm just looking at
Carla's picture.

-Do I pay you
to look at pictures?

Go on, get to work.
-I was just looking.

-There are empty cups
all over the place.

Clear them out.

-You shouldn't be so
rough on him, Leonard.

-What do you say, Walter?
-Hi.

[Upbeat jazz plays]

♪

-I think I'll cut.

♪

♪

-This man. How you makin'?
-Fine, man. How about you?

-Good enough.

[Phone dings]

[Telephone rings]

-Valdez, vice.

-Yeah, Lacroix checking in.

Lou took over
a couple of minutes ago.

-Anything new at the door?

-Well, nothing you can pound
nails in,

a couple of hustlers.

One of them short, fat,
brunette named Skinny.

The other one was short also.

She was bleached and skinny.

-Name her Fat.
-Probably. I didn't get it.

They didn't give
any pictures, though.

Guess you can keep
an eye on them.

-Okay. Any hits?

-Well, Jerry Sacks
looked like he was straight.

I'm sure he's on it anyway.

Didn't see any pushers
around the place.

Lou said he'd check out
on Jerry

and sound him out later
if he gets any higher.

I guess that's about it.

-Okay, Art.

Go on home and get a good
night's sleep, you fink.

-Okay. So long.

-Everyone listened to
my new poem,

but do you think
they really heard it?

-I heard it, Mr. Brock.

-Thank you, Walter.
I'm sure you did.

-"Bring on the multitude
with a multitude of fishes.

Feed them to the fishes
for liver oil,

to nourish the artist."

-That was word for word.
-Is it? I've forgotten.

-You mean you don't
remember your own poem?

-I refuse to
say anything twice.

Repetition is death.

-Oh. Got it.

-When you repeat something,
you are reliving a moment,

wasting it, severing it
from the other end of your life.

I believe only
in new impressions,

new stimuli, new life.

-I thought you believe that life
is an obscure hobo

bumming a ride on a --
-I do believe that, Walter,

but I also believe creative
living.

To be uncreative, you might as
well be in your grave.

Or in the Army.

-They tried to draft me once.

I couldn't pass the test.

[All chuckle]

-Walter,
Leonard's looking at you.

-Jesus, my God.

-Walter has a clear mind.

One day, something will
enter it, feel lonely,

and leave again.

-[Chuckles] That's too much.
-Max.

-Yes, cats, yes.

If you want to know
how beatniks live,

William and me
will show you.

We'll introduce you
to some wild ones.

You may even discover
an artist of your own.

-And how much is that
going to cost us?

-What cost?
A couple of bucks.

You want to meet
some beatniks, don't you?

-Oh, no. It's the artists.
I'm just crazy about artists.

-All that is comes
through the eye of the artist.

The rest are just blind fish
swimming in a cave of aloneness.

-Oh, you must be an artist.

And working as a busboy, too.

-Feed him that
he will be satisfied.

The artist is,
all others are not.

-That's most intriguing.
Are you a painter?

-Well, no, I work --

I'm working on something
that's not ready yet.

-What is it, man?
Finger painting?

-Draw me a picture
of a house, Walter.

Make some smoke
coming out of the chimney.

-Well, I am working on
something. I'll show you soon.

-Walter.

-Is he, uh...

[Chuckles]

♪

♪

-You get a good look, kid?

Go on home.

♪

♪

♪

♪

-Oh, hello, Mrs. Swickert.

-Oh, Walter,
you look awful pale.

What'd you have to eat tonight?

-I had a salami sandwich,
Mrs. Swickert.

-Oh, if you were my son.

Why don't you let me fix you
a nice bowl of soup?

Won't take but a minute.
-Oh, it's okay.

I-I can fix myself something.

Besides, I got
something important to do.

-Oh, oh, say, Walter,
did you see anything

of Frankie tonight
when you went out?

-I didn't see him at all.

-Well, if you do,
tell him I got a nice,

fresh piece of halibut for him.

-Tell him that?

I mean, do you think
he'll understand?

He's only a cat.
-[Scoffs]

Good night, Walter.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

[Cat meows in distance]

♪

[Cat meows louder]

Frankie?

♪

Canvas is a canvas
or a painting.

A rock is a rock or a statue.

A sound is a sound
or it's music.

♪

♪

Come on.

Be a nose.

♪

Be a nose.

[Cat meowing]

[Meowing continues]

Frankie, shut up!

Oh, what's the matter, Frankie?

How'd you get yourself
stuck in a wall?

Wait a minute. I'll get you out.
[Meowing continues]

[Cat screeches]

Frankie?

Frankie?

You all right, Frankie?

♪

♪

Oh, Frankie.

Oh, Frankie.

♪

Oh, Frankie.

I'm sorry.

♪

Poor Mrs. Swickert.

♪

She had a nice fresh piece
of halibut for you.

♪

I'll give you to her
in the morning.

♪

Repetition is death, Frankie.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

[Crying]

[Cheers and applause]

-Whoo!
-Yeah!

-Whoo!

-Alright.
You guys love Dick Miller?

-Yeah!

-That is the great character
actor Dick Miller

as Walter Paisley.

He was so memorable in this role

that multiple directors
over the years not only hired

Dick Miller, but constantly
used the name

Walter Paisley in other stories
and other films.

If you recall,
Jim Wynorski's "Chopping Mall"

uses -- you know?

He just
plays the janitor in that.

But Dick Miller is the
janitor who gets electrocuted.

But the janitor's name
is...Walter Paisley.

They always used that name.

Dick Miller was actually
a very versatile actor.

He could do a lot of things,
but he spent most of his life

playing kooks and oddballs
and misfits.

And even when he played the
police chief or the professor,

there was always something
a little off about him.

But the camera loved him.

And this was sort of
the beginning of the crazy,

put-upon persona
that Dick Miller would do

for really off and on
for the rest of his life.

But I can't pass up
the opportunity

to talk about Julian Burton,

who plays Maxwell,
the pretentious poet.

He is just hilarious
in his commitment

to the part of that
pseudo-intellectual,

you know, holding court
in the beatnik café.

And Julian Burton --

he would have
a long career in television.

He worked well into the 1980s
before he retired from acting.

He actually became
a psychologist and a therapist.

But he's another
one of those talents

that Roger Corman
discovered early in his career

and destined to be
a veteran character actor,

used by many directors
in many shows.

This film
is just 67 minutes long,

and, yet, it is
a fully realized story

and, in many respects,
a very complex story.

One of the conversations
that I had with Roger Corman

back in the '80s,
I remember him saying

that the ideal length
of a movie is 78 minutes.

He would say --
He actually said 78.

And his reasoning was this.

If you go to 79 minutes,
you need five film cans

to ship the 35-millimeter film
around the country.

So, at 78 minutes,
you just need four cans,

so you have saved 20%
on your shipping costs.

So he would sometimes shave
an 80-minute movie back to 78

just for that very
practical producer's reason.

Now, a by-product
of that decision,

the 78-minute movie is much
more likely to get a TV sale,

than an 80-minute movie,

because there's more time
for commercials,

and it can be used both
in a 90-minute spot

and a 120-minute spot
on television,

where you have to
leave room for commercials.

But that really
was not Roger's reason.

Roger was more
practical than that.

He always cut things down
to the essentials.

Okay, let's get back to
these worlds of opposites.

It's really -- There's really
just two places in this movie,

The Yellow Door coffeehouse
bustling with apparent life

and the lonely apartment
of Walter Paisley.

And let's see
what surprises await

in this wonderful movie.

Alright, roll the film.

All right.

Darcy, I've never seen you
drink coffee -- ever.

Have you ever been
in a coffeehouse? Do you ever...

-I've been to a coffeehouse.
I don't like coffee.

-Really? The beatniks --
I mean..

-Sorry.
-Coffee is really cool now,

but the beatniks were the first
to make coffee cool,

you know, to make it special.

Of course,
that was at the same time

they were making heroin cool,
so it's a --

-I'm not a big fan
of heroin either. Sorry.

-Okay. Well, let's hope not.
-Sorry. I love my weed.

-You would not have made a very
good beatnik, Darcy, because --

-I don't think I've really
even heard of a female beatnik.

-That's actually a good point.
Why do you think that is?

Why do you think that we don't
know any big female beatniks?

-I don't know.
Because it was the '50s?

I don't know.
-Carolyn Cassady.

Carolyn Cassady
was a female beatnik artist,

probably the model for --
She may have been the model

for the Carla character
in this movie.

-Yeah, but she's, like --
She's a "girlfriend," you know?

-That's true.

But she had her
own paintings, though.

Joyce Johnson.
Joyce Johnson is another one.

If you read the books
about the Beat generation,

they always say
Joyce Johnson was --

-Who dated several beatniks.

-[Laughs] That's true.

Alright, well, it was
kind of a boys' club, wasn't it?

-It kind of was, yeah.
-Alright.

Thank God things
have changed today, so...

-Thank God.
They're so different.

-Okay, let's not go there,

because I know
where you're going with that.

-Anytime you want to go there,
we can go there.

-Okay. Well, right now, we're
not going to go there, so...

-I think that's a good choice.
-Alright. Okay. I know.

[Cheers and applause]

♪

-Let them die.

And by their miserable deaths,

become the clay
within his hands,

that he might form
an ashtray or an ark.

Pray that you might be
his diadem, gold, glory,

paint, clay.

That he might
take you in his magic hands

and wring
from your marrow wonders.

-Where are John, Joe, Jim, Jerk?

♪

♪

Dead, dead, dead.

♪

♪

Hi, Carla.

-Oh, Walter, what are you
doing here so early?

-Well, I brought something.
I think you'll like it.

-Take that stuff
to the laundromat, Walter.

-Huh?
-Don't mind him.

What have you got?
-It's a thing I made.

-Walter.

-You like it?
-What's he got?

-Oh, come look at this, Leonard.

-Where'd you get that, auction?
-I made it.

-You made that?
-I said I did, didn't I?

-Walter, it's very good.

-Honest?
-Honest.

-What's it called?

-"Dead Cat."

