This week on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, it’s high time we celebrate B-movie maestro Roger Corman. Corman, producer and/or director of a hundred films, give or take, died on May 9 at the age of 98.
One of the key ingredients of Corman’s decades-tested formula of success was his unwavering ability to keep a lid on a budget. There’s a reason he titled his autobiography “How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime.”
But he also had an uncanny instinct for titillation and showmanship, and he understood what appealed to the masses, especially the young. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was also a half-decent storyteller.
Part of keeping the costs down meant that Corman was always on the look-out for affordable talent. His productions served not only as springboards for new discoveries looking to break into the business, but also roosts for the faded divinity of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
By the early 1960s, Ray Milland was ready to hang up his hat as an actor (he won an Academy Award for his lead performance in “The Lost Weekend” in 1945), but a combination of boredom (on his part) and annoyance (on his wife’s) drove him back before the cameras for a string of lurid horror hits. One of the most memorable of these was Corman’s “X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes” (1963).
Overweening scientist Dr. James Xavier uses himself as a guinea pig for experimentation with forces that should not be tampered with (naturally), setting in motion a downward spiral of grim inevitability of a kind that characterized so many creature double features of the era.
Somehow, having rewatched the film, I feel as if I am repeating Xavier’s mistake in agreeing to Roy’s suggestion that we discuss it this week…
Some things can’t be unseen! Bring your “insights” to the comments section. We’ll be modeling our “Ray”-Bans, when “X” marks the spot for our conversation about Ray Millard, Roger Corman, and “The Man with the X-ray Eyes.” SEE YOU when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., this Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!
https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner
If you missed our long-delayed bull session about the classic television series “The Wild Wild West,” here’s the link to that show, which took place surreptitiously (to head off bad luck?) this past Sunday:
