Original subtitles

[Wind whistling]

[Crow caws]

[Scraping]

♪♪

-You know, I like places with no Wi-Fi and no cell service.

And no TV and no motor vehicles, where you have to kill squirrels

with your bare hands and roast them on a stick.

♪♪

Not really. I just like to say that

because it makes me sound like a National Geographic narrator

in a safari jacket.

♪♪

-♪ Hey, everybody, have you heard the news? ♪

♪ Joe Bob is back in town ♪

♪ He's over at the drive-in, hanging around ♪

♪ Watching crazy movies, so come on down ♪

♪ To Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ Blood, beasties, boobies, and more ♪

♪ Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ It's a spooky good time with monsters and ghosts ♪

♪ Crazy, kooky fun with the world's greatest host ♪

♪ Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ It's gonna be legendary ♪

♪ Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ It's gonna be very scary ♪

♪ Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ Let's go ♪

♪♪

[Static crackles]

You know when you're cooped up in a cabin,

you got to do something to keep those biceps molded.

I'm Joe Bob Briggs, and this is the final week

of "The Last Drive-In" and, man, do we have a show.

The great Roger Corman is standing by.

Producer, director, distributor.

The man's made some 500 films, maybe more than that.

Even he can't remember them all, but we're gonna discuss

every single one of those, in detail, on tonight's show,

because I've been a fan of Roger for 40 years now,

and I'm not really a fan of anybody,

so this night is special.

We'll probably be here for 16 days talking about

Roger's movies because once I get started, I can't stop.

Anyhow, Darcy!

-Yo! -Oh, wow.

That's nice.

Roger's coming.

-Yeah, you've only told me that like a hundred times.

-Well, I'm telling you again. Roger's coming. Roger's here.

We have the original "Little Shop of Horrors",

and, by the way, that is the totally wrong cosplay for this.

You're wearing the Audrey costume from

the Frank Oz musical remake of "Little Shop"

that came out in the late '80s.

We're showing the one where Jack Nicholson is a pain freak

who goes to the dentist and all that stuff.

-I know, but I just love Rick Moranis,

and I couldn't resist.

He's totally my dream man.

-[Groans]

-Let me have fun.

-Okay, once again, our opinions are in conflict.

See, I wouldn't even expect you to like musicals.

-Eh, normally I don't, but I love that one.

-Well, pay attention because we're watching the movie

that Roger Corman shot in two days, which I believe

still stands as the record for fastest shoot of a feature film

that actually gets released.

And then for our follow up, we're gonna watch a film from

Roger's long successful period as a producer at his company

New World Pictures, and that picture is

"Humanoids From the Deep."

-Love that one!

-And that's one reason I'm getting in shape.

'Cause I want to look good for the Roger interview.

-You're looking buff, man.

-Yeah, you know, a lot of people,

they would be doing 50-pound biceps curls with,

like, four sets of eight reps.

I prefer to use this little baby here

and do, like, one set of 9,000 reps.

You know, you get the same result

but you don't have to think about it.

You just do it all day.

-You should be a personal trainer.

-You know, I've actually thought about that.

Of course, you know, who am I talking to, though?

You're at the gym every day when the gyms are open, right?

-[Sighs] When they're open.

-I don't like the kind of gyms you go to, though.

-How do you know what kind of gym I go to?

I just know you go to those L.A. bodystocking gyms

where everybody gets on a designer bicycle

with a light show and a soundtrack from

Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift and Avicii.

-I do go to spin class, yes.

-See just the words "spin class",

that means it's not a real gym.

-Really?

-Why isn't it called

Bicycle With the Wheels Ripped Off Of It Class?

-Because that's stupid.

-See, people used to find a gym and then join up for,

like, five years at a time, but not anymore.

People these days join gyms, they leave gyms,

they switch gyms, they move across town

where they have the new Super Boxing Workout

where you actually get knocked out once a day.

Those are good.

They stop going to a gym entirely and do yoga,

they go to European gyms, Japanese gyms, Hindu gyms.

It's like the idea of working out, just working out,

is old-fashioned.

Now you not only have to work out.

You have to work out at the newest, hippest,

most up-to-date joint in town.

They do have Gold's Gym at Muscle Beach in L.A.

You ever go there?

Where they have weight racks out on the beach?

-No. I hate the sun.

-I actually have a set of rules for finding a decent gym.

-Oh, why do I have a feeling

I'm not gonna be following any of them?

-'Cause you don't follow anything that I ever say.

Anyway, first of all, do not work out at any gym

that doesn't have at least 10 guys with actual knife scars

on their bodies.

Otherwise, it's not a real gym.

At a real gym, people use their bodies.

They don't work out to make their bodies look good.

So that's a big difference.

Second, go over to the barbell rack,

and see what's the largest weight that they have.

If it's a real gym, they'll have some of those

150-pound hand weights, the kind that only three guys

in the history of the universe have been able to use.

You won't ever pick up one of those,

but some guy named Maximilian will come in

and amuse the pro wrestlers, you know?

Third, ask them if they have trampoline cardio

or underwater cycling class.

If the answer is yes, leave immediately, Not a real gym.

Numero four-o -- if anybody is wearing pastel gym clothes,

get out of there.

In real gyms, the only acceptable colors

are brown, dark grey, and black, including black socks.

And the most popular uniform is the high school

basketball team workout jersey

that has not been washed in 15 years.

Rule number five -- a real gym will always have signs

on the wall that are totally disgusting.

Like "No spitting in water fountain,"

and "Train at your own risk,"

and "Do not throw weights against the wall."

You know, I always wondered if this was some kind of

super-macho illegal exercise routine --

"Oh, I'm hurling metal weights against a wall today.

That's my workout."

[Laughter]

Rule numero six-o -- the bench press must

always be a life-threatening experience.

The bench press is where you lie on your back

and you raise a piece of iron directly over your skull

that, if you drop it, could put a dent in your brain

about four inches deep.

The object is to raise this weight up and down

until your arms are totally exhausted so that

one-half second before you drop it on your brain, your, quote,

"partner" can grab it and put it back on the rack.

At a real gym, the partner always waits until

one-fourth second before you suffer

permanent brain damage to get that extra benefit

from the last repetition.

Rule number seven -- at a real gym,

if somebody yells, "Telephone for Manny,"

at least eight guys run to the phone.

Rule eight -- in a real gym, there are always at least

10 guys there who apparently never leave.

They're in the gym if you go at 7:00 in the morning,

they're in the gym if you go at 11:00 at night.

The more you see these guys,

the more they remind you of Robert DeNiro in "Taxi Driver."

And, finally, if you're looking for a real gym,

ask whether they have a sauna, a steam room,

a eucalyptus-inhalation room, a whirlpool room, or a lap pool.

If the answer is "none of the above,"

you've found a by God gym..

The great gyms don't even believe in showers.

See, Darcy, I know what I'm talking about.

-I will totally be following your advice.

-All right, but right now we're gonna be watching

what may be Roger Corman's most popular film of all time,

and then at the first break, Darcy, did I mention that

Roger is gonna be joining us?

-Wow. No, I don't think that you did.

-By my estimation, Roger has been making films for 67 years.

Beginning with "Monster from the Ocean Floor"

in 1954.

Because he got a late start.

He didn't make his first film until he was 28.

Anyway, Jonathan Haze stars as the plant-lover Seymour,

who works in a sad little flower shop

on the Lower East Side of New York.

And one night, while trying to save an exotic species

from death, he accidentally cuts his finger,

and blood drips on to the plant.

To his amazement, the plant begins to grow.

As the plant gets more and more insatiable,

the popularity of the plant thrills shop owner

Gravis Mushnick and the plot gets more and more outrageous

until at one point the plant is 12 feet high

and screaming, "Feed me!"

The whole thing was a joke, a movie made on a dare

that Corman couldn't make a film in two days.

He won the dare, with a little help from his friends,

including Jack Nicholson in a hysterically funny cameo

as the dental patient who enjoys his root canals.

It became a staple of late night TV in the '60s and '70s,

and then it became a sort of "Rocky Horror Picture Show"

phenomenon in the '80s at an off-Broadway theater,

which was in turn made into a big-budget film starring

Rick Moranis.

-[Squeaks]

[Laughter]

And Steve Martin and Bill Murray.

I'm not hearing any squeals for Steve Martin or Bill Murray.

-[Squeals softly]

[Laughter]

-So let's look at those drive-in totals and get started.

We have 5 dead bodies.

One railroad fatality.

One burping talking flesh-eating plant.

Multiple finger pricking.

Massive Borscht Belt dialogue.

One extended chase scene in a toilet graveyard.

Head rolls. Hand rolls. Foot rolls. Teeth roll.

Gratuitous "Dragnet" voiceover.

Gratuitous cartoon title sequence.

Whiskey bottle Fu. Rock Fu.

Drive-In Academy Award nominations for Jonathan Haze

as the bumbling schlemiel Seymour,

Jackie Joseph as the dim but sweet Audrey,

who says "It's monstrosaness!"

[Laughter]

Mel Welles as the greedy shop owner who says,

"It grows like a cold sore from the lip."

Myrtle Vail as the hypochondriac mother of Seymour who says,

"Never trust a woman who's healthy."

Leola Wendorff as the perpetually bereaved customer.

Jack Nicholson as the pain-loving dental patient,

for saying "No Novocain, it dulls the senses."

The late great Dick Miller as the flower-eating wisecracker.

Chuck Griffith, the screenwriter who collaborated with Roger

on dozens of movies, also played the voice of the plant,

the burglar, and a hobo.

And, of course, Roger Corman, Hollywood legend,

king of the indies.

Four stars. Joe Bob says check it out.

Yuki...

[Static]

Yuki? -Yes?

-Do you have the satellite feed focused on the west side

of the 405 Freeway?

-Yes!

-Because he's in Brentwood.

-Yes!

-He's not in Hollywood.

-Yes!

-He was never in Hollywood.

-Yes.

-Brentwood. It's Roger.

-Yes. -Good.

♪♪

[Static crackles]

♪♪

-My name is sergeant Joe Fink,

working a 24-hour shift out of Homicide,

and this is my workshop --

the part of town that everybody knows about

but nobody wants to see...

Where the tragedies are deeper, the ecstasies wilder,

and the crime rate consistently higher than anywhere else.

Skid Row, my beat.

[Jazz music plays]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

The most terrifying period in the history of my beat

began in a little rundown florist shop called Mushnick's.

-Ah, good morning, Mrs. Shiva! How's things today?

-Oh, the same as usual, Mr. Mushnick.

My sister's nephew Stanley died in Little Rock, Arkansas.

-Oh? What happened?

-He got blown up. Who knows how?

-Mm, that's nice, so you would like maybe,

as usual, some flowers for the funeral?

-♪ Should all acquaintance be forgot ♪

♪ And never brought to mind ♪

-I thought possibly,

uh, because I always give to you all my funeral business,

that maybe you could possibly give to me,

uh, a little cut rate.

-Look on me, Mrs. Shiva. What am I -- a Philatelist?

I sell on Skid Row nothing but cheap carnations,

and I should give you a cut rate?

I can't even afford water for the flowers.

To my throat, I would be giving a cut.

-♪ I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls ♪

♪ With vassals ♪

-Shut up from the back!

Excuse me, Mrs. Shiva, but that Seymour --

-H-He's a nice boy.

-Why don't you let him sing?

-What, sing?

Look, here I got a new customer,

brand-new, in the yellow vest.

I should let the cleanup boy, what I can't even afford,

chase him out right away.

[Telephone rings]

Flowers precious to springtime, Mushnick's.

Hello? Oh, hello, Dr. Farb.

What can I do for you today?

-Listen, Mushnick, I haven't got much time.

Send me over two gladiolas and a fern.

-Excellent. That's two dozen glads, one potted fern.

-No, no, no, Mushnick.

Two gladiolas and one fern.

-[Whirring] -Aah!

-You want I should put two gladiolas

in the pot with the fern?

-No, one fern, one piece. All together -- three pieces.

I need it for my waiting room.

-[Mumbles] -What?

-The filling fell out!

-Good. I'll drill a bigger hole.

-You mean you want two crummy gladiolas and one crummy fern?

What kind of a decoration is that?

-It's my flower budget for the week, Mushnick.

Who can be a dentist on Skid Row?

-All right. Excellent. I'll send Seymour right away.

Who am I to argue with science?

-Mm. Make it snappy.

Nowyou are going to get it.

Oh, ho, you are going to get it!

Look.

-[Whirring] -Aah!

-Seymour Krelboyne!

Now, Mrs. Shiva, we were talking from the funeral flowers.

[Clatters]

...for funeral!

-Did you call me, Mr. Mushnick?

-No, I was calling John D. Rockefeller

for to make a loan on my Rolls-Royce!

-Sorry I said it.

-Now, look, Seymour...

You take two gladiolas, you cut them nice and even...

You'll take one fern, you'll wrap them in a package,

and you'll take them to Dr. Farb, right?

Well, go, already!

Now, what can I do for you, sir?

-Uh, my name is Burson Fouch.

-Excellent! I am Gravis Mushnick.

-Oh, that's a good one.

-Now, who's gonna get my roses?

-I'll take care of you, Mrs. Shiva.

Come right over here.

-You would like maybe some orchids for a nice girl?

-No, I think I'd like a couple of dozen carnations.

-Carnations.

-A person can't plan around these days

if somebody shouldn't drop dead.

-You've had more than your share of bad luck, Mrs. Shiva.

-Bad luck she calls it.

You should have so many people kicked off.

You would have somebody fall on top of you, too.

-What about the carnations?

-You said you wanted the roses.

-Yes. For Stanley.

-My carnations?

-[Stammers]

You should see what that Seymour is --

Oh, here are your carnations.

Wait. I'll wrap them for you.

-No, that's all right. I'll eat them here.

-Why not?

Of course. What else?

They are all right?

-Well, I've had better.

-Well, this is a small shop. -That's okay.

You know, those big places,

they're full of pretty flowers, expensive flowers.

When you're raising for looks and smell,

you're bound to lose some food value.

I like to eat at these little, out-of-the-way places.

-Oh!

Such a thing, eating flowers.

-Look, don't knock it until you try it, huh?

-Look what happened.

-This is what I was trying to tell you before.

Look on him, everybody! Look at the quality of his work!

I ask you, when I fire him,

where is he gonna get such another good job?

-You mean I'm fired?

-No, I am electing you president

from the United States.

Yes! You are fired!

-Gravis, you can't do that. -Who? Who can't?

-I didn't mean it.

-You didn't mean it. You never mean it.

You didn't mean it the time you put up

the bouquet with the "get well" card in the funeral parlor

and sent the black lilies to the old lady in the hospital!

You didn't mean it.

But this time, I, Gravis Mushnick, mean it!

-He means it.

-But, gee, Mr. Mushnick,

don't I always try to do what's right?

And I'm crazy about flowers.

I like flowers almost as much as Audrey does.

-Excellent. You're fired.

-Why don't you give him a chance to resurrect himself?

-I give him a chance to quit.

-I ain't gonna quit.

-You're a brave boy. You're fired.

-But that ain't fair, Mr. Mushnick.

You know what I'm doing?

I'm working on a special surprise plant just for you.

I'm growing a plant like you ain't never seen before.

-Excellent. I can't even sell the plants I got in my shop.

Out, you! -Now, wait a minute.

If he's got a new kind of plant, you ought to look at it.

-I don't look on flowers, Mr. yellow vest.

I got ancestors in the flower business for 200 years,

but I got one shop on Skid Row.

One stinking shop. I don't even like flowers!

-No, you don't understand what I mean.

Look, I've eaten in flower shops all over the world,

and I've noticed that the places that have

the most weird and unusual plants do the best business.

-See? -See?

-See?

-What is this -- a tango?

All right. Explain me more.

-Well, I remember one place

that had a whole wall covered with poison ivy.

And people came from miles around to look at that wall,

and they stayed to buy.

-The owner got rich? -No.

He scratched himself to death in an insane asylum.

-Ohh! That was my cousin Harry.

-All right. All right.

You go home, and you get this fancy-schmancy plant,

and you bring it back here.

And if Mr. Yellow vest Fouch says it's a draw,

you've still got a job.

If he don't, out you go, the both of you, right?

-Don't worry. You'll like it. You'll see.

♪♪

♪♪

-This is radio K.S.I.K.

You've been listening to "Music For Old Invalids."

Our next selection is entitled "Sickroom Serenade."

[Loud clattering]

-Seymour, is that you?

-Yeah, Ma!

-Come in here and look at my tongue!

-But, Ma, I already seen your tongue!

-Have you no sympathy for your poor mother,

laughing at her and mocking her illness

when she's got one foot in the grave?

-Oh, I didn't mean it. -Oh, you never mean it.

Come on. Look at my tongue.

-A tongue's a tongue, Ma. They all look the same to me.

-Oh. Did you stop at Dr. Mallard's

and get the results of my tests?

Yeah, he said there's nothing wrong with you.

-Oh, not Dr. Mallard.

He's one doctor I thought would tell the truth.

-He said you should be playing fullback for the Rams.

-He wants me dead.

I'll bet he's assistant coroner.

-Ma, I got to go.

-A-A-And, you know, I reckon my goiter's coming back.

I can feel it every morning after breakfast.

-Yeah, that's when you take those gr-- aah!

-What you got -- a little surprise for me?

-Open it up and see.

-All right.

[Gasps]

[Laughs]

Dr. Slurpsaddle's famous tonic.

Wait here.

"To be taken internally or externally

for pain of neuritis, neuralgia, headache.

If hit by a truck, call your physician.

Alcoholic content -- 98%!"

[Laughs]

Oh, Seymour...

You'll never know what this is gonna do for me.

Oh, I can feel that surge of warm health

going through me already.

[Hiccups]

-Look, Ma, I got to get my plant and hurry back to the shop.

-You mean that lousy weed out in the kitchen?

-Yeah, if Mr. Mushnick doesn't like it, he's gonna fire me.

-Apparently my hearing is going out on me.

I get the distinct impression that your job security

depends on what Mushnick thinks of that thing.

-Gee, it looks worse than it did this morning

when I went to work.

I wish I knew what to do with it.

-Well, if you ask me, I'd pitch it out in the trash.

I don't like my house cluttered up with rotten vegetables.

-Look, Ma, I got to hurry. Can I bring you anything?

-Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring me the Evening News.

They're running a self-diagnosis contest.

The winner gets to go to the Mayo Clinic!

[Laughs]

-Bye, Ma.

-Bye, Son. I'll see the rosy into dawn.

♪ Drink to me only with thine eyes ♪

♪ And I will... ♪

-Uh, put this on my bill.

[Bell jingles]

-Well, here it is, everybody. What do you think of it?

-Well, it sure is different.

-It looks delicious, but don't you think it's kind of stale?

-It hasn't been feeling too well.

-You call that a fancy plant?

It looks like it never spent a healthy day in its entire life.

-I don't care. I like it anyway.

-You? You like even skunk cabbage.