-"Dead Cat"? That's its name?

-Sure.

-Well, it sure looks
dead enough.

-Y-You want to buy it?

-Buy it? That thing?

Scare people
out of the place.

-Don't be silly.
It's tremendous.

Look at the detail.

The anatomy is perfect.

Look at the expression
on its face.

-How come you
put a knife into it?

-I didn't mean to.

-Just got carried away, huh?

Well, alright.

I'll tell you what I'll do.

I'll put it in the corner
of the alcove.

If it sells, we'll split 50/50.

Okay?
-Sure.

Does this mean I'm an artist?

-Maybe so, if you can do
other things, as well.

-All that is comes through
the eye of the artist.

-Yeah, you're a real artist now.

Now go in back and scrub
down those garbage cans.

March now.

-You really like it?

-We like it. Now go on.

[Upbeat jazz plays]

[Laughter,
indistinct conversations]

-Did you see my cat?

-What's the matter?
You lose him?

♪

-How do you like my cat?

-You make this thing, man?
-Uh-huh.

-It's crazy.
[Inhales deeply] Crazy.

-You want to buy it?

-Who, me, man?
I'm tapped.

♪

-He likes my cat.
-Get to work.

♪

♪

-Hey, hey, Walter,
come here a minute.

♪

Hey, congratulations, man.

-Walter, you're famous.
-I saw your cat.

-Did you like it, Mr. Brock?
-You may call me Maxwell.

-Now, how'd you do it, Walter?

-Oh, I just took some clay
and fixed it up.

-[Laughs]

-Attention. Attention, everyone!

As you pass through
these yellow portals,

I am sure you noticed on your
right a small clay figure

and assumed
this transfixed effigy

to be the work
of a master sculptor.

And, indeed, so it is.

That master sculptor
is in our midst.

He is none other than
Walter Paisley,

our very own busboy,

whose hands of genius
have been carrying away

the empty cups
of your frustrations.

Mark well this lad.

His is the silent voice
of creation.

Within the dark,
rich soil of humility,

he blossoms as the hope
of our nearly sterile century.

[Applause]

-Beautiful, Maxwell.

-Bring me an espresso, Walter.

-Maxwell, really beautiful.
-Thank you.

-Man, you are in.
-Oh, Walter. You're wonderful!

[Overlapping talking]

This is my man. Yes, yes.

Listen, man, you got a pen, huh?
This is my man.

-Hey, Pops, what's happenin'?

-Making a big scene for Walter.

-Who'd he shoot?
-He made a cat.

Out of clay.

-See you around.
-Yeah. Later.

[Indistinct chatter]

-Will somebody clear this table,
please?

-This is my man.

-Will somebody clear this table?

[Chatter continues]

-Did you hear them,
Mr. de Santis?

They all like my cat.
-Yeah. Very good.

Now, look, Walter,
you must be tired.

Why don't you take
the rest of the night off?

-Oh, I don't --
-No, no, no, no.

You got it coming.

Besides, you're creating
an incident,

and when people are applauding,
they don't order coffee.

So go on home
and work on something.

Make another cat.

-Well, I haven't got
another cat.

-Well, just go to the movies.

Please, Walter, go.
-Alright, Mr. de Santis.

Good night.
-Good night, Walter.

-Walter.
Walter, wait a minute.

-Oh, hello, Naolia.

-Walter, I dug it.

-My cat?

-It was the most wonderful,
wildest,

like, wiggiest thing
I've ever seen.

Walter, you've done
something to me.

Something deep down
inside of my prana.

-I have?

-Oh, Walter,
I want to be with you.

You're creative.

You've got a hot light bulb
glowing inside of you,

and I want to be warmed by it.

-Gee, that's nice of you,
Naolia.

-Walter, take me away
from here.

Take me away
to some cool blue place

and gas me.

-I can't. I gotta go home.

-Oh, and I'll go home
with you.

-Oh, no, Mrs. Swickert
wouldn't like that.

She's my landlady.

-Isn't there anything
I can do for you?

-I don't think so, Naolia.

-Oh, Walter. I can't let you
just split like this.

I've got to do something.

I've got to contribute.

-You don't have to do anything.

-Wait.

Wait. There is one thing
I can do.

One little thing.

Don't leave, Walter.

I want to give you something.

Something that'll make you
remember me.

Put it in your pocket.

Now go, Walter.

Don't look back.
Just go.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

-"Can I have your autograph,
Mr. Paisley?"

Why, certainly, my good woman.

[Chuckles]

Everybody likes my cat.

You want to
buy my statue, mister?

$10,000?

Okay.

♪

Gee, I'll be famous.

And then I can ask Carla,
and she'll say yes.

I know she will.

♪

[Knock on door]

♪

-Hello, Walter.
-Oh, hi.

You're Lou, ain't you?

I seen you down at
Yellow Door plenty.

Come on in.
I was just making some pancakes.

You can have some if you like.

Did you see my cat?
-Yeah, I saw your cat.

I also saw that chick
lay these on you.

-Oh, that was Naolia.
She's a nice girl.

She's kind of strange, though.

I guess she figures
I get headaches or something.

-Okay, Walter,
who's your connection?

-Connection?
-Yeah, connection.

Who do you score from?
Where do you buy your horse?

-Horse?

-Horse, junk,
white stuff, heroin.

-Is that what that is?
I never seen any of that before.

I always thought
that was expensive.

-Yeah, Walter,
that can be real expensive.

-Gee, well, wasn't
that nice of Naolia

to give me that expensive horse?

-Walter.
-Huh?

-Police officer.
-[Gasps]

You're, like, an undercover man.

-You're under arrest, Walter.

-Under arrest for what?
-Possession of narcotics.

-Who, me?
What are you talking about?

-Walter, I got you cold.
Now you just come along quietly.

-I didn't do nothing.

And Naolia give me those.
I didn't ask her for them.

I didn't even know
what was in that.

-Alright. Alright. You can tell
them that downtown.

Now let's go.

-I ain't going no place
with you.

-Walter, do I have to point
this at you?

-Y-You're gonna shoot me.
No! Don't shoot me!

-Walter, just relax.
-No, you're gonna shoot me.

-Now, just relax.
-No, don't shoot me!

-Just shut up, Walter!
-No, you're gonna shoot me!

Don't shoot!
[Body thuds]

♪

[Knock on door]

-Walter?

[Knock on door]
Walter!

Walter!

Are you all right?

I thought I heard you
shouting a minute ago.

[Pan clatters]

Walter!

[Clattering]

What's all the noise in here?

-Noise, Mrs. Swickert?
What noise?

-Don't tell me
I didn't hear a racket.

Are you sure you're all alone?

-I'm always alone,
Mrs. Swickert.

-Walter, have you been
talking to yourself again?

-Well, I-I guess maybe I have,
Mrs. Swickert.

Somebody's got to.

-Walter, you know,
what you need is a girl.

She doesn't have to be pretty.

Just so long as she takes
good care of you.

-Well, I can take real good care
of myself, Mrs. Swickert.

-Yeah, I can see that.
Look at this pad.

It's terrible.
Why don't you ever clean it up?

And when did you change
these sheets last?

They look like they're alive.

-Mrs. Swickert,
I got to meet some friends

in a little while
and I got to take a shower.

-Well, why don't you
clean up this stuff?

Oh, please, Mrs. Swickert.
-What's the matter with you?

-[Breathing heavily]

♪

♪

♪

♪

-I didn't mean to hurt you, Lou.

[Sniffles] But if you
would have shot me,

you'd be mopping up
my blood now.

[Blood dripping]

I can't help it
if I got scared and hit you.

I didn't mean it.

It's crazy.

It's crazy.

♪

"I didn't know you had it in
you, Walter.

♪

How'd you do it?"

♪

I just took some clay
and fixed it up.

♪

"Go home and make something,
Walter.

Make another cat."

♪

But I haven't got another cat.

[Cheers and applause]

-Whoo!

-Say "Hi!"

-Okay. And, so, Walter's first

human victim --
with a frying pan, no less --

is the narc played
by Bert Convy,

who would go on to mostly
a television career

as the kind of guy --
You would expect Bert Convy

to guest-host on "The Love Boat"
or something,

which is exactly
what he did seven times.

So, one thing
you almost never find

in a Roger Corman film
is bad acting.

This movie is probably
the signature role

of Dick Miller's career,

although I don't think
he realized it at the time,

because it was very early
in his career.

But it was just
another Corman film

for most of the people
working on it.

It was a quick
and easy paycheck.

They didn't even talk
about it that much.

But the fast pace
and the sharp writing

and the perfect depiction
of that culture,

it all combined to make it
a minor masterpiece,

in my opinion.

One thing Roger always had going
for him throughout his career

is that he was always the most
likable person in the room.

He was very charming, and people
wanted to work for him.

He has a bright smile
and a charming manner

and a wonderful sense of humor

and he was always honest,
you know?

There was a story
that Roger told me that --

You know, I'm not going to say
who this story is about.

I'm going to tell this story
before Roger gets out here.

Because there was
a notable actor

in the Corman stock company

who made several pictures
in the '50s,

and he continued to work
for Roger well into the '60s.

And then the two of them
had a falling-out of some kind.

I don't know what it was.

So, I was with Roger
at this video convention

in Washington, D.C.,
in the '80s,

and I brought this up
and I said,

"Roger, you're friends
with everybody.

You're still friends
with all these people you used

when they were unknowns.

You know, you're friends
with Jack Nicholson

and Francis Coppola
and Martin Scorsese

and Ron Howard
and Peter Bogdanovich

and Dennis Hopper and Bruce Dern
and Diane Ladd

and William Shatner.

Why would you be on bad terms
with this one particular actor?"

And he said, "You know, I can't
really understand it myself,

but I would explain it
this way.

Lots of actors make one movie
for me or two movies,

but if you make
a third movie for me,

I tend to lose
all respect for you."

So he expected all his students
to go on to bigger things,

and most of them did.

Okay, roll the film.
[Laughs]

-Who was it, actually?
Can you tell us, please?

