In the mid-1970s, 20th Century Fox hired Roger Corman to produce a handful of low-budget exploitation movies, hoping, I imagine, to cash in on the financial success independents like AIP were having. This resulted in movies like CAPONE, FIGHTING MAD and MOVING VIOLATION. However, Corman owned his own independent studio at the time, New World. So why was he willing to, in effect, compete with himself and make films for Fox that could take box office dough away from his New World films?

My guess is that New World received foreign box office rights to the Fox movies Corman produced, but I don't recall ever seeing this mentioned before. Anyone have any idea?

Corman had a history with Fox going back to I, MOBSTER (1959) and ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE (1967), both of which he directed for Fox. Later on, his one-shot return to directing, FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND (1990), was for Fox.

My guess is that Fox was willing to provide bigger budgets for CAPONE (1975) et al than Corman would have been willing to spend on even the highest profile New World productions. There was a limit to how much Corman could gross on his New World exploitation films from the drive-in/grindhouse circuit, no matter how well-reviewed some of them were (e.g. JACKSON COUNTY JAIL) or how big a cult item they became (CAGED HEAT). Fox could provide wider distribution and invest much more in P&A (prints and advertising), so Corman could probably foresee a bigger profit on CAPONE than he could that same year on DEATH RACE 2000 (both of which featured a pre-ROCKY Sylvester Stallone). That was in theory. In actual practice he probably made more on New World hits like DEATH RACE given that they satisfied his audiences (and regional theater owners) far more than his Fox films would have. In 1975, people were talking about DEATH RACE 2000. I don't remember anyone talking about CAPONE. But Fox did offer critics' screenings of CAPONE, one of which I attended because I was writing for my college paper at the time. If DEATH RACE was screened for the press, we didn't hear about it.

But that's my question. How would Corman himself see any profit if he was just working as a producer-for-hire for Fox? Why would Corman spend energy and time making money for a rival studio, producing films that ticket buyers would be potentially seeing instead of one of his New World films? What did Corman have to gain by this? I'm certain that he did have something, but what?

Well, maybe these Fox productions provided some of the seed money that he used to handle the arthouse films that New World was championing back then. We forget that New World released a lot of great foreign films, because unlike the exploitation classics, he has not retained the rights to them and they have appeared on DVD from other companies.

So while he maybe made more money from an inhouse project like DEATH RACE 2000, he would have to plow that money back into making more films like it. But he could take money from a Fox project like THUNDER AND LIGHTNING, and use it to buy the U.S. theatrical rights to, say, Truffaut's SMALL CHANGE or Hector Babenco's BYE BYE BRAZIL, which would have even more limited theatrical prospects than his exploitation movies.

The relationship between Roger Corman, New World, and 20th Century Fox was something I'd asked about here way back at the very start of 2004. At the time I received a thoughtful reply from Beverly Gray, a veteran of both New World & Concorde-New Horizons as well as author of "Roger Corman: Blood-Sucking Vampires, Flesh-Eating Cockroaches, and Driller Killers" . A few of the movies that she worked on at New World were CANDY STRIPE NURSES, BIG BAD MAMA, COCKFIGHTER, and DEATH RACE 2000.

Beverly has given me permission to post what she wrote to me:

Dear Robert,
I happened to run across your question about Roger Corman's Fox releases
between 1975 and 1977, and I couldn't resist replying. I was Roger's
assistant during part of that era: in fact I worked on the scripts of
both "Capone" and "Fighting Mad," and appeared as an extra in "Capone's"
big casino scene. I don't know the particulars of the financial deal,
but Roger was always very good at getting the studios to help
underwrite his films, though they had little creative input.

I clearly remember a meeting in which "Fighting Mad" writer/director
Jonathan Demme, who was then pretty much a novice, outlined for Roger
and me just how he intended to replicate the plot elements of grassroots
hits of the period, including "Billy Jack" and "Walking Tall." These
films had made big profits on small investments, so it was no wonder
that Fox and the other studios were willing to get involved on the money
end. But Roger was never happy in situations where he had to listen to
studio creative execs, as had happened with "Von Richtofen and Brown."
Fox, by the way, had a long history with Roger. At the start of his
career, he had been a Fox story analyst, and Fox handled domestic
distribution on Roger's return to directing, "Frankenstein Unbound."

Following Marty's post I emailed Beverly again and provided a link to Mobius for her to read it. I've invited her to join in on the topic should she so desire. Beverly again graciously responded and gave me permission to post her reply to me:

Hi Robert,

Nice of you to remember me. Your questions about the relationship of Roger, New World, and Fox made me very curious, especially since I worked on films like "Capone" and "Fighting Mad." (In fact, you can even glimpse me in the big gambling hall scene in "Capone," if you know where to look.) I took the matter to my good friend, Frances Doel, who's a Corman veteran of many years standing. Unfortunately she wasn't privy to the particular deals you mention, but she and I agree that everyone's logic makes a lot of sense: by working with Fox, Roger was able to have bigger budgets and hire bigger stars. without much in the way of personal risk. We simply don't know if Roger got foreign rights or other income sources out of these deals, but he has always been a shrewd businessman, and would certainly negotiate to his own advantage.

Regarding Marc Heuck's post, I suspect Roger's bookkeeping was not so compartmentalized that he plowed the profits from in-house films like "Death Race" back into production and earmarked the proceeds from "Capone" into purchasing foreign classics, but I have no immediate proof that my thinking is correct. (If I have a moment, I can try to reach someone who would know -- but he might not be willing to tell me.) I should add that beginning circa 1973, when Roger was buying North American distribution rights to films like "Cries and Whispers," they cost very little. "Cries and Whispers," which was the first, cost a mere $75,000, but turned out to be a major critical and box office success. (Ingmar Bergman himself was thrilled when Roger got it booked into drive-ins across America.) It was nominated for five Oscars, including best film, so you can be sure that Roger profited handsomely, and then went on to invest in other foreign language classics.

I hope this helps, Robert. I've reviewed my previous comment, and it's still pretty much accurate. Concorde-New Horizons continues to shrink, but it still keeps chugging along.

all the best,

Beverly

Thanks Beverly!

Wow. Thanks for that. One of the few highlights last year at the VSDA convention was shaking Corman's hand. I acted like a drooling fanboy with him, but had the composure earlier in the night to have dinner with Ray Dennis Steckler!


marc