-Yeah.

What kind of a plant is this, Seymour?

-Well, I'm not sure.

I got the seeds from a Japanese gardener

over on Central Avenue.

He found them in with an order he got

from a plantation next to a cranberry farm.

-Fine. Fine.

You don't even know what is this plant you're growing.

-W-Well, I gave it a name.

-What name?

-Aw, gee.

-What? You gave it a dirty name?

You can't even mention it?

-Well, I named it Audrey Junior.

-[Gasps] You named it after me?!

Oh, really?

That's the most exciting thing anyone's ever done to me.

-You poor kid.

-I don't think it's so much

I should keep on spending $10 a week on your salary.

-But, Gravis, he named it after me!

-I know, and if they keep it, they'll name it Mushnick's folly

because I'll be in jail for non-payment of taxes.

-Are you crazy?

-Who? Who? -You, you.

That's probably the only plant of its kind in the world.

Don't you realize if Seymour can nurse that thing back to health,

you'll have people coming here from all over?

-You think so, you Fouch? -I know so, you Mushnick.

And that's all I'm saying on the subject.

Besides, I've got to get home.

My wife's making gardenias for dinner.

-Good night, you Fouch.

-Good night. And I'll see you tomorrow.

I'm crazy about kosher flowers.

[Bell jingles]

-He's a nice man.

-Maybe he knows what he's talking about.

Maybe he's not so stupid.

I'll tell you what I'll do.

I'll keep you and this Dumbbell Junior for a week.

If you can nurse it back to health, you both can stay.

If you can't, you're both fired.

-Aw, gee, thank you, Mr. Mushnick.

[Sighs]

-Don't feel sad, Seymour.

-Don't waste your pity on me, Audrey. I'm not worth it.

-Who says you're not?

-Everybody.

-Yeah, I know.

But I think you're a fine figurative of a man,

and I know that Audrey Junior

will be the sweetest thing in the whole wide world.

-Well, I don't know.

I've given it every kind

of fancy fertilizer and atomic plant food

and distilled mineral water you can buy,

but it just gets sicker and sicker.

-Don't worry. You're gonna be another Luther Glendale.

-Pasadena.

-Burbank.

Good night, Seymour.

-Good night, Audrey.

[Door opens, bell jingles]

[Door closes]

What's the matter, little plant?

Haven't I done everything I could for you?

Where did I goof?

You're the first little plant I ever tried to grow,

and if you die, I don't know what I'll do.

Please don't die.

I'll get you some water, okay?

♪♪

♪♪

Oh, gee.

You opened up just like you do every night at sunset.

I wish I knew how to make you grow.

Here, let me move this out of your way

so you can breathe.

Ow! Ow, ow, ow!

Hey, what happened? How come you woke up?

Blood?! You like blood?!

Ohh, you must be kidding.

Well, we'll see.

♪♪

You don't know what I'm doing for you.

Ow!

[Slurps]

Ohh.

Who would've thought it?

Well, I guess there's just no accounting

for people's tastes.

[Static crackles]

You know, when I rewatched this movie recently,

I had forgotten how Jewish it is.

Mel Welles and Dick Miller and the other actors,

like Myrtle Vail, who plays the hypochondriac mother,

they were all well versed in the conventions of Yiddish New York,

which is to say, the conventions of vaudeville,

which is to say, the conventions of the Borscht Belt,

even though none of the filmmakers were Jewish,

but it does give a certain frantic quality to the comedy.

The lines go by quicker than you can consume them,

and as a result, it's perhaps the only Roger Corman film

that's dialogue-based.

Roger was famous for taking new scripts and ripping out

the first 10 pages because it was, quote,

"All dialogue, film is a visual medium, films have to move."

But in this case, he was trying to make a movie

in two days, to break his own previous record of five days.

But why am I telling the story?

We have the rare opportunity to ask the man himself.

Yuki!

He's in L.A., in the Brentwood neighborhood I think.

Get him on the satellite.

[Beeping]

Roger Corman, ladies and gentlemen,

on the satellite from -- you in Brentwood,

the Brentwood neighborhood of L.A., Roger?

-Actually Santa Monica.

-Santa Monica. All right.

Well, Roger, we have spoken many times over the past 40 years.

You were actually one of the first people to pay attention

to my little newspaper column in Dallas years ago

when I started reviewing some of your pictures.

You received the first ever

Drive-In Lifetime Achievement Award,

engraved on a Chevy hubcap,

which, if I recall, I presented to you

on the roof of the concession stand

at the Gemini Drive-In in Dallas.

Do you remember that?

-I remember that very well.

I've gotten various awards over the years.

And I think one of the most memorable

was standing at the drive-in and getting the Chevy hubcap.

I've still got the hubcap somewhere around the house.

-Of course you assumed the hubcap was stolen,

and you may have been right, but since then, you have gone

from being the king of exploitation

to a sort of elder statesman of indie filmmaking.

You've received much more prestigious awards

from the American Film Institute

and the Motion Picture Academy itself.

They gave you an honorary Oscar,

which I presume is made of some precious metal more valuable

than a Chevy hubcap, which is ironic

because you were always the outsider in Hollywood.

You were the barbarian at the gates.

But somehow you've been transformed in recent years

into the mentor of most of Hollywood.

Is that accurate?

-Yeah, that's accurate.

And I can only attribute it to time.

The young rebel over time becomes the elder statesman.

-Well, there are very few people

I can ask this question of.

In your 90s, Roger, how does Hollywood look

compared to Hollywood in your 20s,

when you got your first job

as a messenger at 20th Century Fox?

-Production is much simpler and more efficient today.

We worked with 35 millimeter,

and we had these big Mitchell cameras.

So you can shoot more efficiently today

than you did when I started.

The difference is really in distribution.

-What's the big difference there?

-When I started, every picture that had at least

some minor merit to it got a full theatrical release,

particularly including the low budget films,

which I was making.

Over the years, the major studios

have taken over to such an extent that you very seldom

see a low budget picture get a full theatrical release.

Just occasionally a horror film, science fiction

will break through or what might pass for

an auteur film will break through.

-What about the difference in Hollywood

in terms of the ability of somebody

to just show up as you showed up in your mid-20s

to become a producer?

I think you told me once that when you started working

for 20th Century Fox, you notice they didn't

pay attention to the writers

and they didn't pay attention to the directors.

They just paid attention to the producers.

So you decided to be a producer. Is that still possible today?

Is it still possible for someone to break in the way you did?

-I think it is possible. It's a little bit more difficult

simply because the market for low budget films has diminished.

So you have a smaller audience to work with,

and it results in fewer producers doing that.

It is still possible,

but it's a little bit more difficult.

-Your first picture as a producer was

"Monster On the Ocean Floor",

and your first picture as a director

was "Five Guns West" with Mike Connors of "Mannix" fame,

and Dorothy Malone.

Pictures that couldn't be made today.

Low budget science fiction has gone away.

Westerns have all but disappeared,

both low budget and high budget.

If you were starting today, what would you make?

-It depends upon really the ability

or maybe self perceived ability of the producer or director.

The most logical from a commercial standpoint

would be horror.

There is still a little bit of a market

for low budget horror films.

On the other hand, if you're aiming higher,

there is still a small market for the quote,

"auteur" type of film.

On the other hand, anything I say,

you have to remember, all rules exist to be broken.

-[Chuckles] Well, one of the actors in the movie

we're watching tonight made his film debut

in your second film as a director,

"Apache Woman", and he played an Indian.

Dick Miller.

And then you called him back later and asked him to play

a cowboy in the same movie.

[Laughter]

-It's essentially true that it wasn't a week,

it was a couple of minutes.

[Laughter]

I was shooting the scenes on the cowboys in one direction

and the Indians on the other, and Dick was a cowboy.

And when I trained to turn the camera around,

I realized I didn't have enough Indians.

So I said quickly to Dick and somebody else,

I think, "Get an Indian costume and jump over there

and get on the other side."

-Well, he was afraid at one point

that he might have to shoot himself in the final scene.

-I think he didshoot himself.

[Laughter]

-Well, you probably used Dick more than any other actor,

especially in your early years.

I think he did something like 35 roles in Corman films.

-Yes, Dick was very versatile.

He was a very good actor,

and he didn't have the looks to be a leading man,

but he had the ability as an actor to portray

just about anything you wanted him to do,

and with little preparation, he could do it.

So I worked with Dick because he was a good guy

and he had this ability, I knew,

to portray any character I wanted.

-But this film, "Little Shop of Horrors",

which may be one of the most famous of your films,

is actually the least representative of your films,

and in fact, this is a virtual remake

of "A Bucket of Blood",

your satire on the beatnik movement,

which was made just a few months earlier in 1959.

Did you decide with Chuck Griffith

just the remake "A Bucket of Blood"

in a different guise?

-What happened was this.

We had a sneak preview of one of the Edgar Allen Poe films,

and at the sneak preview, the audience screamed.

And I thought, "I did it,

I got exactly the reaction I wanted."

And then after the scream, there was a little bit of laughter.

And I thought, "Wait a minute, what's wrong?"

And I thought, "No, it's not -- Nothing's wrong.

They appreciate the fact that they've been sort of taken in."

-Right, an audience experiences a kind of joy at being scared.

-So I got the idea, which is not original with me,

but the idea of combining horror with comedy.

And I did that, but I wasn't certain that it would work.

So on a five day schedule, I did that with

"A Bucket of Blood."

And then I had no real reason to make "Little Shop of Horrors",

except I was having lunch with the studio manager.

I was working out of a small rental studio in Hollywood.