-Well, no, I'm not going
to tell who it was.

-Oh, come on. Please?

-No, the person is
no longer alive,

and they later
became friends again

after Roger
stopped directing, so...

-If he's not alive,
that's a good reason to say it.

-No.

-Who would you say
is the Roger Corman of today?

-The Roger Corman of today?

You mean the producer
who finds raw talent

and gives them a chance?

-Lloyd Kaufman!
-Exactly. Yes!

-Who?
-Yes.

Lloyd Kaufman,
from the audience.

-Oh, yeah. I don't know.

I really think
the kind of movies

that Roger made
and gave them a chance --

I don't think
that exists anymore.

Maybe Blumhouse.

Although, you know --
-Ooh, no.

-Well, they've gotten
really big.

They make expensive movies now,
and Roger never did that.

He never made expensive movies,

even after he was
successful enough to do so.

He never said,
"Well, this one can't miss.

Let's spend 10 million on it."

Even when he had
10 million, you know?

-What would you do
with 10 million?

-If I had 10 million?
I'd make 40 movies.

-I know you well enough to know
that that is exactly true.

-No, I'm not kidding.
I mean, find me 10 million.

You can star in
"Bucket of Blood 2."

We'll start with that one.

-What about "'Gator Bait 3"?

-Oh!
-Yeah.

-Even better. We could shoot
that in Boggy Creek.

-Yeah. I'm so there.

-"Hogzilla 2"!
-"Hogzilla 2."

-"Hogzilla 2"?

As long as I don't
have to be in it.

-You have to be in it.
Your ghost is coming back --

-But you're serious,
aren't you?

-Oh, heck yeah, I'm serious.

-You would be in
"'Gator Bait 3"?

-Yes.
-Alright. I'm serious.

-You're serious, too, right?
-Yeah. Alright, let's do it.

-"'Gator Bait 3"!
And "Hogzilla 2."

We're making movies.

[Cheers and applause]

-Well, I reported in here
around midnight.

Lou, had already been gone
over an hour.

No, nobody seems to know
where he went.

Why don't you put an alert
out on him,

and I'll check
on him from here.

Okay, right.

[Soft music plays]

♪

♪

♪

♪

[Thud]

♪

♪

[Dramatic music plays]

♪

♪

[Tap]

-Little fraud.

♪

♪

-Louis Raby, age 29,
5'11" inches tall.

Dark complexion,
hair black and curly,

last seen wearing blue jeans
and a gray sweater...

♪

-♪ Tim Evans was a murderer ♪

♪ All in his prison cell ♪

♪ And those who read
about his crimes ♪

♪ They damned his soul to hell ♪

♪ Saying, "Go down,
you murderer" ♪

♪ "Go down" ♪

♪ For the murder
of his own true wife ♪

♪ And the killing
of his own child ♪

♪ The jury found him guilty ♪

♪ And the hangin' judge,
he smiled ♪

-And dig the fuzz.

-♪ You murderer... ♪

-I mean, what do you suppose
they want here?

-You, man. You.

-Hey, maybe they're looking
for old Walter.

He's a criminal type.

Ain't you, Walter?

-I'm sorry, Mr. de Santis.

-That's all right, Walter.

Sit down.
-Who, me?

-Sit down.

-Greetings, man.

-I-I'm not supposed to sit
with the customers.

-Ring!

-Now, why shouldn't you sit
at the table, Walter?

After all,
you're a big artist now,

a true creator
above mere mortals.

-What's the big idea?

-Idea?

I was just
telling Walter the truth.

Man wanted to pay me
$100 for the cat.

In fact, he's taking it home
to show it to his wife.

Proves that I underestimated
Walter's ability.

His work has enormous realism.

You can hardly tell it
from the real thing.

-Boy that sounds
like a real put-down.

-Get off Walter's back, Leonard.

-Am I on his back?

-Well, you're not very funny.

-I'm not trying to be.

Walter...

what are you going to make next?

A dog, maybe.

Or a bird.

[Gasps]

How about a few dozen
cockroaches from your room?

-Hey, man, why don't you
make an elephant?

-I-I got a new one.

-Great. What is it?

-It's a...

full length,
life-sized figure.

-Crazy. What is it called?

-Uh..."Murdered Man."

-When do we get to see it?
-Oh, anytime.

-Hey, that's a pretty
far-out name for a statue.

-I saw a statue once --
it was called,

"The third time
Phyllis saw me, she exploded."

-Now, what kind of
a statue was that?

-I don't know.

It was made out of driftwood
and dipped in fluoric acid.

Very wild.

-[Coughs]
-What's wrong, Leonard?

-Nothing. Nothing at all.

-It's the food in this dump.

-Oh, man, you should try
The Sorrel Sewer.

They got wheat-germ bagels.

Too much.

-[Groans]
-Excuse me, please.

-I think he really is sick.

-So, who isn't?

-De Santis. I've been trying
to get you all evening.

-I got to make a call.
Got to call Lieutenant Valdez.

-Listen, I was wrong
about my wife.

She wants that cat after all.

Do you hear me? I'll give you
that $100 for the cat.

-I can't talk to you just now.

-Alright, then 200.

-No. No!

-$300, and that's tops.

-$300 for the cat?

-[Chuckles]
I know I'm going out of my mind,

but I've been
collecting art pieces

all over Europe for years,

and this boy, Walter Paisley,
has got it.

I want to buy his first work.

And to make very sure
that I get it,

I'll pay you $500.

$500 for the cat and the
first look at his next stuff.

-Someone has the cat just now,

but I'll have him back
in a few days.

And you can have it
for the $500.

-Oh, thank you, sir.

I think I've made a bargain.

Call me when you're ready.
Good night.

-♪ He walked behind
and he saw the sign ♪

-Leonard?

You feel better?

Listen, I'm going over
to Walter's later,

after the place closes,
to see "Murdered Man."

You feel up to coming along?

-♪ The rope was fixed
around his neck ♪

♪ And a washer behind his ear ♪

♪ And the prison bell
was tolling ♪

♪ But Tim Evans didn't hear ♪

♪ Saying "Go down" ♪

♪ "You murderer, go down" ♪

[Ominous music plays]

♪

-Look at the size of it!

-Well, it's not really that big.
I got it on a kind of a stand.

-Well, let's see it.

-I'm a little nervous.
I never did a person before.

-You can do anything
if you set your mind to it.

-It's hot in here.

-You want me to open a window?

-Oh, come on, Walter,
take off the sheet.

♪

-Don't you like it?

♪

-Walter, it's a masterpiece.

I've never seen anything
like it before.

And I hope I never see
anything like it again.

-Neither do I.

-It's hideous and it's eloquent.

It expresses modern man
and all his self-pity.

How did you ever find that
in yourself, Walter?

-Well, it -- it wasn't easy.

[Tap]
-What's the matter with you?

-Nothing. Nothing at all.

-I've never seen anyone
so squeamish.

What's your opinion, Leonard?

-Don't ask me.
-Oh, come on.

Now, even you
must see its value.

Do you think that you or I could
have conceived of such a thing,

much less executed it?

Well, then admit it.
It's a work of genius.

-I admit it.

-Then let's take it down
to The Yellow Door.

-No.
-Why not?

-I'll tell you.

But, you,
cover it up again, please, huh?

Please.

♪

Thank you.
-What is all this nonsense?

Why do you want to hide it?

-Well...

I've been thinking.

I-I-I didn't realize how much
talent Walter actually had.

It would be wrong to show
his pieces one at a time.

Dead wrong.

-You're right.

He should build
a collection first.

-Yes, that's the idea.

Maybe when it's big enough,
we can have a show.

-A show? Just for me?

-No! Well, not exactly.

I mean,
you take years and years...

It's getting hot again.

Well, it would take you years
to make that many statues,

but your work would be featured.

-It's a wonderful idea, Walter.

It's the only way
to gain recognition.

All the big art critics
and art dealers will be there.

It'll be an event.
-Yes, then we can unload.

We can sell this stuff
for a lot more.

-But the show --
how soon can we go?

-Don't rush things.
It takes time.

But first of all,
you've got to stop

making these horrible statues.

Carla and I will guide you.

Maybe you can turn to free form.
-Free form?

-Well, that's
the movement today.

-With his talent for realism?

-But you can see the direction
his realism takes.

It's unhealthy.
-B-But you said I was a genius.

I don't want to be
a busboy anymore.

-Yes, maybe you got
a point there.

You shouldn't keep working
at The Yellow Door.

Look, I'm sure that man
is going to buy your dead cat.

So here --
here's your fee in advance.

$50. And if you need more,

I've got it, so don't worry.

I've got great faith in you,
Walter.

-Gee, $50 for something I made.

-Now you're a professional.

-Let's go.

-Okay.

Good night, Walter.

Keep up the good work.
-Yeah, but don't rush things.

You got all the time
in the world.

Come on, Carla.

-Good night.

♪

Whoo-hoo!

-Did you holler, Walter?

-I'm an artist, Mrs. Swickert!

-Yeah? Oh, sure you are, Walter.

-I am.

Look.

♪

-Good heaven.

♪

-[Singing in Spanish]

♪

♪

-One of the greatest advances
in modern poetry

is the elimination of clarity.

I am proud to say my poetry
is only understood

by that minority which is aware.

-Aware of what?

-Well, not of anything
stupid, just aware.

-Man, this place is beginning
to feel like a lineup.

-Yeah, baby.

If it don't cool off
pretty soon,

I'm going to haunt
somebody else's joint.

-We may have to start drinking.

-[Singing continues]

♪

-Yes, man. Yes.

Yes. That's my man. Yeah.

[Applause]

Yes, man, yes.

-Good evening, Walter.
-Good evening, Carla.

Sylvia, didn't you see me wave
my Zen stick?

-Why, it's Walter Paisley.

-Bring me a cappuccino and
a piece of papaya cheesecake.

A-And a bottle
of Yugoslavian white wine.

-Yes, sir, Mr. Paisley.

-Good evening, Walter.
-Maxwell, how have you been?

