Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel Page #4

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Call off your troops.

Scorsese:
It's as if these films

were being made

on your street corner,

in a way.

They weren't encumbered

by having to deal with "art"

with a capital a-r-t.

They just weren't-- I mean,

they're art in another way.

Corman:

I learned fairly quickly

how to handle the camera,

what to do with editing,

but I didn't know enough

about acting,

and I felt I should simply

take a class.

And that was where I met

Jack Nicholson.

Nicholson:
He came into the class

with that little smile,

and everybody's as serious

as a heart attack, you know.

He had-- when I was

first working for him,

he told me he had

12 companies,

the contracts of which

were all in his back pocket.

I mean, he was

a one-man band.

Don't make me.

Don't be a fool, kid.

You think I would carry

a real gun?

As a matter of fact, the first picture

Jack Nicholson starred in

was for me-- a picture called

"the cry baby killer"

about a kid who takes

a drive-in hostage.

It's coming. Can't you get him

to be quiet until it comes?

Nicholson:
I hadn't really

worked at all before.

Then I got a lead in the movie.

I thought, "oh, this is it.

I'm here.

I'm gonna be big," you know.

Then I didn't even get an interview

for the next year.

Look, Carole was a swell girl

until Manny got his hands on her.

You mean, till she wanted

Manny's hands on her.

Listen, Fred...

"Cry baby killer"

was just humiliating...

...but good for me.

Hey, Roger's the only guy

who hired me for about 10 years.

Teenagers-- never had 'em

when I was a kid.

The word "teenager" didn't

really exist until the '50s.

If you look at the '40s and '30s,

their idea of a teenage movie

was "Andy Hardy."

Hey, Betsy.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

What do you think's happened?

- What do you think's happened?

- What? Well, tell me what.

Cynthia won't go to the dance and

i don't know why and I don't want to.

Times were changing.

- Dave!

- Okay, Johnny.

Corman:
The major studios

didn't really understand

the audience was looking for

a different type of film.

If we were going to make pictures

about young people,

I'd have picked a young guy

like Jack Nicholson.

But you're through

breaking the law.

Sarge, I don't break the law.

I make my own.

Roger really realized

that young people at that time

really liked movies

where teenagers

were in trouble

with the authorities.

He had found an audience

that you didn't have to go

through the studio system

to reach.

Not only was he a rebel

from Hollywood

in that he did it all himself and did it

outside of the studio system,

but there was an edge of rebellion,

you know, to the movies.

Dante:
You make it

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