And he mentioned that he had this fairly elaborate office set

and nobody was going to come in

and they were going to tear down the set.

And I said, "Well, wait a minute,

this is a ready built set.

Maybe I can come up with an idea and use the set."

-Can't let a bill set go to waste.

It wasn't the first time, right?

-I had really no particular money at the time.

So I thought, "Well, I could shoot a couple of days.

What could I do, you know, just fooling around?

And one of the reasons I think "Little Shop of Horrors"

turned out to be such a success,

we were all just having fun.

We knew this is a joke.

I remember we started shooting at 8:00 in the morning

and at 8:10, the assistant director announced,

"We are hopelessly behind schedule."

And that's the attitude we had when we made the film.

-Well, you're famous, Roger,

or some would say notorious, for your ability

to squeeze value out of a nickel.

And in this case, you decided to film

in the last week of the decade of the '50s,

because on January 1, 1960,

the new Screen Actors Guild rules came into effect,

and it was no longer legal to buy an actor's contract

for the life of a movie.

You have to pay residuals.

And so I guess this was the last non-residual movie ever made.

Now, was that intentional?

-No, that was not intentional. -Okay.

-But it was a lucky break.

-Okay.

Why the Borscht Belt rhythm to the comedy?

Charles Griffith, your screenwriter was not Jewish.

You're not Jewish.

Yet it has this Yiddish rhythm.

And of course, you have all the signs, such as,

"We don't letting you spend so much"

and "Lots plants cheap."

-That, I think, was Chuck's idea.

His mother had worked in vaudeville,

and he wanted his mother to come in,

and she played the mother in the film.

And it just sort of came.

And then it seemed funny to go that way.

-In fact, some of the theater owners thought

it was a little tooSemitic

and put up some resistance to showing it,

but eventually, it did get a theatrical release.

I think it was mostly a second bill.

I think one time it ran with "Black Sunday"

and another time it ran with "Last Woman on Earth",

another of your notable films from the '50s.

Roger, we're delighted that you're with us tonight.

Please stick around. We have lots more to discuss.

Right now, we're going to go back to the film.

-Very good.

-I need to explain one reference

that nobody ever gets in this movie.

Seymour says he got the seeds for Audrey Junior

from a Japanese gardener who found them, quote,

"On a plantation next to a cranberry farm."

Just one month before the movie was shot,

right before Thanksgiving, America suffered through

what was called "the cranberry crisis."

Everybody was told, "Don't serve cranberries

with your Thanksgiving dinner because they might be

contaminated with a weed killer called amino triazole,

known to cause cancer in animals.

Fortunately, cranberries were back a year later,

and everybody had those little jiggling mounds

of purple gelatinous goo on their holiday plates again,

making it possible for Americans to understand the immortal line

in "Blood Rage" -- "That's not cranberry sauce."

Just a little historical footnote.

This was the year of the killer cranberry.

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

-[Bell jingles] -Seymour!

-My boy!

-You are the most magnanimous person in the whole world!

-Look on him, Audrey. Isn't he beautiful?

Isn't he delicious? Isn't he got a $2 raise?

What happened to your fingers?

-Bee stings.

So, how come I'm all of a sudden so wonderful?

-Five bees? One for each finger?

-10 bees. Did you say I was getting a $2 raise?

-Correct, my very excellent Seymour.

10 bees. -What did I do now?

-Don't you know what you did?

Just look!

-Oh, boy! Look at that!

It grew!

It's almost a foot long.

-Isn't it empirical?

-It grows like a cold sore from the lip.

[Bell jingles]

Oh, hello, young, pretty ladies.

What can Gravis Mushnick do for you?

-Well, we saw your sign outside.

-About the Audrey Junior

-And we thought we'd come in and take a look.

-Well, give a look.

-That makes four people today

who have come in just to look at it.

-Oh!

-Is that just too much!

-Oh! What kind of plant is it?

-It's an Audrey Junior

-Where was it you got in trouble with 10 bees?

-Well, is that all?

I mean, doesn't it have a scientific name?

-Yes, of course, but who could denounce it?

You would like maybe to buy something?

-Well, we don't have any money.

Except $2,000.

But that's just to spend on flowers.

-So we don't have any of our own.

-Isn't that a drag?

-You got just $2,000 just for to spend on flowers?

-Mm-hmm. -That's right.

-Who died? The chamber of commerce?

-Well, we're from Cucamonga High School.

-We're building a float. -For the rose bowl parade.

-Which is made out of flowers. -Thousands of them.

-And we're on the committee. -That picks the florist.

-And then glues on the flowers.

-Gee, that sure is a mad plant.

-Wow! Yeah!

-Seymour here invented it.

-He did?!

-Thousands of flowers?

Girls, girls, girls, girls, girls,

please don't damage the horticulturist.

Tell me, how come you don't buy all these

thousands of flowers from Gravis Mushnick?

My flowers got something the others don't.

-What's that? -They're cheap.

-Well, gee, if your shop is good enough

to develop the Audrey Junior.

-I guess it can get us everything we need.

-Yeah, we'll talk it over with the rest of the committee.

-Excellent. -Well, we got to run now.

Bye, all. -Bye, Seymour.

-Bye. Bye, girls.

[Bell jingles]

[Door closes]

A son.

A son!

Look, Audrey, I got a son.

-Aw, gee, Mr. Mushnick.

-What, "Mr. Mushnick."

I don't want you should call me Mr. Mushnick anymore.

I want you should call me dad.

-Okay. Dad.

-Isn't that beautiful?

-Seymour Krelboyne, come over here, my son.

I want to talk on you about the future.

Look on this fly trap. Look on it.

Soon we got no more Skid Row. We will be rich, us.

I am building for you a giant greenhouse

in which you are making impossible flowers,

which, in turn, I am selling at ridiculous prices

in my giant, new flower saloon in Beverly Hills.

Do you see that big sign in the sky?

It is saying "Gravis Mushnick" in French.

-Isn't it exciting?

And we'll have an orchestra right by the cash register.

And Gravis will wave his arms,

and the orchestra will play Mendelssohn's "Spring Song."

And I'll come out in a gown

wrapped by somebody expensive and say...

-"The carnations are $600 a dozen,

two dozen for $1,000!"

"It's a bargain!" -"Get 'em while they last!"

-Stop shouting!

My Uncle Moisha Strudayanko just passed away --

Tenafly, New Jersey.

Tell me, how much are the carnations today?

-The carnations are $600 a d--

-Why are they letting him run around, lewd?

-Please, please. Excuse my son, Mrs. Shiva.

Just point to anything in the store, and it is yours.

-You mean, in the -- -That's right.

-The cash register, maybe, huh?

-Ah. Wait a minute.

Here.

Here are several dozen carnations on the house,

courtesy of Gravis Mushnick, the bloom tycoon.

-That's my dad. -Thanks.

Thanks very much.

Only, tell me, why are you so happy?

Not only did my Uncle Moisha Strudayanko die --

Tenafly, New Jersey...

You should also give some flowers

to that poor, dead plant there.

-Good morning, Mr. Mushnick.

Good morning.

-Good morning, Mrs. Shiva.

-Look what happened to my plant, Dad.

-Who are you calling dad? Who? Who?

-Oh, no!

And it was so beautiful just a few seconds ago.

-Excellent! Just a few seconds ago,

I gave away dozens of carnations free to Mrs. Shiva!

-I didn't mean it.

-You have perhaps an explanation?

-No, but if you give me a minute, I'll think of one.

-I can see it all now. We are in the poor house.

That big sign in the sky, it is reading

"Seymour Krelboyne, rest in peace"

in Arabic!

Oh, you've got to give him another chance.

-You promised me a week, Mr. Mushnick.

I'll sit up all night with that plant.

It'll be healthy in the morning. You'll see.

I promise. I promise.

-Feed m-e-e-e-e!

Feed m-e-e-e-e.

Feed me!

-Who said that?

You said that.

Yousaid that?!

-Hmm. Feed me!

-You said that.

You can talk.

I got a talking plant!

Say it again.

-Feed me.

-Oh, boy.

I never been to college, and I ain't been around much,

but I'd have been willing to bet

there ain't no such thing as a talking plant.

But I'll take your word for it.

Gee, Junior, I-I'd like to feed you,

but I used up all my fingers.

-Feed m-e-e-e-e!

-Oh.

Look at me. I'm all cut to pieces.

But maybe I can find another drop here someplace.

[Audrey Junior Slurping]

That's the best I can do.

-More. More!

-But I'm already anemic.

-Feed me more!

-Gee, Junior, I'd be happy to give you anything I got,

but I got to keep a little blood for myself,

or I'll be in worse shape than Ma.

-Hmm.

-I'm sorry, Junior. Oh, I'll go for a walk.

Maybe I'll think of something.

[Train approaches in distance]

-Ugh!

[Train whistle blaring]

-Ohh!

-Aah!

-Oh, my -- no!

[Footsteps approaching]

-Daddy! There's somebody out there!

-♪ Feed me ♪

♪ Feed me ♪

-Look, chow hound, don't bother me.

I got problems of my own.

-Feed me!

-I'm sorry, pal. I'm fresh out of blood.

Talk to somebody else.

-I'm hungry!

-I don't care what you are!

Can't you see I'm knocked out? I just killed a man.

I'm a murderer!

Do you think it's fun to be a murderer?

You think it's fun to haul around a sack full of --

-Food!

-Oh, no, Junior.

What kind of guy do you think I am?

-I'm starved!

-Well...

Maybe just a snack.

-Mmm. Mmm.

Mmm! That looks great!

[Static crackles]

-You know, I made a mistake at the beginning.