-I see the rewards of
achievement have come your way.

-Well, after all,
I'm a successful sculptor now.

-Indeed.

-Hey, man,
dig Walter the wigger.

-He's coming out
like he just cured cancer.

-Let us make the scene.

-Crazy.

-I was just suggesting to Walter

that he try his hand
at free form.

-Why do you suggest
anything to Walter?

-Are you the spokesman
for society

come to put your stifling finger
in his eye?

-Good evening, gentlemen.

-Oh, now, who invited
these two down

from the clouds?

-Maxwell! Yoo-hoo!

-Clear the table, bring a bowl.
I may be sick.

-It's Alice, the awful,
come to spread cheer and color.

-Look at my suntan, everybody.

-Do we have to?
-Where have you been, Alice?

-I went up to Big Sur
to look for Henry Miller.

-You didn't find him, I hope.

-No. He's in Europe.
-Good.

-Why is the busboy
sitting here?

-I'm not the busboy anymore.

-That's right.
Walter has become a sculptor.

-Oh, really?

I'm a model, you know.

I only charge $25 an hour.

Would you like to do me?

-I just might.
-Never mind that.

Walter is going to try
free form.

-There you go again.

I may take my business
to The Sorrel Sewer.

-As a matter of fact,
I was going to suggest to Walter

that he try a female figure

as a change
from the violent death theme.

You really should, Walter.

You know what?

If you like,
I'll be your model for free.

-I couldn't. Not you.

-Man, if you're going to be an
artist,

you've got to do nudes, nudes.

-Right, right, right.

Ain't nobody an artist
unless he does nudes.

-Will you get them out of here
before we wind up

in night court?

-Oh, let's change the subject.

I'm sick of hearing
about sculpture.

Nobody knows how
to do that anymore.

Much less the busboy
from The Yellow Door.

-Wh-Who do you think
you're talking about?

-Don't shout at me.

-I don't like you.
-[Laughs]

Nobody asked for
your opinion, Walter.

You're just a simple
little farm boy,

and the rest of us
are all sophisticated beatniks.

-That's all, man.

Let's split.

-Yeah, man.

I gotta make me some air.

-See, you -- you
made them leave.

-What did I do?

-The first beneficial service
of your benighted life.

It proves we're all good
for something.

-Are you saying that this busboy
is better than I?

-Yes.

-I think this whole bit
about him being a sculptor

is just a big put-on
for my benefit.

-That's not true.
I am a sculptor.

-Oh, yeah?

Prove it.
Make something out of this.

-There. Hand.

-[Laughs]
-That isn't a real hand.

If you were a sculptor,
you'd create something for me.

-[Laughing]
A harpoon would be very nice.

-I'm going home.

-Alice?

You're obnoxious.

-But he's such an idiot.

[Ominous music plays]

♪

♪

♪

♪

Yes?
What are you doing here?

-I wanted to apologize
for being nasty

to you this evening.

-So you're apologized.
Good night.

[Door slams]

[Knocks on door]

Listen, twerp,
why don't you get out of here

and let me go to bed?

-I didn't finish talking to you.

I decided to make
that female figure after all.

-Oh?

-And I'd like you to
pose for it.

-Remember what I said
about my price?

-$25 an hour.

-If you want to pay it,
I don't mind posing.

When do you want to start work?

-Tonight.

-You mean right now?
-Uh-huh.

-Wait till I get my sweater.

♪

♪

[Door closes]

♪

♪

Could use a little more heat
around this place.

-It's bad for the clay.

You'll get used to it.

♪

-Well, I'm almost ready.

♪

-Here.

Sit in this chair,
and I'll pose you.

♪

♪

-Kind of rickety.

How's this pose?

-Well, that's fine.
That's very good.

Just stay like that.

-That doesn't look
like very much clay.

-Oh, it's enough.

Put this around your neck.

♪

♪

[Gasps]

♪

-Watch it. The plate's hot.

-Are these fertile eggs?

-Are these eggs fertile?
Naturally.

-What did you fry them in?

-We ran out of
the safflower-seed oil,

but I found a bottle
of peanut oil on the shelf.

Don't worry.

It's not hydrogenated.
[Doorbell rings]

-Is that the cold-pressed stuff
or the junk

Hilda bought by mistake?

-Yes, man, yes.

-Hi.
-Good morning. Walter.

-Hi, Walter.
What brings you here?

-Have some breakfast, man.
-What are you having?

-Soy-and-wheat-germ pancakes,
organic guava nectar,

calcium lactate
and tomato juice,

and garbanzo omelets
sprinkled with smoked yeast.

Join us?
-No, thanks.

Sounds great, though.

I brought something to show you.

Could I have some
of the guys help me?

-Is it "Murdered Man"?
-It's better.

-Come on.

-Boris.

Put it in the middle
of the room.

-When did you do this, Walter?

-Last night.
It doesn't take me very long.

-I should say not.

-Well, let's see it, man.

♪

♪

-Walter, I can't believe it.

-I'm honored to know this man.

-Do you think it's nice?

-Hey, she's beautiful.

-Do you think
it's nicer than "Murdered Man"?

-Oh, I don't know, Walter.
It's impossible to choose.

They're both great.

-Walter, I'm deeply moved.

To show my appreciation,
I'm going to give a party

tonight at The Yellow Door
in your honor.

And I shall compose a poem.

♪

[Indistinct conversations,
laughter]

-Some more champagne,
Your Majesty?

-Hear, hear.
-Where, where?

-There, there.

That's fine.

After this, can I have
another little kiss?

-Walter. You're a lech.

-I am?
-[Laughs]

-Here we go.

[Applause]

-Hola, hola.

Walter.

The bird that flies now
pays later

through the nose
of ambidextrous apathy.

Necrophiles may dance
upon the place mats

in an orgy of togetherness.

The highway of life cuts sharply
through the shady ghettos

and the ivy-covered tombs,

and laughter rings
from every time capsule

in the star-spangled firmament.

And in the deep freeze,
it is the children's hour,

and no one knows
that Duncan is murdered,

and no one knows that
Walter Paisley is born.

Duncan knows,

Tuesday sunrise knows,

alley cats and garbage cans

and steaming pavements.

And you and I

and the nude
descending the staircase.

And all such things
with souls.

We know that
Walter Paisley is born.

Ring rubber bells,
beat cotton gongs,

strike silken cymbals,

play leathern flutes.

The cats and cans,
and you and I,

and all such things with souls,
we shall hear,

"Walter Paisley is born!"

And the souls become flesh.

Walter Paisley is born!

[Cheers and applause]

-Marvelous, darling. Marvelous.

-Man, like, that was
the greatest gas I ever heard.

-Crazy, what did he say?

-Didn't you hear him?
-No, man. I'm too far out.

♪

-Maxwell, that was magnificent.

-I feel so elevated.

-Walter deserved
every word of it.

-It makes me so glad
I'm aware.

-Did you hear what he said?

-Yes, Walter.

-All about me.

It's true, isn't it?

-Every word.

-You'd better hold off
on the bubbly, artist.

-Yeah? Why?

-You might talk too much.

-What would I say?

-Most anything, I expect.

-Are you two trying
to ignore the rest of us?

-Oh, not me, Maxwell.

I wouldn't ignore you.

I know what it is to be ignored.

-Tell us what you're going
to do next, Walter.

-I'm going to make
the most wonderful, wildest,

wiggiest things
you've ever seen.

I'm going to make big statues
and little statues,

tall statues and short statues.

I'm going to make statues
of nobodies

and statues of famous people.

Statues of actors

and -- and poets

and people who sell things
on television.

And a statue of the mayor

and some opera singers
and their intimate friends.

And everybody will say,
"Walter, let me shake your hand.

It's been a real pleasure
to have known you."

[Applause]
-Hear, hear!

Alley cats and garbage cans.

They know that
Walter Paisley is born.

Ring rubber bells,
beat cotton gongs,

strike silken cymbals.

Play leather flutes.
[Chuckles]

"Tell us what you're
gonna do next, Walter."

I'm going to make big statue,
little statue,

movie stars and poets

and guys who sell things
on television.

And the mayor
and some opera singers.

"Whatcha going to do next,
Walter?"

♪

What am I gonna do next?

♪

What am I gonna do next?

♪

I gotta do something
before they forget.

♪

I know what it's like
to be ignored.

♪

♪

-Who are you? What do you want?

-Life is an obscure hobo

bumming a ride
on the omnibus of art.

-Huh? What'd you say?

What is not creation
is graham crackers.

Let them all crumble
to feed the creator.

-Eh, beat it. You must be nuts.

♪

♪

No! No!

No! No! No! No!

[Screams]

[Saw whirring]

[Cheers and applause]

-Yeah!

-Whoo!

-Alright.
[Laughs]

Alright, well, if you're a
Roger Corman devotee,

then you've noticed by now
that "A Bucket of Blood"

has an enormous resemblance
to "Little Shop of Horrors",

the movie that Corman
would make a few weeks later,

the movie that would become

an off-Broadway musical
in the 80s,

the movie that would play
on late night TV for decades,

the movie that would become
a big budget

remake starring Rick Moranis

and actually,
"The Little Shop of Horrors"

is the only
Roger Corman movie

that's on
the National Film Registry

for being a work of great
cultural significance.

So...

-Oh, I love
"Little Shop of Horrors".

-I know. You love
the remake one with Rick Moranis

because you love Rick Moranis.
-Yes, I do.

-All right, well,
the people involved

in the original "Little Shop"
hated the remake.

Not for any artistic reason,

but because once the big
budget version came out,

they stopped showing that black
and white one on late night TV.

So --
But anyway,

the reason they're almost
identical in structure

is that Charles B. Griffith
had a habit

of making identically
structured movies.

Structure is everything
in screenwriting,

and the most notorious example

is a film he wrote
called "Naked Paradise"

that he wrote
for Corman in 1957.

And the same structure

that he used
in that movie became

Monte Hellman's "Beast
from Haunted Cave" in 1960.

It became Roger Corman's "Atlas"
in 1961.

It became Roger Corman's
"Creature from the Haunted Sea",

also in 1961.

But what's strange
about the story that morphed

from "Bucket of Blood"
to :Little Shop of Horrors"

is that "Bucket of Blood",
in my opinion,

is a far superior film
to "Little Shop of Horrors".

And so why isn't
"Bucket of Blood"

on the National Film
Registry?

Why isn't "Bucket of Blood"
a popular musical?

Maybe we can ask Roger

when he gets out here
in just a minute.

But in the meantime,

this movie is hurtling
toward its conclusion,

with Walter Paisley
holding court

with a so-called Zen stick --

What's a Zen stick? --
and a plunger as a staff,

and a goofy crown
that's reminiscent of the fool

in a Shakespeare play
pretending to be king.

And so the inevitable downfall
can't be that far away, can it?

Let's watch the brilliant
conclusion of

"A Bucket of Blood".

And in the meantime, Darcy will
be moving amongst you,

gathering your questions
and your comments

for our realtime mailbag
that we'll be doing later.

-Oh, I will not
be moving amongst them.

[Laughs]

We have a mailbag
somewhere

at the front of the stage.

-We have a mailbag up here?
-Somewhere. Right?

-Excellent.
I thought it'd be more fun

if you were moving amongst
the multitudes with the mailbag,

and they were, like,
putting the mail in the bag.

-I will not be moving amongst
the multitudes tonight.

-Okay. Just would have been
more dramatic

if you were moving
amongst the multitudes.

But -- All right,
back to the movie.

-Perhaps youshould move
amongst the multitudes.

-Well, all right,
I just might do that.

I might go out
to collect the mail,

but -- because we --

Look, we have a beautiful
Nevada night, right?

We couldn't ask
for better weather.

There's an air of anticipation

because Roger Corman
is waiting in the wings, and...

-We have no wings.

-Well, Roger Corman is waiting
in the car, so life is good.

-Do you have your questions
ready for Roger?

-Well, unfortunately,

I've already asked him
all my questions

the previous four or five times
he's been on my various shows.

So I'm going to have to dig
deep tonight for something new.

-I feel like you should've
have done that in advance.

-Well, I'm going to go
with spontaneity.

We're going with
spontaneous tonight with Roger.

-All right, I will prepare
to defend you on social media.

-What do you mean?
What are you talking about?

-Whenever you say something
off the top of your head,

you make everyone mad,
and I defend you.

-Thank you, Darcy, for...

-You're welcome. It's what I do.

-You act like it's
a regular thing, that I.

-[Clears throat]
No comment.

[Cheers and applause]

-Hello, Leonard.
Beautiful morning, isn't it?

-Was.

What's that you got in the box?

-Just wait till you see this.

-Extra, extra! Horrible murder
in furniture factory!

Read about the man
who got cut in half!

Extra, extra!

Police can only find
part of him.

-Leonard.

-Read all about it!

What's the matter, Leonard?

-You made a bust?

-Yeah, isn't it wonderful?

-What's the matter, Leonard?

-Put it down, Walter, please.

Walter.

Walter, listen to me carefully.

I don't want you to make
any more statues.

Do you understand?
No more statues.

-Why not?
I gotta make statues, Leonard.

You heard Brock,
they want me to make them.

And if I stop making them,
I'll just be a busboy again.

-Brock. He's behind all of this
with his stupid, bitter poetry.

Listen, you've got
to stop, and right away.

I'm beginning
to feel responsible.

-Why? What did you do?

-Never mind.

Walter, I've decided to have
that show for you right away.

-[Gasps]

-Yes, when Carla comes,

we'll have her work up
some nice invitations.

We'll have them printed up.

We'll invite the critics
and the art collectors.

We'll tell them.

-Well, I don't see
why we can't go.

-Mr. Leonard de Santis
is afraid to have you come.

You will buy his coffee
and lure his tourists.

You are the heart and soul
and meat of The Yellow Door.

He slighted you.

-Did you get an invitation?

-I did not,
but I'm going anyway.

Not to drink his champagne,
but to see Walter's triumph.

After that, we go no more.

-Hi, Maxwell.

-I won't say good luck, Walter.
-Why not?

-It would imply
you could not succeed

on your ability alone.

♪

-You look so handsome.

-I do?

So do you.
-[Chuckles]

-I mean, you look so pretty.

-Thank you.
-Are you ready?

-Oh, we've got plenty of time.

-I know, but I-I wanted
to talk to you.

-Okay, we can go now,
if you like.

Bye.

-Later, man. Later.
-Swing.

-Man, why do you suppose
Walter wants to get her alone?

-Do you suppose he could be
physically attracted to her?

-No, man. He ain't the type.
He don't get enough vitamin E.

-Maxwell gave him a bottle
of wheat-germ oil once.

Maybe he just started taking it.

-What did you want to
talk to me about, Walter?

-Well...

what kind of people
do you like, Carla?

-Oh. Thinking people.

Artistic people, I guess.

-You think I'm artistic?
-Of course I do.

-That means you like me.

-I like you very much, Walter.

-I thought you did on account of

how you kissed me
the other night.

-Oh, that was
for your sculpture of the girl,

your nude in the chair.

-Carla, I-I've been alone
for a long time,

and I know you've been alone,

because you never seem
to go out with anybody,

even though Leonard's always
asking you to go out with him.

And I just...

-What are you trying to say?

-Carla, I-I don't want to
make statues anymore.

I want to get married -- to you.

-How long have you been
thinking about this, Walter?

-Oh, for -- for a long time.

Ever since you first
came to work at the club.

You were the only one
who was ever nice to me.

I didn't know you loved me
until you kissed me.

-Walter, I do like you,
and I did kiss you,

but that was because
of your work.

There's more to being in love
with someone than just that.

-You mean you don't love me?

-I'm afraid that's
what I mean.

-But -- But you got to love me.

W-Why do you think I made
that statue of Alice?

-Walter, I'm sorry, but I --

-You just can't be sorry.
I want to marry you.

-Now, calm down, Walter,
and let's go in there.

And -- And then maybe
when the show's over,

we can talk about it some more.

-Well, I don't want to
talk about it.

I get it.

I see the whole thing now.

Nobody knows that Walter Paisley
is born.

Carla...

will you do one favor for me?

-Just about anything, Walter.

-Would you let me
make a statue of you?

-Would you really like to?

That'd make me very happy.

-Okay. Tonight.

I'll make a statue
of you tonight. Okay?

-Come on.

[Jazz music playing,
indistinct conversations]

-Walter?

-No, thanks.

-This could bring about
a return to realism.

-Yes. A one-man return.

We have many artists about,
but no craftsmen.

This man knows his anatomy.

-I'll give $1,500 for this.

-After you read my review,
it'll probably cost you $5,000.

[Both laugh]

-So, what's the trouble?

Why should you be so depressed?

Have you heard the things
they're saying?

You can make $25,000
on these pieces alone.

-I thought you put money down.

-I do, but 25-thou?

-Oh, leave me alone.

-Out!

-Man, we have come
to make this scene.

-How about some cappuccino, man?
We got the bread.

-We're not open for business.
This is an art exhibit.

No bums. Get out.
-That art is a bum, man.

-And he's sober.
-Yeah, well, that's his problem.

-Alright, man. Alright.
We'll wait outside.

-Yeah, you wait outside, huh?

♪

♪

-Where are you going, Carla?
What's the matter?

-Walter, there's a body
inside that statue.

-Oh. Oh, that's Alice.

It's all right, Carla.

Maxwell says it's all right.

Let them become clay in his
hands that he might mold them.

-Walter, you stay away from me.

-Don't you see, Carla?
I made them immortal.

Don't you see?
I can do the same for you.

♪

♪

♪

-[Screams]

[Screaming]

♪

-Call Valdez,
have him send some cars.

I'm going up to Paisley's
-I'm going with you.

-Hey, man, what is the score?

-Walter Paisley's a murderer.
-Wow, man.

I saw him chasing Carla
down the street.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

-Walter.

-What was that?

Nobody knows I'm here.

-Walter.

-No. They couldn't know.

They're dead.

No. How could they know?

-Did you see him?

-He's hiding
around here someplace.

-He can't hide just because
we're in clay and he isn't.

♪

-Walter will go home.

-He won't know
where else to go.

-Walter will go home.

-Where is he?

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

[Cat screeches]

♪

♪

♪

-What's the matter with you?

-Walter.

Walter.

-We'll find him.

-We'll have him soon, Lou.

-We'll teach him
he can't murder us

and get away with it, won't we?

-Walter.

Walter.

Whatcha gonna do now, Walter?

-I'll -- I'll hide where
they'll never find me.

♪

♪

-There's his room!
He's -- He's gone crazy!

-Paisley! Paisley, open up!

Paisley!

♪

♪

-I suppose he would have
called it "Hanging Man."

His greatest work.

♪

[Cheers and applause]

-All right.
Ladies and gentlemen,

film producing partners
for the last 53 years,

Roger and Julie Corman.

[Cheers and applause]

-♪ Hello, Roger,
hello, Roger Corman ♪

♪ Hello, Julie,
hello, Julie Corman ♪

♪ Thank you for coming on
"The Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ Your movies are the best and
everybody knows ♪

♪ We love you,
we love you ♪

Come on.
♪ We love you ♪

-♪ We love you,
we love you ♪

[Cheers and applause]

-I think you got that riff
from "Rock All Night", right?

-Don't tell anybody.
-Okay. [Laughs]

All right, Roger,
I'm going to assume that

in the final shot of
"Bucket of Blood",

Walter Paisley
was just too inept

to completely cover himself with
sculptor's clay,

and so the final shot

was not the result of having too
little sculptor's clay

or too little time.

-Right.
No, that was planned.

That was
set up in advance.

-Oh, okay.

Well, welcome
to the only film festival

that celebrates
the drive-in movie

and the drive-in moviegoers
of America and the world.

And you may remember this,
but 40 years ago,

at the Gemini Drive-In
in Dallas,

we stood together on the
roof of the concession stand

And I gave you
a lifetime achievement award

engraved on a Chevy hubcap.
Do you remember that?

