VINCENTENNIAL: Roger Corman Recieves Lifetime Achievement Award in St. Louis

Roger Corman was in St. Louis last weekend as Guest of Honor at Vincentennial, the Vincent Price 100^th Birthday Celebration here in St. Louis, the city of his birth. Corman had directed Price in the series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptions in the 1960′s and was our first choice as a special guest for the event. Last Saturday, May 21^st, we screened a 35mm print of TOMB OF LIGEIA (1965) at the spacious Hi-Pointe Theater preceded by an on-stage interview with Corman moderated by Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog magazine. This discussion centered on Corman’s collaborations and friendship with Vincent Price. On Sunday May 22^nd, we brought Corman back for a second interview, this time discussing his overall career as a director and producer of over 500 films. Corman spoke candidly about his start in show biz and the rigors of ultra-low budget filmmaking. He also shared amazing anecdotes about dropping LSD to research the filming of THE TRIP (Lucas has written a screenplay about this specific chapter in Corman’s life), and working with cult stars like Susan Cabot, Dick Miller, and Charles Bronson. Corman brought his career up to date with stories about his latest work producing an incredibly successful string of movies for the Sc-Fi channel with titles like SHARKTOPUS and DINOSHARK (and announced his newest title PIRAHNACONDA). Lucas asked great questions and Corman was gracious, candid, and forthcoming. This was followed by a 35mm screening of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.

Just before the second interview, Roger Corman was presented with a lifetime achievement award by Cinema St. Louis. This plaque was created by artist Tom Huck and Mr. Corman seemed moved by the honor.

Here’s a clip from the interview Saturday with Corman speaking about working with Vincent Price