I said this movie was set on the Lower East Side of New York.

It's actually set in downtown L.A.

Otherwise, you wouldn't have two young women come in

and spend $2,000 on their float for the Rose Bowl Parade.

The exterior scenes are the actual Skid Row of Los Angeles,

shot by Charles Griffith, the screenwriter,

specifically the 200 block of East 5th Street

near the Rosslyn Hotel, which, if you go there today,

pretty much looks just as sketchy as it did in 1959.

And as a person who has stayed at the Rosslyn Hotel,

if you ever get a chance to book a room there, don't.

That particular version of the Rosslyn was built in 1923,

as was the studio where "Little Shop of Horrors"

was filmed, the old Charlie Chaplin Studios

at Sunset Boulevard and La Brea, which today is the home of

the Muppets and all the other enterprises

of the Jim Henson Company.

That's where Roger had a small office and so he heard about

the standing set was that served as the florist's shop,

the restaurant, and, upcoming, the dentist's office.

Some movies start with a screenplay, some movies start

with a novel, some of Roger's movies start with

the fact that a free set exists.

One reason it was possible to make this movie in two days

is that everyone had worked together before.

Jonathan Haze was in Corman's first movie,

"Monster From the Ocean Floor," and he was a friend of

Charles Griffith, who was writing TV scripts

for his grandmother, Myrtle Vail,

who plays the mother of Seymour in this movie.

Myrtle Vail was a vaudeville performer who created

and starred in a radio show in the '30s called

"The Story of Myrt and Marge" that she performed with

her daughter Donna Damerel, Charles Griffith's mother,

and it was a show about an aging showgirl using stories

from her vaudeville career, and Myrtle was trying to redo that

for television and so she asked her grandson Charles Griffith,

who was living with her after being discharged from the Army,

to write her some scripts, and it was those scripts that

Jonathan Haze took to Roger Corman's office one day

and dumped them on his desk, and Roger liked the scripts.

And when Roger likes something, he doesn't call you back

next week, he puts you to work five minutes later.

And so the partnership was born.

The first Charles Griffith movie produced and directed by

Roger was "It Conquered the World"

in 1956, with Peter Graves,

and there would be dozens after that.

So, Roger, tell me what system you and Chuck Griffith had

for script development.

I know sometimes it involved pub crawls.

-The script development actually was a more or less

pub crawl, which started on "A Bucket of Blood."

I remember we had dinner together at the Early World,

which was sort of a hippie beatnik hangout.

And then we drifted from coffee shop to coffee shop,

making up ideas as we went along,

which fit very well "Bucket of Blood"

because it was in a beatnik coffee shop.

And "A Bucket of Blood" was so successful,

when I though of "Little Shop of Horrors",

I said, "Chuck, let's do it again."

So we just went, started again with dinner at the Early World,

and drifted from coffee house to coffee house.

-Just a few of the Chuck Griffith/Roger Corman

titles -- "Gunslinger" with Beverly Garland

and John Ireland was the first one he actually wrote.

But "The Undead", "Attack of the Crab Monsters",

"Rock All Night", "Not of This Earth",

"Teenage Doll", "Death Race 2000",

"The Wild Angels", "Eat My Dust",

"Ski Troop Attack",

and then, of course, "A Bucket of Blood."

Same plot, but it's a satire of the beatnik movement.

Something tells me that you, Roger,

with your Stanford engineering degree, were never a beatnik.

-I was close.

I knew people who were beatniks,

and I hung out a little bit with some guys who were beatniks.

So I was familiar with the scene.

But you might say I was sort of

a hanger on of the beatnik scene.

-One thing that's interesting to me

is that most of the people you trusted in these early days

were all self-taught.

You didn't go to film school.

Dick Miller had never done any acting before he worked for you.

You knew Jack Nicholson mostly as a writer

instead of as an actor.

Charles Griffith had no formal training.

Jackie Joseph, who plays Audrey,

was mostly known for doing "The Billy Barnes Revue",

which was a popular musical stage show

that satirized Hollywood, as well as being -- she was

the first Los Angeles weather girl

back when you didn't have to know anything

about weather to be the weather girl.

She was on "The Magic Land of Alakazam",

which was a Saturday morning magic show.

I watched that as a kid.

And yet you became the patron of the great film schools.

You were known for hiring people from USC and NYU

and the other major universities.

You trusted film schools, but none of your early

collaborators had gone to film school,

-That pretty much true.

A number of the actors had studied method acting with

Jeff Corey, and I actually studied briefly

with Jeff myself as a director.

Because my background was in engineering,

I felt I was able to pick up the use of the camera, editing,

and everything fairly quickly.

But what I didn't really understand,

was working with actors.

So I enrolled in Jeff's class

just to learn how to relate to actors.

And within that class, I met Jack Nicholson,

who I thought was an excellent young actor.

Bob Towne, who started with me as a writer,

went on to win an Academy Award.

So a couple of people came out of Jeff's class

and others were just people I know and hung out with.

-Okay, Roger, it's 1960, the dawn of the '60s.

You're 34 years old.

You have made 40 movies in six years,

and you're about to start your most famous cycle,

the Edgar Allen Poe series,

almost all of them starring Vincent Price.

What are you thinking as you enter the '60s

as one of the most prolific filmmakers in America?

-Well, I was thinking as I entered the '60s

that even though I'd made a lot of films at the time,

I was still learning because I had no experience to start with.

And I thought, I'm beginning to get the idea.

It's starting to work for me.

I'm not yet, if I ever became, a truly accomplished director.

But I thought I'm now in the realm of reasonable confidence.

I had a little bit more faith in what I was doing.

-Roger, it's hard to imagine

you ever lacking confidence behind a camera.

-And the transition came when I started

the Edgar Allen Poe pictures.

American International and Allied artists,

the two leading low budget

production distribution companies,

had each developed an idea of sending out two pictures

for the price of one, two black and white horror films,

two black and white science fiction

or juvenilequency.

That sort of thing.

These films cost $60,000, $70,000,

and they wanted me to make two more.

And I felt first that that sales gimmick

was starting to wear itself out,

and I myself simply wanted to move on.

So I said, "Forget the two.

Let me have a little more money.

Instead of two 10-day pictures in black and white,

I'll make one 15-day picture

-A whole 15 days on a Roger Corman picture.

So really moving up in the world.

-I was in the big time with a 15-day shooting schedule,

and I chose "The Fall of the House of Usher."

"Usher", it was quite successful.

It led to -- I think I ended up doing five or six

or maybe seven Edgar Allen Poe films.

And that sort of established me

as coming up slightly from the ranks.

-And what was the budget of "Fall of the House of Usher"?

-That was a little over $200,000.

-So a big budget for you.

-It was for Vincent.

-So talk to me a little about Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholson,

the owners of American International Pictures,

who were releasing your movies.

I always assumed you guys were probably friends.

Were they creative, intelligent people to work with?

-They were both intelligent, and then they grew

into being the biggest independent distributors.

And it was because Jim had been a theater manager

and he'd see many, many pictures with audiences.

Jim was president, and he was clearly in charge

of the creative aspects of production.

-What about Sam? -Sam was a lawyer.

He stepped away from that creative aspect,

and he concentrated on business affairs,

and they both worked well together.

And I think it was the idea and the fact

that each had their individual element to work on

and putting those two together was the ideal way to work.

-Weren't you also using your own money to make the films?

-Yes, I made a number of films with my own money

in which I sent them out through distribution,

through American International.

Eventually, in 1970, which brings us into

a different decade, I started my own

production distribution company, New World Pictures,

and that ushered in a whole different era for me.

-All right, well, we're going to go back to the movie

right now, but would you say

Mel Welles carried this movie, Roger?

-I would say Mel Welles carried the film

along with Jonathan Haze.

Jonathan played what we used to refer to as "the little guy",

and they worked very well together.

The fact that Mel was Jewish may have led to the film

having that little bit of a Jewish atmosphere.

-Well, Mel certainly has all the dialogue.

He was quite proud of learning 90 pages of dialogue

in two days.

All right, roll the film.

Chuck Griffith also wrote movies for other directors.

He wrote "The Swinging Barmaids,"

"She Beast" for Dave Friedman,

"Beast from Haunted Cave" directed by Monte Hellman.

And like most screenwriters, he hated screenwriting.

If you're not a writer, you don't understand that,

but I'm a writer, so I totally do.

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

-[Laughing]

-Now, that is what I call a salad.

What do you call that salad?

-Caesarean.

-Well, before the next course, I think I'll have a nice cigar.

All right?

You would like, maybe, a cigar?

[Both laugh]

You don't smoke cigars! What am I thinking about?

Where are the matches?

Ooh. Oi.

You know what I found? -What?

-I'm looking for the matches,

and I found I left the money in the other suit.

-Here's your mock chicken legs.

-You don't have any money?

-So, what else is new?

-All right. All right. I made a mistake.

After all, a man is entitled.

-Go on. This is your story. I'll wait for the punch.

-Don't get smart with me, girlie.

I'll have you know that in my shop, in the cash register,

I'm having the total day's receipts,

which is summing up to more than $9.

You'll bring the rest of the food,

and I'll go to the shop and get the money!

-You're playing my favorite song.

Now, look here, buster.

One of you is gonna go down right now and get the loot

while the other one stays here

until the first one gets back, if you get what I mean.

-Oh, fine.

In this fancy-schmancy restaurant,

you are holding hostages, right?!

-Right!

-Excellent.

You eat up, Audrey.

I'll be back in a flash with the cash.

-Bye, Gravis.

