'Z-Movie' king is unlikeliest Oscar winner

MOVIES | Corman, 83, parlays schlock into career honor

LOS ANGELES -- Roger Corman, once dubbed "the Orson Welles of the Z-Movie" and "the Pope of Pop Cinema," never expected the words "Academy Award recipient" to accompany his name.

The man whose 350 movie credits include such low-budget fare as "The Masque of the Red Death" and "X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes" is receiving an honorary Oscar for a lifetime of achievement that includes mentoring filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron and Ron Howard.

Corman, 83, said he knew the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was considering him for the honor. He felt certain he would not make the cut, though.

"I predicted that I would not win because I make low-budget films, and I felt the academy would not give an award to someone who made low-budget films. I was truly surprised when I got the call," Corman said in an interview at his New Horizons Pictures.

Corman does not just make low-budget movies. He's a maestro at it, creating plenty of schlock with titles such as "Night Call Nurses" and "Galaxy of Terror" but also cult hits with staying power. Among his productions are "Death Race 2000" and "The Little Shop of Horrors," shot in just over two days for $30,000, featuring a young Jack Nicholson and a campy story line that later spawned a stage show and Hollywood musical remake.

Corman is receiving his award at a ceremony Saturday along with fellow honorary Oscar recipients Lauren Bacall and cinemato- grapher Gordon Willis.

Keeping budgets tiny and shooting quickly, Corman has made a profitable career defying the Hollywood maxim that you never put your own money into a movie. He still finances his own films so he can make them his way, without interference from studio backers.

Sex and violence sell many of Corman's movies, but he also has peddled social commentary -- racism with 1962's "The Intruder" and mental illness with 1977's "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden." From his initial success, Corman set out to nurture young talent.

"I'd made a little bit of money, and I felt I should invest this money, and I don't really know anything about real estate or the stock market," Corman said. "But as a young filmmaker around town, I socialized with and knew other young filmmakers, and I thought, 'I think I know the ones who are the most talented and haven't had their chance yet. "'

So he invested his profits in people. Corman gave early directing shots to Coppola (1963's "Dementia 13"), Scorsese (1972's "Boxcar Bertha"), Howard (1977's "Grand Theft Auto"), Jonathan Demme (1974's "Caged Heat") and Joe Dante (1978's "Piranha").

Though he has had films at Cannes and Venice, Corman jokes about the acclaim he's earned from lesser festivals. "I've got a shelf at home filled with awards from festivals you never heard of," he said.

Where will he put his Oscar? "It'll go in front," Corman said.

AP