Roger Corman Honored in Hawaii

The 25th Annual Hawaii International Festival will honor Roger "King of the B Movie" Corman next month in a series of events taking place between October 28 and 30. Corman and his wife will both be at the festival, and organizers are putting together a panel as well in which they hope Roger Ebert will participate (How could anyone pass up a trip to Hawaii?). In addition, an as-yet-undetermined pair of Corman's films will be screened.

Corman, who is now 80, started his movie career as a messenger at 20th Century Fox. He produced his first film in 1953 and directed for the first time two years later. Since then he's been involved in over 360 films as "screenwriter, producer, director, distributor and sometimes actor." One of his best-known film is Little Shop of Horrors, which he made in 1960 with some guy named Jack Nicholson as a sadistic dentist; it was one of Nicholson's earliest appearances, and his first eye-catching role. The shoot, which lasted two days and a night, was typical of a director known for quick productions, small budgets, and an uncanny ability to turn a profit.