-[Crying] ♪ 'Tis the season to be jolly ♪

♪ Fa la la la la, la-la la la ♪

♪ 'Tis the season to be jolly ♪

♪ Fa la la la la, la-la la la ♪

♪ 'Tis the season ♪

[Sobs]

♪ To be jolly ♪

♪ Fa la la la la, la-la la la ♪

-You flush now, right?

-Bring me whiskey, rum, wine, gin, bourbon.

-What?

-Scotch, rye, tequila, sake, manischewitz.

-Did you bring the money?

-Don't bug me with the money! I've got to get drunk. Now!

-What's with him? -I don't know.

-Look, here. Take it.

Bring me anything. Bring me everything.

Crème de menthe. Everything you got!

-Okay!

-Gravis...

What happened? -Don't ask.

-You look like you've seen a ghost.

-Ghosts, I could handle. Don't ask.

-Why don't you tell me? Maybe I could help you.

-Help? You couldn't.

-Try and eat something. It'll calm your agromation.

-Ugh.

In my own shop.

Audrey, you wouldn't believe it.

-I wish you'd break out and tell me.

-All right, I'll tell you tomorrow

right after I am telling the police.

-But Mushnick didn't come to the police.

If he had, that might have been

the finish of the unhappy story.

It was not.

[Bell jingles]

-Hi, Gravis!

$85 worth of business already, and we've barely opened!

[Cash register dings]

-What'd I tell you? You wouldn't be interested

in selling a half-interest in this place, huh?

-Mr. Mushnick. -We talked to the committee.

-And they said we could use your flowers.

-On the float. -And guess what?

-We're going to feature Audrey Junior

-Right on top! -Oi.

-Can't you just picture it? -I can picture it.

-Oh, won't the people just eat it up?

-Eat up, the people.

-And we're gonna have the big part of it open.

So she can sit in it. -Who?

-The Queen! -With her crown and scepter.

She'll be so cute!

Oh, you could just eat her up.

-Eat up, the girl.

-Oh, there's Seymour! -There's Seymour!

-Seymour! Seymour!

-Oh! Oh! Oh, no! I've got a toothache.

Oh, I got a toothache! Leave me a--

-You. Come with me.

-Oh! I've got a toothache. It hurts.

Oh, let go of my jaw! Ohh!

-Hi, Seymour!

-Ohh!

-Now, Seymour, talk on me.

-I got a toothache. What do you want to talk about?

-That plant. Is that a nice subject for to talk?

-The plant? The plant is great.

It's -- it's four times bigger than it was yesterday.

-I saw. I saw. How come the plant is now so big?

-Oh, I don't know.

But look at all them people out there.

We only been open a half-hour,

and we already done $70 worth of business.

-$85. Now, look, Seymour.

You gave this plant a fancy name -- Audrey Junior --

But I want to know right now what do just people call it?

-Well, it's a cross between

a butterwort and a Venus flytrap.

-Venus flytrap.

And what are the habits of this Venus flytrap?

-Well, the book says it eats insects.

It eats them three times in its life,

and then it's full-grown.

-Excellent. And how many times has this one eat?

-Well...

Once or twice.

-You don't remember?

-Well, this is kind of an unusual-type flytrap.

-That is a possibility.

-It may never eat again.

I don't see how it could get any bigger.

-Then you think it don't need any more flies?

-Yeah.

[Cash register dinging]

Oh, my tooth is just killing me.

-All right. Excellent. You run along to the dentist.

I'll take care of things here.

-Thanks, boss.

-Gravis!

We've got to order more flowers -- tons of them!

[Cash register dinging]

-I'm making lots of money.

[Man screaming]

-Oh, please, no! Oh, please! No more pain!

[Screaming] I can't stand it!

No! No!

-That'll teach you to keep your Bill up to date, you deadbeat.

-[Screaming]

Go ahead and run, you sniveling dog!

Go ahead and run. I'm glad I hurt you.

I'm glad. I'm gla-- ah, Seymour. Seymour.

Got a bad tooth, huh?

-No, I thought this was the men's room.

-Seymour, come back here.

You bad dog, you. Get in there!

So, you are the young man who ruined my gladiolas, huh?

Sit down. Come on!

Ahh.

-Guess what.

-My tooth stopped hurting. -My tooth stopped hurting.

-Yes, I know. Let's see.

Shut up and open up. Uh-huh.

Ahh.

-Aah!

-Does that hurt? -Yeah!

-Good. You haven't felt anything yet. Uh-huh.

-It's this tooth over here!

-Seymour, who is the dentist here -- you or me?

I'll find that tooth. Mm-hmm.

Uh-huh.

Look at that stalagmite. But don't worry.

It's gonna be an easy one, Seymour.

I won't even use novocaine.

-Oh, you broke the mirror in my mouth.

-Well, don't tell me about it, stupid, just swallow it.

-[Clink] -All right.

Yes, let's see, now, Seymour.

Say, I'll have this one, and this one, and that one,

and I have to have this one, Seymour!

-It's only one tooth.

-Seymour, who is the dentist here, you or me?

Are you practicing dentistry without a license, huh?

All right. Uh-huh. Let's see.

♪ Oh, Seymour ♪

-♪ Seymour ♪ -Aah! Aah!

-♪ Don't be... ♪ -Aah!

-Ow! -[Pop!]

-Look at that.

Will you look at that, Seymour?

I didn't know you were an elk.

Huh!

You know, I can't afford an assistant,

so I get this ready, instant mix.

Doesn't last very long, but it tastes good.

Hmm.

All right, Seymour.

-Oh, stay away from me!

-Seymour! -You're trying to kill me!

-A duel? A-ha!

Uhh!

Ah!

-[Chuckles]

Is this Dr. Farb's office?

-Uh, just a minute!

-[Cackles] Oh, yes.

[Chuckles excitedly]

I see it is.

[Chuckles]

-Uh, y-you can come in now.

-[Chuckles]

My name is Wilbur Force.

-Wilbur Force what?

-Just Wilbur Force.

My first name is Wilbur. My last name is Force.

[Chuckles] I don't have a middle name.

-Well, do you have an appointment, maybe?

-No, but you were very highly recommended to me

by one of your patients -- a Mrs. S. Shiva.

I do a lot of undertaking for her relatives.

-Well, as you can see, I have a customer now,

and I'm all booked up for the rest of the day,

so you'll have to come back tomorrow.

-Oh, I couldn't do that.

I have three or four abscesses, a touch of pyorrhea,

9 or 10 cavities, I lost my pivot tooth,

and I'm in terrible pain. [Chuckles]

-Well, I can't help you today.

-Oh, that's all right.

I'll just wait outside.

[Chuckles]

"The patient came to me with a large hole in his abdomen

caused by a fire poker used on him by his wife."

[Chuckles]

"He almost bled to death, and gangrene had set in.

I didn't give him much of a chance.

There were other complications.

The man had cancer, tuberculosis, leprosy,

and a touch of the grippe."

[Chuckles]

"I decided to operate."

-My -- my patient just left.

You can come in now.

-Oh, goody.

I didn't see the other man leave.

-Well, he went out the back door.

-You know, most people don't like to go to the dentist,

but I rather enjoy it myself, don't you?

I mean, there's such --

There's a real feeling of growth, of -- of...

progress when that -- that old drill goes in.

I mean, I'd almost rather go to the dentist than anywhere.

Wouldn't you? -Yeah.

-Now, no novocaine.

It dulls the senses. [Chuckles]

-This is gonna hurt you more than it is me.

-Oh, goody, goody. Here it comes.

-[Whirring] -Aah!

[Screams, laughs]

[Screams, laughs]

Oh, my God! Don't stop now!

-Well, I made a lot of holes, and now I got to fill it up

with this here silver stuff.

-Well, aren't you gonna pull any?

-Well, uh...

-Oh, go on.

-Well, it's your mouth.

-[Screaming, laughing]

[Pop!]

[Lisping] Well, Dr. Farb, it's been quite an afternoon.

I can truly say I've never enjoyed myself so much.

I'll recommend you to all my friends.

-Thank you. Bye. -Bye now.

[Door opens]

-Feed me!

-Aw, take it easy, Dracula.

What do you think I'm carrying here -- my dirty laundry?

-Food!

-I'm coming! I'm coming, already!

This should be enough for anybody.

-Mmm! Food!

-Well, goodbye, Dr. Farb.

You may have been a crummy dentist,

but you were a nice fella.

I never meant to kill anybody in my whole life.

Now I've killed two in the last two days.

-[Chomping]

-Well, but you asked for it,

coming after me with that knife and all.

Bon voyage, Dr. Farb.

Want anything else?

[Audrey Junior belches]

Well, see you in the morning.

[Static crackles]

-So Jack Nicholson shows up for what amounts to

a slapstick interlude half-way through the movie,

and Jack Nicholson is just one of many actors, writers,

directors who would never have made it in Hollywood

if it weren't for Roger Corman giving them their start.

In fact, Jack Nicholson has said that

for his first 10 years in L.A.,

the only jobs he got were Roger Corman jobs.

And, Roger, I wanted to ask you this.

You mentioned before that you met Jack

in Jeff Corey's acting class.

Of course, the sad reason that Jeff Corey was teaching

acting instead of acting himself

is that he had been blacklisted for refusing to name names

before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

But virtually every movie star of the '60s

went through that class -- Jane Fonda, Robert Blake,

James Coburn, Richard Chamberlain,

Sally Kellerman, Bruce Lee, Penny Marshall,

Leonard Nimoy, Tony Perkins, Rob Reiner.

Barbra Streisand was in that class.

And the other amazing thing about the class you were in

is that's where you met Robert Towne,

who would go on to write "Chinatown",

starring Jack Nicholson, and many other movies.

Is it true, Roger,

that you used to lock Robert Towne in his office

because he was such a slow writer?

-No, Bob Towne was a slow writer.

I never locked him in his room, however.

I remember one time I was interviewed,

and they asked me about Bob, and I said,

"Bob is a brilliant writer, but he's very slow."

At the same time, somebody else was interviewing Bob,

and they asked him about me, and Bob said,

"Roger's a great director to work with,

but he always wants the script too fast."

[Laughter]

-So even though you were known as the low budget guy,

you were shoulder to shoulder

with all the movers and shakers of the city.

You always knew all the A-list directors

and the producers and the studio execs.

-It's moderately accurate.

I knew some of the executives at the studio,

but what I really knew, I knew who the young writers,

directors, actors, and so forth were.

So I had a little bit of knowledge

there of what was going on.

-Did you know Jack Nicholson was a great actor

when you first met him?

-From the very beginning,

I thought he was an excellent actor.

There were maybe 15 people or something like that

in the class.

And he clearly was the best actor in the class.

He was extremely good with improvisations.

-When he got time to write "The Wild Angels"

and "The Trip", probably your two most innovative movies,

certainly your most innovative of the '60s,

you were really more a fan of Bruce Dern

and Peter Fonda, right, than you were of Jack.

-Yes, Peter seemed to be the right choice

for the lead in "The Wild Angels",

and Bruce seemed to be the right choice for the co-star.

However, when I moved to "The Trip",

which was about LSD,

AIP wanted me, quite correctly, to reunite Peter and Bruce.

But I brought in, and this was actually Peter's suggestion,

Dennis Hopper as a co-star.

But I knew Jack Nicholson was a very good writer.

He'd written several scripts for me, and he knew about LSD.

[Laughter]-Really? I'm not surprised.

-So I had Jack write the script.

So the elements were all there put together,

which led to "Easy Rider."

-You know, if I had that list of actors in front of me,

Bruce Dern, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson,

and I was asked who knew the most about LSD,

I think I would choose Dennis or Bruce.

-Well, as a matter of fact,

the most knowledge LSD was Peter, Dennis, and Jack.

Weirdly enough, Bruce was a runner.

He almost made the Olympic team in long distance running,

and he never took LSD or anything like that.

Yet he was cast as the guy who taught Peter how to take LSD.

And he later told me that he was getting all kinds of fan mail

asking him about LSD.

And he said, "I don't know anything about LSD at all."

-Oh, man, that's funny.

As as we're approaching the end of the '60s

and you're kind of in the height of your talents

and you're going in new directions,

do you consider yourself a producer who directs

or a director who produces so he can direct?

-I would think probably a director who produces.

But the idea of combining the two worked

very well with me because, as we all know,

there are many incidents,

including some famous incidents of directors

clashing with the producer,

and if I was the director and the producer,

I had nobody to clash with but myself.

-All right. Well, Seymour is about

to feed a dentist to Audrey Junior,

so let's get back to the movie.

And, Roger, I always ask you this

every time you're on the show.

And so I already know the answer,

but I would like you to repeat it

because people don't understand what they're talking about.

What do you say to people who label you "King of the B's"?

-The phrase had been used because probably I was more

identified with "B" pictures than others.

But there are other very good filmmakers

making "B" pictures.

Matter of fact, I could single out specifically Bill Castle,

who made some very good low budget independent films.

So I've been called "The King of the B's",

various other things.

Actually, I like something what one of

the French newspapers called me,

which was "The Pope of Pop Cinema."

I thought that had a little higher level of definition.

-And what do you say to people

who label you "the king of exploitation"?

-It's okay.

They have a right to call me anything they want.

They can call me a genius. They can call me an idiot.

It's free speech.

-All right.

[Static crackles]

-Come in.

It's me, Joe.

-Come on in, Frank.

How's the wife, Frank? -Not bad, Joe.

-Glad to hear it. The kids?

-Lost one yesterday.

-Lost one, eh? How'd that happen?

-Playing with matches.

-Well, those are the breaks.

-Yeah, I guess so.

-Got a strange one here -- railroad people say they lost

one of their best detectives the other night.

-Oh, yeah? -Down by the yards.

He was watching the refrigerator cars.

-Refrigerator cars?

-Ice thieves.

-Oh, yeah? What happened?

-Don't know. Vanished. Blood on tracks.

-Clues?

-None.

-Anything else?

-Dentist. Farb.

-Dead? -Missing.

-Clues? -Blood in office.

-Where? -Skid Row.

-Ideas? -None.

-Check it out?

-Yeah.

-Now we were on the case, Officer Frank Stoolie and me.

My name is Fink. Sergeant Joe Fink.

I'm a Fink.

-Morning, Mr. Mushnick.

Oh, boy, look at that!

-Hi, everybody!

Oh, my gosh!

-Ain't it something?

-It's -- it's monstrositous!

-Yeah.

-And to think that you did it.

-Gee, Audrey, you don't have to kiss me.

-Don't you like me to kiss you?

-Yeah, but you don't like to kiss me.

-Why shouldn't I?

-Nobody else ever did.

-Well, I do like to.

-You do? You really do? You like to kiss me?

-Sure I do!

-Would you like to kiss me again?

-Okay.

-That plant.

-Ohh, boy, you kiss good, Audrey.

-Oh, I guess I just have a good kisser.

-H-h-h-how d-d-d-d...

-Would you like to go out on a date with me some night?

-When -- -Oh, sure I would, Seymour.

Any time. -Tonight?

-Okay.

-Oh, boy! -A-a-about that plant...

-We got the list. -Of flowers.

-For the float. -For the rose parade.

-I can't talk to you now, girls. Talk on Audrey.

-We got the list. -For the float.

-Okay, let's take a look at it. -Okay.

-Hi. What's cookin'?

-Look at my plant!

-My, what a large one.

-Yeah!

[Siren wailing in distance]

Hello, Mrs. Shiva. What's new?

-Oh, I got terrible news.

My nephew Frankie just lost his little boy.

-Oh, that's too bad. How did it happen?

-He was playing with matches.

-Would you like to buy, maybe, some flowers?

-Eh, about 50 cents' worth.

-Well, I'll get 'em for you. Look at my plant!

-I'm looking.

-Is your name Gravis Mushnick?

-Uh, Mushnick, Gravis. T-t-that's my name.

-Just want to ask you a few questions.

-Questions. Ask me what?

-Just want to ask you a few questions.

-I didn't do it. -Do what?

-Whatever.

-Ever see this man?

-Man. See. Picture.

-Why are you so nervous?

-Got a guilty conscience?

-No! Why should I?

-Ever see this man?

-Man. See. The p-picture. Dr. Farb.

-So you know him?

-My dentist. He maybe did something?

-Disappeared. -Blood in his office.

-The other man, too. Blood on the railroad tracks.

-A few spare parts.

-Oh, D-D-Dr. Farb is murdered?

-Is he?

-Who knows?! Not me!

-What do you think?

-He doesn't know anything.

-Okay, Mushnick, if you hear anything about these men,

call our office.

-Sure. I'll be glad to cooperate with the police.

-Hello, Aunt Siddie.

-Oh, isn't it terrible what happened to your boy, Frankie?

-Those are the breaks.

-All right, Seymour, now, you tell me

if that plant is finish all grown up.

-He's finished all growing up.

-You wouldn't kid your father.

-My father came home?

-Me, idiot! It's a finger of speech!

Now, look, I can't stand any more that plant.

It's growing me out of house and home.

-Well, it ain't gonna grow anymore. I promise.

-How can you be so sure?

-It ate three times already.

-Who --

I mean, what did it eat this time?

-Well, a-about a million Japanese beetles.

So it don't eat no more?

It's full.

-Gravis, there's a lady

from some kind of a commitness outside.

I think it's important.

-Excellent.

And by the by,

I understand you want to take Audrey out on a date tonight.

That's very good with me because I am staying

to keep an eye on that meshuggener plant!

-Where we gonna go tonight, Seymour?

-Oh, I just remembered, I don't have any money.

-Well, that's okay.

We could take a walk along the ocean or something.

-I got a great idea. We can eat dinner at my house.

My mom's a great cook.

-Oh, that's swell.

-Oh, boy, I'll call her later and tell her.

-Okay.

-Oh, that's remarkable!

-You like?

-Oh. I neither like nor dislike anything, my goodness.

I happen to represent the Society

of Silent Flower Observers of Southern California.

-How about that?

-Tell me, who created this magnificent bloom?

-I did. Me.

-A-and what might your name be?

-Seymour Krelboyne, with a "K."

-Krelboyne?

-Krelboyne.

-Raised it in a coffee can.

-This?

Well, t-tell me, Mr. Krelboyne, uh, is this a freak,

or -- or can more be raised from the seeds?

-We should live so long.

-Well, I don't think there are gonna be any more, Miss...

-Fishtwanger. Mrs. Hortense Fishtwanger.

-Uh, I think this is gonna be the only one,

Mrs. Fishswinger.

-Fishtwanger.

-Fishtwanger?

-Eh, it's probably indigestible, anyway.

-[Chuckles] At any rate...

I have the honor to tell you, Seymour Krelboyne,

that you have been selected to receive the annual trophy

of the Society of Silent Flower Observers

of Southern California.

-A trophy? Me?

-Such is justice.

-But tell me, when do you suppose

those large buds will open?

-Well, according to what the book says

about the plants that I crossed,

they should open day after tomorrow at sunset.

-Ah, very well.

Then I shall return at that time to present the trophy.