-I remember it.
I still have the hubcap.

-Okay.

So, what you should
probably get tonight

for your more-than-a-lifetime
achievement award

is an engraved
Lamborghini hubcap,

or maybe an engraved
Ferrari hubcap.

But we don't recognize foreign
cars at American drive-ins.

So the best we can do
is an engraved Cadillac hubcap,

which -- Darcy, bring
the Cadillac hubcap,

because if you rolled up
to a drive-in

in a Cadillac in the '50s,
'60s, or '70s,

you were probably showing up
for the Roger Corman movie.

-Oh.
Oh, that's great.

Great.

I love it.
-Yeah.

And actually,
we have one for you, too, Julie,

because you're a producer
in your own right.

You deserve
your own Academy Award,

your drive-in Academy Award.

And in fact, Roger,

you were the man who brought
Ingmar Bergman to the drive-in.

So that's definitely kind of
a Cadillac sort of billing.

-Yes.
Right.

-How did that happen?

-Well, what happened was
we were distributing

Bergman's film
"Cries and Whispers",

and on a film like that,
you open it

in New York and Los Angeles,
and then you play college towns.

For instance, if you're
going to play San Francisco,

you also play Berkeley
and Palo Alto.

-Okay.

-So we had played
all of these places,

and I knew that drive-ins
in the fall

had trouble getting pictures
because the weather was turning,

the kids were going back
to school.

The major studios didn't
want to give them a picture.

And we had all of these prints
left over

from "Cries and Whispers".

So I said, "Why not put 'Cries
and Whispers' in a drive-in

and see what happens?"

-And what happened?

-We were delighted to find
we had done average business.

[Laughter]

-All right.

-So one of my favorite stories

about how Roger distributed
films all over the map

was someone sent us
a picture of a double bill

at a drive-in
outside of Nashville,

and it was Jonathan Demme's
women in cages

and Ingmar Bergman's
"Cries and Whispers".

[Laughter, applause]

-The two extremes
of Roger Corman's career.

All right,
I want to take you back to 1953

and a movie
called "Highway Dragnet",

which opens with a montage of
all the neon on Fremont Street.

And this was your first film as
writer and associate producer,

and it's not one of the expected
Roger Corman genres.

It's a film noir.
How did that come about?

-I had
written this script,

which I called
"The House in the Sea",

and I sold it to, I think,
Bill Broidy, a producer,

and he changed
the name on --

which I didn't think
was good -- to "Highway Dragnet"

because Dragnet was popular.

And I told him I would work for
nothing if I could come along

and be his assistant
on that picture.

And from what I learned on that,
I started producing.

I produced a couple of films,

and then I thought --

I was seeing
what the directors were doing,

and I thought, "I can do that."

So on the next one,
I became a director,

and the picture was successful.

And also, already,
I was working as a director

and never stopped.

-Oh, well, all right.

We're calling
tonight's program,

"Roger Corman's First
70 Years in Hollywood".

And I want to do something that
we haven't done before, Roger.

I want to go
through your 70 years

in about seven minutes.
-Okay.

That could be done.
-Okay.

And I want to do it
in the following way,

because I believe --
if I'm not mistaken,

I believe you may be not
only the producer-director

with the longest tenure
in Hollywood --

I mean, there have been
some actors

who started as child actors

who have almost
an equal tenure --

but you're also
the only filmmaker

who has worked
in every genre,

because I was trying
to think of a genre

that you somehow missed.

I thought maybe love story
was the genre you missed,

and then I found,

no, you made a love story movie.

So during your
700 film career --

and by the way, your name
is definitely on 700 films.

I see 500 as the most common
number attributed to you,

but any explanation
for the world

not knowing how
many films you've made?

-Because I don't
remember myself.

-[Laughs] Okay, well,
let me put it this way.

There are two people
in the world

who have watched
all 700 of your films --

you and me.

Okay.

-And you lived through it.

-I did. And so I'm going
to go through your career,

and I'm just going to list
the genre

that you specialized
in at various times,

and you tell me --
I want you to tell me

whether you have fond memories
of that genre,

whether you have bad memories
of that period,

and what you really
think of that genre.

Do you love that genre?
So, you have the concept?

-Yes.
-Okay.

So you started with Westerns.

The first one I think
was "Five Guns West".

Do you love Westerns?

-It wasn't that I loved them.

It was that they were
very popular and salable.

So my first film as a director
was "Five Guns West".

-Okay. And I remember
in "Five Guns West",

you have a character say,
"We're going to go across vast,

dangerous Indian territory,

and we have to be
exceedingly careful."

And then I believe
you had one Indian

who jumped off of a rock.

Is that right?
-Yes.

-And and I think
the Indian doubled

as one of
the intrepid cowboys.

-Yes.
-That's right.

-Actually, I made four Westerns,

and I can give you the titles

and you'll think of the season
of the thing.

I made "Gunslinger"" --
which I picked --

"Gunslinger"
and "Give Guns West".

Jim Nicholson picked "Oklahoma
Woman" and "Apache Woman".

-Okay. [Laughs]
All right.

The next one -- you made
a movie called "Swamp Women",

which started a genre called
redneck action movies.

And my question --

which you made a lot of
in the '70s, by the way.

And so my question would be,
do you love the South?

-I tolerated the South.

[Laughter]

-Because I would say
you made more movies about --

both as a producer
and a director,

more movies about -- "Nashville
Girl" and "Eat My Dust"

and movies like this
all set in the South.

And so we wondered, you know,

why was Roger in the South
for so long?

-It was a territory
that was immediately identified

as being different
from the rest of the country.

-Okay.

-But don't forget,
he put his life on the line

with "The Intruder"
in Arkansas.

-Right.

"The Intruder", which I should
tell you this, Roger,

I mean, you I've interviewed
you a couple of times,

and you've always said
that "The Intruder"

was the only movie you ever made
that didn't make money.

But in the year 2012,
it actually went into the black.

Now, I realize that didn't

go into your pocket,
you know?

So maybe you still
consider it a loser,

but it actually did
eventually make money.

-We did, because
that was Bill Shatner

and I did
something for DVD or something,

and the money on that
finally broke us even.

-Oh, so you did get the money.

That's great.
All right.

Science fiction
monster movies.

It conquered the world.

I think was your first one
as a director.

-Yeah.
-And an affection for sci-fi?

A special affection for sci-fi?

-Yeah.
I've always liked sci-fi

because sci-fi
is laid in fantastic areas,

but, to a large extent,
it can be a comment

on the present day
through science fiction.

-And I think you were --

actually, I think you were
the last major filmmaker

who was doing relatively
low budget science fiction

once outer space became
a high budget type of genre,

but well into the '80s,
you were still doing

fairly low budget sci-fi films.

-Yeah. Except I had two
Russian science fiction pictures

that I bought that were
huge pictures.

Science fiction
was a big thing in Russia,

and I went to Moscow

and bought two

of their biggest
science fiction pictures,

and then this is where
Francis Coppola came in.

He had just graduated
from the UCLA film school,

and I said, "Francis,
your job is to translate

and recut these films
to make them in English."

And he did a great job.

-And so you disguised
the Russian pictures

as American pictures?
-Yes, yes.

We made a Russ--

I guess we won the Cold War,
but at least we won that.

-[Laughs] Okay.

-But, Roger,
didn't you tell me

that the first thing you wrote
was a science fiction story,

when you were young?

-Yes, I wrote
a science fiction story,

but it didn't sell, so...

-Okay. Well, when I first
met you in the '80s,

you had just finished "Mutant",

which became "Forbidden World",
and the reason I remember it is

that the mutant
had been cast aside

and was, like,
moldering in a corner

of the New World studios,

but "Forbidden World"
is actually

a very underappreciated movie.

Over the years,
people have discovered it,

and it's become a fairly
well known cult movie.

Film noir thrillers
like "Naked Paradise".

-I always liked film noir,

and I made them simply
because I liked that genre.

-So that is one that you did

out of your personal
preferences.

-I'm a great admirer of Raymond
Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.

-All right.
And I've got to say,

you're probably a great admirer
of James M. Cain as well,

because I think a lot
of those erotic thrillers

were various versions
of James M. Cain novels.

-I should have included him.
Yeah.

-Okay.
rock 'n' roll musicals.

"Rock All Night", I think,
was the first one.

What are your real
tastes in music?

-Actually, I liked
early rock 'n' roll.

I thought early rock 'n' roll,
with Elvis and so forth,

I thought they were great.

-Yeah. Okay.

And historical action movies.

I mean, the one
that comes to mind immediately

is -- I always loved
this title --

"The Saga of the Viking Women

and their Voyage to the Waters
of the Great Sea Serpent".

But you would make
a certain type of movie

that was
a female action movie,

plus monsters,
plus bikinis, right?

All your genres together.

-We put it all together.
-[Laughs]

But you liked those period --

Even though
they required expensive --

Well, I guess the costumes
weren't expensive, were they?

-Well, what happened was
Jack Raymond,

who was a special effects man,

came up with this idea
that he would do special effects

and we'd make this huge picture.

The special effects
were terrible, so...

But we made it anyway.

-So you made money anyway.

Now you did straight
from the headlines

exploitation movies,

but the most famous one probably
being "War of the Satellite"..

Did you do that often,

take a big story
from the newspapers

and turn it into a movie?

-Yes.
The head of Allied Artists,

when the satellite went up,
I said to him,

"If you give me the money,

I can have a satellite picture
in 90 days."

And he gave me the money,

and I made
"War of the Satellites".

-And it was a big hit.
-Yeah.

-All right.

I noticed there were
three screenwriters on it.

You were carefully shepherding
that script, right?

-Yes. Right.
-All right.

Gangster films.
"Machine-Gun Kelly". Great film.

You made Charles Bronson's
career with that film.

-Actually, it was --
Strangely enough, I did.

It was a 10-day picture that I
think I made for about $60,000.

