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Show Corman, Passer, Truffaut receive salutes by Rick Brough There are directors who are well-known to the industry, and yet they too contribute to the independent indepen-dent spirit of filmmaking. The late Francois Truffaut was a leading light of the French New Wave in the late '50s and '60s with a style and tone that shook ub traditional filmmaking. He continued to be a major creating force until his death this year. Roger Corman, both as producer and director; showed that movies dealing with "schlock" sex-and-vio-lent topics could have vitality, satire and psychological overtones. Many of the new talented directors of the past 10 years worked under his tutelage. Ivan Passer took the riskiest path of independence. He was a member of the Czech "New Wave" of directors, and his activity was restricted by the 1968 Russian invasion. Each director will be saluted by a collection of his films at the U.S. Film Festival to be held in Park City Jan. 19-27. The program "Roger Corman and his Prodigies" will include the following films: Battle Beyond the Stars The 1980 film was the response to "Star Wars" from Corman's New World production company. The plot they cooked up was an outer-space version of "Seven Samurai" with Richard Thomas, George Peppard, and even an original member of the Magnificent Seven, Robert Vaughn. Boxcar Bertha Martin Scorsese directed his only picture for Corman in this 1972 flick about a girl (Barbara Hershey) joining Depression-era train robbers. It also stars David and John Carradine. Caged Heat Jonathan Demme, maker of "Melvin and Howard," got his start with this women-in-prison picture, now a cult favorite, Ih'alhKair-OO" In the future, there will be hit-and-run driving! The popular sport of the year 2000 is cross-country racing where the contestants rack up points by hitting pedestrians. David Carradine as "Frankenstein" competes against such drivers as "Matilda the Hun." His arch-rival is played by a pre Rocky Sylvester Stallone. The film was produced by Corman and directed by Paul Bartel. Dementia 13 This film marked Francis Ford Coppola's directorial debut. The story concerns an axe murder during the reading of a will. The small budget is certainly a long way from movies like the "Cotton Club." Gas-s-s, or It May Be Necessary to Destry the World in Order to Save It Corman directed this story trom the psychedelic era about a gas that kills everyone over 30. Corman later recalled that the character with the best lines God! was cut out of the. picture. ; f Little Shop of Horrors ' ! This film is the best of i the Corman-directed black-humors pieces. Shy little plant-store flunky Seymour Krelboined grows a plant named Audrey that lives on human ( blood and squeals "Feed me." A classic moment: Jack Nicholson in a short scene as a masochistic dental patient. Piranha Corman produced this cut-rate version of "Jaws" that spoofs other monster flicks. It was directed by Joe Dante ("Gremlins") and written by John Sayles to include a piranha attack every 10 minutes. Itock 'n' Roll High School "High School" is a zany flick directed by Alan Arkush. The kids at Vince Lombardi High love the Ramones, but are opposed by evil principal Mrs. Tobar. (In one of the best scenes, she shows that rats explode when exposed to Ramones music! Targets This is an early film, directed by Peter Bogdanovich for Corman. It starred Boris Karloff in a warm autobiographical performance as an old horror-movie star who feels his stuff can't compare with modern horrors. Soon, he has to deal with a Charles Whitman-like sniper (Tom O'Kelly). The Trip Corman directed Peter Fonda as a man who explores the outer realms of consciousness with LSD in this 1967 movie. It co-starred Bruce Dem and Dennis Hopper, and the script was written by Jack Nicholson. . The Wild Angels , This 1966 film may have triggered the era of motorcycle-gang movies. Corman directed a cast including Peter Fonda, Bruce Dem and Nancy Sinatra. : The "Homage to Francois Truffaut" Truf-faut" will consist of the following films:" !. The festival will show four films known as. the "Antoine Daniel Cycle" which followed the young Antoine through his childhood and teen years. The character was partly based on Truffaut's own youth, and actor Jean-Pierre Leaud grew up playing the part. In "The 400 Blows" Truffaut traced Antoine's struggles at home, school and in a reformatory. At the end, he escaped from the city, free but alone. He next appeared in an episode of a compilation film, "Love at Twentv." In the segment "Antoine et Collet" he returned to his parents at age 16 and felt the first stirrings of young love. In "Stolen Kisses" (1968) he was dishonorably discharged from the Army and went through a series of jobs and romantic misadventures. The cycle en Jed with 'Bed and Board" as he becomes a husband and father and struggles to fulfill the roles of both. - The remaining film is "Day for Night," which concerns the technical and personal problems afflicting a movie crew. Truffaut himself played the director, with Jacqueline Bisset also in the cast. The "Films of Ivan Passer" program consists of the following movies: "Intimate Lighting," made in Czechoslavakia in 1965, is a subtle comedy about two friends, disillusioned disillu-sioned musicians, who meet m a secluded country home. After the Russians invaded his country, Passer turned to American filmmaking. In "Law and Disorder," comedy turns to drams as Ernest Borgnineand Carrol O'Connor play U o New Yorkers who join a vigilante, patrol to curb crime. -"Silver Bears" is a comedy about chicanery in the silver market starring Michael Caine, Louis Jourdan. Cybill Shepherd and Tom Smothers. "Cutter's Way" is Passer's most acclaimed film of recent years. Jeff Bridges is Bone, an apathetic " beach gigolo. He thinks he might ,have seen a powerful tycoon dump a body in an alley, but doesn't want to make waves. John Heard is his buddy Cutter, a mangled, bitter Vietnam vet. He wants to make waves. Lisa Eichorn also appears. |
