Roger Corman: Hollywood's Wild Angel

A smart, fascinating look at one of Hollywood's most enduring mavericks, HOLLYWOOD'S WILD ANGEL covers Roger Corman's career with plenty of clips, trailers and interviews. Glossing over much of his directorial work with American International and concentrating instead on his, then more contemporary, work at New World Pictures, the documentary showcases some of the up-and-coming young talent that Corman helped mentor. Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, Jonathan Kaplan, Joe Dante, Allan Arkush and Martin Scocese, among many others, are interviewed in depth on their relationship with Corman and his legacy. One is truly amazed at the number of talented artists given their first break by Corman. While he may have exploited their hunger to make movies, Corman was still the only way in for many of these talented Hollywood outsiders. My only quibble with the film would be it's abbreviated running time. At under an hour, it's a satisfying snack, but one hopes that if a DVD is ever issued, more footage and interviews could be added to tell the complete, updated story of Corman's career. HOLLYWOOD'S WILD ANGEL is a neat time-capsule of an era that no longer exists, a drive-in age of ambitious filmmakers, low-budgets matched with high creativity, all overseen by the 'godfather of cult cinema', Roger Corman.