It had got very good reviews
in the United States,

but when it showed in France,

the French Nouvelle Vague
critics and directors

acclaimed the film

and they hired
an Italian company,

hired Charlie to come over
and play the lead,

and he built his whole career
overseas before he came --

He became a star overseas

before he came back
to the United States.

-That's great. They always
loved you in France, right?

Even from the earliest movies.
-Right.

-They just honored Roger

at the Cannes Festival
closing night.

[Cheers and applause]

-Yeah.
It was very, very exciting.

Until now, one of the most
exciting things

that happened in Roger's career,
in my view.

So what happened
was he was told

that he was giving an award
to the first time director,

and then a surprise happened
as he came out on stage.

But just before Quentin
Tarantino came out and said,

"Ladies and gentlemen --"

You know
how Quentin can be, right?

-[Laughs]

-"I am here to introduce the man
who's filled my eyes,

my lust, my treasuring
of films for decades,"

and on like that
for a while, "Roger."

And all the while --
I don't know how many films.

I think Roger claims 400.
I've seen 500.

This is the first time
I've heard 700.

But all of the posters
were scrolling

on the back of the stage

at the closing
night film festival,

and Roger was honored that way.

-That's wonderful.

[Cheers and applause]

And then starting with the movie
that we just saw, this is --

to me, this is your most
interesting period.

With the movie we just saw,
"Bucket of Blood',

movies that were sort of your
own comedy genres,

"A Bucket of Blood",
"Little Shop of Horrors" --

it's almost like they were
larks or experiments.

-They were.
Chuck Griffith, the writer,

and I, on the first one,
which is "A Bucket of Blood",

we drifted around
all the coffeehouses one night

along Sunset Boulevard,

and then
based the script on that,

and it turned out very well.

And then the same thing
for "Little Shop of Horrors".

-Right.

Well, it's a remarkably
accurate depiction

of the beatnik
coffeehouses of the day.

-Yeah.

-Then you had
some pure action movies.

"Ski Troop Attack"
was one of the early ones.

Just action, action, action,
action, action in every scene.

-Yes.
"Ski Troop Attack"

we shot in South Dakota,
and we had --

we were supposed to have --
there was a German,

a former German ski trooper
who was going to play the lead,

and he said he was injured
and couldn't play the lead,

and I thought,
"I'm stuck up here

and I've got to shoot
in a few days."

I thought,
"I don't know what to do."

I thought, "Okay,
I'll play the lead."

The only problem
is I couldn't ski,

and I was skiing
all over the place,

so I almost killed myself
on that picture.

-You brought back
costume drama

when you started doing
your Edgar Allan Poe films.

Costume drama was dead.
-Yeah.

-And I know Vincent Price
always gave you credit

for bringing back

upper class accents
and costumes

because he said his career
might not have survived

if that
had not happened.

But "House of Usher", I guess,
was the first one,

and all of your Poe movies.

Now, you did have a special
affection for those, didn't you?

-Yes.
Very much.

AIP wanted me
to make some picture --

I've forgotten what it was --
and I said, "I'd rather make --

I want to make 'The Fall
of the House of Usher'."

And I remember
Sam Arkoff said,

"But there's no monster

in 'The Fall of the House of
Usher'."

He knew the story.
And I thought,

"Oh, how do I answer this?"

I said, "Sam,
the house is the monster."

And he said,
"Okay, you can make it."

-All right, that's great.

All right, now then
you went through a period

of what I call the Roger Corman
art film period,

meaning movies that don't really
resolve in a traditional way,

like "The Wild Angels",
like "The Trip".

You sort of merged
the exploitation

and the art film world

in the mid '60s

in what I think is
a really interesting period.

How did that happen?

-What happened was this.
I had been cheated

a couple of times
on distribution,

on some of the more
successful films,

and it turned out
that Ingmar Bergman felt

he had been cheated
by Svensk Filmindustri also.

So he did show
that a great artist

can be a great businessman.

He made -- I think it was
"Cries and Whispers".

I'm not certain.
He made it himself,

and what he said was,
"I will give this picture

to every distributor
in each country

who will give me an advance
of what the film cost me

so that I will break even,

and then I will split
with him on the profits."

And I immediately
took that offer

and took "Cries and Whispers",

and "Cries and Whispers",
of course,

was a giant success.

-Yes, but you were also
making your own art films

like "The Trip"
and "The Wild Angels".

-Yes. That was after I had
done the Poe pictures

and I said -- they wanted me
to do another one,

and I said,
"I've done so many of these.

I'm repeating myself. I want
to get out of the studio

and I want to get
into the streets

and just shoot what's going on."

And they said,
"What do you want to shoot?"

And I said, "I want to make a
picture about the Hells Angels."

And I did.

And the picture
was an incredible success.

And they cheated me
again on that.

But it was
such a big success,

they wanted me
to make another one.

And I said,
"Why would I make another one

when you cheated me
on the last one?"

They said, "We will
settle with you on the last one

and give you a percentage
on the new one."

So I made "The Trip",
which is about LSD.

It was again a giant success,
and they cheated me again.

-Oh, no.

Oh wow.
That's terrible.

But we love those films.

We're going to show them
later tonight.

When you and Julie,

joined together later on
New World Pictures in the 1970s,

you started defining all kinds
of new genres as a producer.

Women in prison movies.
-Yes.

-Whatever genre --

"The Student Nurses" and "The
Student Teachers" movies.

What is that genre?
That's feminist exploitation,

is what I would call that,
you know?

And didn't you make several of
those yourself, Julie?

-I did. I did. In fact, my
favorite line out of any movie

was from "The Student Teachers",

and the line is the girls
saying to the coach,

"I don't want to watch.
I want to play."

-[Laughs]

And back to the
redneck action movie

and when Burt Reynolds
was such a big star.

You were making all kinds
of redneck action movies

in the South.

The slumber party movie,
the erotic thriller.

You were back to monsters
with things like "Carnosaur".

If I'm not mistaken,

you had the first sword
and sorcery movie in the '80s,

even before Conan came out.

Is that right?
-Yeah. "Deathstalker".

-Oh, "Deathstalker".
Well, yes,

and we love "Deathstalker".

We're going to show it
in just a minute.

And throughout all these years
of --

Throughout all these years of
writing through the genres,

did you ever have
a favorite genre

or a favorite movie
or a favorite filmmaker?

-If I had a favorite genre,
it might be science fiction.

-That's not surprising.

Did you ever have a favorite --

Is there one movie

that comes back to you
as being full of good memories

and good feelings,

where they didn't cheat you?

-Uh...

"Grand Theft Auto",

which was Ron Howard's first
film as the director.

He did
a wonderful, wonderful job,

and I remember he wanted
more extras on one scene,

and I said, "Ron,
I can't give you more extras,

but if you do
a good job on this,

you will never work
for me again."

[Laughter]

-And that came true, right?
-Right.

-All right.
-But I worked for him.

-[Laughs]

Well, the reason
I mentioned art films is

I think your most
creative period --

I guess I would call it
your auteur period --

came in the '60s
with "The Trip",

which we'll be screening here
later tonight,

and to make the trip,
you took LSD,

in the company, I think, of most
of the cast of "The Trip".

Didn't they join you
in Big Sur?

-Yes. They they felt that

if I could try it,
they could try it.

The trouble is
I just laid down in the dirt

and went into this LSD dream,
and I remember --

One thing
I still remember, though --

I saw a clipper ship
sailing towards me

out of the gold
background,

and as it changed,
the clipper ship became women,

and the women opened
their arms to me in that trip.

It was a wonderful trip.

The problem was
when we made the picture,

because it was partially written

and partially improvised,
and all these guys here,

and I was saying,
"I had such a great trip.

Didn't somebody have a bad trip?

This thing is going to end up
as an ad for LSD."

-[Laughs]

Well, one of those
cast members

who was with you at Big Sur,
I think, is here tonight,

the character of John
in the movie,

the character who is supposedly
there to talk

the person through
their trip in case it goes bad.

So, ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome --

Bruce Dern is with us.

[Cheers and applause]

-[Chanting "Bruce-ster!"]

-Thank you for being here,
Bruce.

We wanted
to get one outside take

on that little stock
company of the '60s.

The stock company
was yourself,

Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda,

Dennis Hopper,
I think was in it.

-Yeah, Dennis was there.

-Was that just a chance of all
those genius actors and writers

and performers all being
together at the same time?

Because I can't imagine anything
like that happening today,

because people just don't
hang out like that anymore.

-Yeah.

Well, it wasn't by chance --

I chose them,
as I recall.

This was so long ago,
Bruce. I can hardly remember.

How do you remember?

-I remember all of it.
-Oh.

-[Laughs]

-Who was the leader
of the pack?

-Well, first of all,

none of the guys
you just mentioned

or the girls ever went
to college or finished college,

but we went to
the University of Corman.

[Cheers and applause]

And in the three films
I did with him --

We did them close together --

"The Trip" we did
right after, actually,

we finished
"The Wild Angels".

But the camaraderie
on the set --

The thing this guy
did more than anybody

I've probably ever worked with,
except maybe Mr. Hitchcock,

was the guy
gathered people together.

Alexander Payne
does it today,

Quentin Tarantino does it today,

and he did it
every movie he did.

He would come up with grips,
electricians,

I mean, on the second unit,

which was me running off
with the motorcycle

in "The Wild Angels".

Well, the cameraman and director
was Peter Bogdanovich.

-Second unit director
on "The Wild Angels"

was Peter Bogdanovich?

-And in the graveyard. He had
to be in the graveyard, too,

and it was such a delight.

I remember I asked Roger --
I said,

after one day
or someplace in the day,

I said, "How many of these
goddamn movies have you made?"

And you said, "Well, this is
somewhere in the two hundreds."

-Oh, that was early.

-Oh, what I liked most
about Roger

was he perpetuated
the movie business

without us ever realizing
that's what he was doing.

-That's very true.

-And you do shit
that's never been done.

[Cheers and applause]

And the only time I ever got
bugged at him

was he didn't put me in.
"Von Richthofen and Brown".

-[Laughs]
"Von Richthofen and Brown",

another very underrated movie.

-Oh, wow.

I got two or three
little stories here about Roger,

but the one thing I wanted you
to know -- for example,

Laura was conceived
on "The Wild Angels".

So when you go down
to Palm Springs

and he says, "Now, go off down
those trails by the river

and then turn around and come
back as fast as you can."

We were 50 guys on motorcycles,
and he did a really neat thing.

He got the real Hells Angels.
He got -- Everybody was real.

I even got beat up one night

when I was going back
to my dressing room,

because I had non-Hells Angel
colors on,

and they grabbed me
and beat me up.

And the next day,
police came to the set.

"Are you okay, Mr. Dern?"
I said, "Yeah, I'm okay."

And Earl Flinton and Sonny
Barger came over to me

and said, "We like
what you said to the police.

You said nothing. Because
we will take care of this.

Believe me."

I don't know
if he meant to do that,

Roger, or not, but he always
seemed to gather steam

when we did scenes
that nowadays, they say,

"Well, they were improvised."
Chuck Griffiths wrote that shit.

I mean,
the excitement about him

was everything happened
right there, and he filmed it.

And he was just so unique

in his point of view
and everything.

And I said -- I made a movie
once called "Silent Running",

and it's a very good
science fiction movie.

Douglas Trumbull directed it.

I said, "Where'd you get
the idea for this?"

He said, "Well, I didn't
get the idea for this

from what I'm going
to tell you,

but I took a week
with Roger Corman space films."

And I said,
"He made space films?"

I mean, I didn't know
anything about it

because when they said
drive-in movies,

we were learning
how to get an A

on the slate
instead of a B.

And I got that
the first minute I was there.

I mean, he did one
wonderful thing for me.

In the Wild Angels,
I die in a motorcycle accident

that Bogdanovich filmed,
incidentally,

and then I'm in a coffin,
with an open coffin,

and the Hells Angels
celebrating my death

rip the church apart.

And I guess no one would say,
"Don't do that."

And it's good, because
if they'd have told them,

"Don't do that," they might have
torn the whole block down.

You know? I mean,
it was just --

I think the thing I still look
forward to --

I'm 97 and he's 111.

-You're 97?
I'm 97.

-No, I'm 93.
Excuse me.

-Oh.
-You're 97. I'm 87. Sorry.

And then when I drive up here
tonight to come to this event,

I look up on the screen

and I don't think I'm wrong,
but there's Dick Miller,

and he, I thought, was in almost
every movie you made.

-Yeah. Dick Miller and I worked
together many, many times.

-Oh, I thought so.
I thought Roger was a relic,

and I got pissed off
year after year

when the AFI or the Academy
wouldn't just say, "Hey, bud,

you did all this shit.

Come on down.
Let's give you something."

And they did, finally.

-They did give him
an Academy Award.

-So...
-Yes.

-And I got
the biggest kick out of --

was I look around the set
on "The Wild Angels"

and "The Trip" for a few times,

and the assistant cameraman
was Francis Coppola.

The prop man
was Jonathan Demme.

Jack Linsky was in charge of
anything that moved on wheels,

and all these guys
went to be big, big things

and that out of his tutelage,

and he had them
on every movie.

The only guy I never met
was Chuck Griffiths.

-Oh, yeah.

-Because I said,
"Where is he?"

"Oh, he's in a room writing.

I don't know if it's for me,
though." [Chuckles]

And what Roger did for us is not
only would he pay us decently,

but he put our names
above the title.

And that is the key thing
you got,

is if you don't get paid
real well, you need billing.

-That's great.

Let me
ask both of you

about "The Wild Angels".

Do you think that that movie --
Many of the same people

involved in "The Wild Angels"
end up in "Easy Rider".

Is there a direct
connection between --

-"Easy Rider" was first.

-Yes. There was.

I don't want to get into it,
but on "Easy Rider",

I arranged for American
International to finance it,

and I was to be
executive producer

because Dennis and Peter
had never made a picture,

and I was to get
a percentage of the profits.

But it's a long story.

Sam Arkoff
wrecked the whole deal.

-I should mention --
I didn't mention

when I was going through
all your genres

the motorcycle movie,
but you did --

There was, like, a three or four
year period of biker movies,

and then "The Trip"
is a genre all of its own.

And both of those
were, of course,

ripped-from-the-headlines
type movies

filmed
in a very '60s way,

which is to say,
a free form story structure.

Jack Nicholson
wrote the script

for "The Trip",

and yet they were
big commercial hits.

Do you think that kind of thing
could happen today?

-Yes,
but it's more difficult

because
theatrical distribution

is confined very heavily to
Marvel Comics

and things like that.

So it's a little bit more
difficult, but it could happen.

-All right.

-I was just going to say,
before you go off that, Bruce,

did you know that
on "The Wild Angels",

Roger got a death threat?

-What?
-What?

-The Hells Angels
put a contract on you?

The Hells Angels put a contract
on you when you were --

-Oh, yeah. Oh, I remember
I had a great contract

with a phone call with
Big Otto Friedli.

He called me,
and I remember the conversation.

I remember that conversation
exactly. Otto called me

and he said, "Hey, man,
we're going to snuff you out."

And I said,
"Otto, think about this.

You've already announced
and said

you're going to kill me.

If I slip and fall
in the bathtub,

the police are going
to come after you.

On the other hand,
you're suing me for $1 million

for defamation of character.

How do you expect to collect the
million dollars if you kill me?

My advice to you is forget the
momentary pleasure of killing me

and go for the million dollars."

And he thought a little bit,
and he said,

"Yeah, man,
that's what we'll do.

We'll go for
the million dollars."

-All right.
Well, Roger,

I would love to see
70 more years of your movies.

Do you have a next movie?

Are you making a movie?
What's your next one?

-With my old friend
Brad Krevoy on remaking

"Little Shop of Horrors"

as a possible Halloween picture,

and we're working on that.

-That's great. That's great.

You're talking to
the right audience about that.

-And I will do a cameo
in that movie...

-Okay.

-...where I look into
the camera and go, "Hmm."

That was Jack's birth.

-All right.
-All right.

-Joe Bob, you forgot to mention
Roger's acting career. Come on.

-I didn't mention
your acting career.

You were in "The Godfather II".
You were in...

-What happened was this.

I kept playing these
little roles for friends of mine

who were directing,

and a guy from the Screen Actors
Guild called me and said,

"You have to join the Guild."
And I said, "I'm not an actor.

I've just played these little
roles for friends of mine.

It's an in-joke."

And he said,
"The joke's going far enough.

You're working
more than half our members

and you have to join the Guild."

So suddenly, I joined the Guild,

and all of a sudden, I'm getting
residuals as an actor.

-Actually, I think
you should be on strike.

-As a matter of fact,

I thought about that.

I'm going to tell them
I'm ill.

I can't make it out there.

-All right.

-Bruce,
I wanted to respond

to what you said
about the camaraderie

on the set of the young actors
and so on,

and to say that when Roger
got his Academy Award,

that Jack Nicholson raised
his glass and said,

"Thanks for believing in me,
Rog,

when none of the rest
of them did."

-That's right.

-I can back that up
for not only myself,

but I took Diane Ladd,
who was my wife at the time,

with me to the interview,

and when we stood up to go,

he said, "Miss Ladd,

I've seen some of your work.

Why don't you come on down
and do this?"

She said, "Do a
Roger Corman motorcycle movie?"

[Laughter]

It's like Laura called me up
one day

and she said, "Daddy, do I want
to do a dinosaur movie?"

[Laughter]

And I said, "Well, it would
depend on the ingredients.

I mean, who's directing
and so forth and so on."

Anyway, it was always fun
to be with him

and be able to say this
kind of stuff about a guy who,

God damn it, deserves it.

40 years ago,
he deserved it, you know?

-And we honored him
40 years ago. [Laughs]

So, listen, I want to thank
you both for being here.

I know you both
probably have plans

to spend the rest of the night
experimenting with various

recently legalized narcotics,
so...

And, Julie, make sure you don't
take anything yourself.

You're the designated
safe person for tonight.

But, Roger, I wanted
to say this to you at last.

I know that
you have been honored

by many prestigious
film organizations.

You were kind of
a bad boy

when you were young

and then you became, at some
point, the elder statesman.

So many of these film
organizations have honored you.

The British Film Institute
has honored you.

The Cinema Francais
has honored you at least twice.

The Academy gave you
a lifetime Oscar.

But we like to think --
We like to think here

that the pulsing heart
of your core audience

over the years
was here at the drive-in,

and our fans
wanted this opportunity.

The reason you're here tonight
is we wanted this opportunity

to salute you in our own way
for making the movies

that in 1955 and in 1965
and in 1975

and in 1985 might not have been
that important

to the Motion Picture Academy

and might not have been
that important

to the British Film Institute,

but they were always important
to us and the drive-in audience.

-So thank you.

-And they were important enough

to change the business.

-Yes. But what
I want to say to you, Roger,

is thank you for caring about
the populist film audience

for all of those years.

-Thank you.

-♪ Thank you, Roger,
thank you, Roger Corman ♪

♪ Thank you, Julie,
thank you, Julie Corman ♪

♪ Thank you, Bruce,
thank you, Bruce Dern ♪

♪ We had a great time,
please do return ♪

♪ We love you,
we love you ♪

Come on.
Everybody.

♪ We love you,
we love you ♪

♪ We love you, we love you,
we love you, we love you ♪

♪ We love you ♪

[Cheers and applause]

-This is something that
Joe Bob gave me 40 years ago.

The lifetime achievement award.

-[Chuckles]

[Cheers and applause]

-Now, Joe Bob,

it's my pleasure to give you
the lifetime achievement award.

-[Laughs]

[Cheers and applause]

-Thank you very much, Roger.

It was an amazing
first 30 years,

and it's been
an amazing second 40 years,

and so now you have a suitable
replacement for this one.

-Yes.
Very good.

-Thank you very much.

And we expect
at least 30 more years.

-Ah, yes.

[Cheers and applause]