Good day.

[Bell jingles]

Remarkable!

-Oh, boy, I'm gonna get a trophy!

-Oh, Seymour, I'm so proud of you.

-Oh, a real trophy! -For Audrey Junior!

-We can put it on the float! -In the rose parade!

-Oh, boy!

-Oh, don't look at me. I-I'm a terrible sight.

I-I'm a complete sea hag.

-She always says that. -Well, it's true.

I haven't been feeling very well lately.

-Audrey, this is my ma, Winifred Krelboyne.

Ma, this is Audrey Fulquard. She's my girl.

-Hi, Audrey. Are you hungry?

-I sure am. I could eat a hearse!

-Oh! [Laughs]

Well, sit right down, and I'll go get the first course.

-Sit here, Audrey.

You want me to take your sweater?

-Oh. Yes.

[Chuckles]

-Never mind that. Well, now, try this.

-[Coughs]

It tastes like cough syrup.

-Dr. Phlegm's cough syrup.

A toast?

-To Audrey Junior.

-No, to Audrey Senior.

-Ooh. [Laughs]

[Bell jingles]

-[Sighs]

You. You glutton, you.

Tonight I keep an eye on you. I don't let nobody get near you.

-Here comes the soup.

Now, don't touch it till I get the -- the flavoring.

-Gee, Audrey, you sure look good by candlelight.

-Do I really, Seymour?

-Yeah.

-Here you are.

Now try it.

-It sure smells different.

-It's different.

-Some kind of oil, isn't it?

-Cod liver oil. Wonderful for the colon.

-And that's sulfur powder on the top.

[Creaking]

-Feed m-e-e-e!

Feed m-e-e-e!

I'm hungry!

-Open, it is.

-Feed me!

-I didn't hear it.

-Feed me!

-I heard it!

-I want food!

-A talking plant, we got.

-I'm hungry!

-No. Hungry?

Ain't that a fine kettlefin fish.

Who would you like to have tonight?

-You look fat enough.

-We not only got a talking plant.

We got one that makes with smart cracks.

Well, you listen to me, you botanical bum.

Food you won't get, not from Gravis Mushnick!

-I'm starved!

-Excellent!

You would unpopulate the whole Skid Row!

Well, you can forget about it.

You wouldn't get fed from Gravis Mushnick tonight.

Good night.

-You'll get yours.

-I kind of like this chow mein.

-Uh, if it tastes a little bitter,

it's because it's made of Chinese herbs,

and it's flavored with ecromiacin and epsom salts.

-There ain't another cook in the whole world like my Ma.

-That's what your old man said before the louse ran out on me.

You know, if you're gonna be married,

you got to be a good cook.

-Well, maybe you could teach me.

-Yous achin' to get married?

-Well, he hasn't asked me yet.

-Who hasn't? -Seymour.

-Seymour's too young to get married!

Look here, a boy's got to go out and play around a little bit,

go out on the make and have a ball.

-Gee, Ma, I don't want to have a ball.

I want to be with Audrey.

-Oh, Seymour. -Now, look, Seymour.

You promised you wouldn't get married

until you bought me an iron lung.

-But you've been breathing for years, Ma.

-Well, it ain't easy. It ain't easy, son.

[Door rattling]

[Bell jingles]

-[Exhales deeply] There's nobody here.

Black cat, 13th job, Friday the 13th.

Stupid superstitions.

All right, you, come out of there.

-Don't shoot, Mister. I'm old and sick.

I wouldn't hurt even a fly.

-Come out in the light, where I can see you.

Come on.

-Please don't shoot.

Please. Please. I'm only Gravis Mushnick.

You wouldn't want to kill me. Where would you hide the body?

-Don't worry. I'm not gonna shoot you.

Not unless you try something.

-Try something? I never tried anything in my life.

I wouldn't try anything now. You want my money? Take it.

You want I should go out and steal you some more?

That's all right, too. I'll do it.

-Thank you very much.

[Chuckles]

I like your brand of hospitality.

-You'll excuse it isn't more. I'm only a poor schlub.

-Yeah, yeah.

You got about 30 bucks here.

Come on, now. Where's the rest of it?

I was in here this afternoon.

I saw about 30,000 people in here.

They must've spent some money. Where is it?

-There ain't no more money.

They came in to look on the plant.

It's a big attraction -- Audrey Junior.

-The plant. Don't try to snow me, Jim.

30,000 squares didn't come in here to look for a plant.

Now, I want it!

-T-t-t-th-- I don't got no more money.

Honest. Believe me.

-Okay. Let's try this.

1, 2, 3, 4...

-I ain't got no more money! Honest!

-All right. Try it the other way around.

5, 4, 3, 2...

-All right! All right, already!

-Okay, big dad, where?

-In the plant.

-In the plant?

-The big plant -- Audrey Junior.

-I-inside the big leaves?

-That's right. Inside.

-[Chuckles] How do you get it open?

-Just knock.

[Creaking]

-In there?

In there.

-Inside. In the bottom.

-I don't see anything.

-Way inside.

Right in the bottom.

-Aah!

-Oi. What I did?

[Audrey Junior Belches]

[Gun clatters]

[Static crackles]

-By the way, Dick Miller really did eat those flowers.

How do we know this?

Because whenever he was asked that question at conventions,

he would pull out a flower and eat it.

[Laughter]

Dick passed away in 2019.

He was in every movie directed by Joe Dante.

And the many directors who admired him

would always use his character's name

from "A Bucket of Blood", Walter Paisley.

His final role was in the horror film "Hanukkah",

in which he played Rabbi Walter Paisley.

And speaking of Corman directors doing intriguing casting,

you, Roger, have been used repeatedly as an actor

in films made by your proteges, including Francis Coppola,

who put you in "Godfather II", Ron Howard,

who put you in "Apollo 13", Jonathan Demme,

who put you in "The Manchurian Candidate"

and "Philadelphia" and "The Silence of the Lambs."

In "The Silence of the Lambs",

you were the Director of the FBI, right?

-That's right.

-So you tend to be cast as an authority figure.

Does that surprise you?

-It surprised me a little bit that I remember specifically

Joe Dante, who started his directing career with me

and went on to make some big budget films.

He called me one day, and he said,

"Roger, you've played governors, senators, lawyers,

heads of corporations, at one time,

the ex-President of the United States,

all these distinguished roles.

I've got a part for a bum on Skid Row.

Do you want to play it?"

And I said yes.

[Laughter]So I varied my acting

a little bit, if you can call it acting.

-When you're on the set of these giant prestige movies,

you ever feel envious to have those kinds

of resources yourself?

-Not really.

Actually, I was pleased with

what we called our graduates had done so well,

and so many, a number of them,

I don't even know how many, won Academy Awards.

And I just felt totally pleased for them.

-You must have had offers over the years.

And in fact, you did direct some pictures for the studios,

notably "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre",

"Frankenstein Unbound."

Those had big budgets. I mean, it wasn't your money.

And yet those are not the Corman pictures that people talk about.

What is it that gets lost when you have studio backing?

-What happens is you have to bow, to a certain extent,

to the decisions of the executives,

which I do not like.

Now, the great directors who have a lot of clout

are able to get what they want.

-Any notable times when you did not get what you wanted

from a studio?

-For instance,

on "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre",

I wanted to get classical actors.

I remember I talked with the executives,

and they said, "Roger, nobody can work with Orson Welles.

He takes over and commands and does anything he wants.

This is your first film for a major studio.

Don't burden yourself with Orson Welles."

And I've said, "I really think he's a big, heavy man,

and he really fits."

And they said, "No, we don't want Orson Welles,

but we like Jason Robards," who I'd cast for Bugs Moran.

They said, "Let's move Jason to Al Capone."

-I can definitely picture Orson playing Al Capone.

-I always liked "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre",

but I think it was miscast.

I remember I had dinner once with Orson

and with Peter Bogdanovich, who had started with me.

And I told him the story, and he laughed.

He said, "I'm the easiest man in the world to work with."

He said, "I would have loved to play Al Capone."

-[Laughs] Of course he did.

-Of course, it was easy to say that after a couple of drinks

a year or two later.

-Do you ever think that if you had continued to direct,

you would have eventually done that one great epic work

like "Lawrence of Arabia" or "The Godfather"?

-I might have. Let me see. It was 1970.

I was directing "Von Richthofen and Brown."

-Also released as "The Red Baron."

-For United Artists.

Again with casting that I did not want.

But it turned out to be a pretty good picture.

And I was just so tired that we were working

at a small private airfield outside of Dublin,

and every morning, I would drive from my apartment in Dublin

to the airfield, and on the way, there was a fork in the road,

and it was left, to the airfield and to the right, to Galway Bay.

And I was so tired.

Every morning, I thought,

"I just wanted to drive to Galway Bay

and sit on the beach."

But every morning, dutifully I drove to the airfield,

and I said, "This will be my last picture as a director.

I'm going to take a typical sabbatical.

I'm going to take a year off."

But during the year off,

a small would be distributor came to me

and said he had a little bit of financing.

Why don't we put together a production distribution company,

which we did, and then I bought him out

and that was New World Pictures.

And I simply slipped into the role of head of production

and as a producer.

-I tend to think you have too much restless energy

to spend two or three years on a film like David Lean.

-That is probably true.

-But when you started making films, the technology was large,

bulky, clumsy, time consuming, expensive.

Today, everything is cheap and fast.

If you had today's technology in 1954,

would you have made 2,000 films instead of just 500?

-I probably would have made roughly the same

number of films, but I would have had

a little more time to shoot, and I would have been able

to use the time more efficiently

for exactly the reasons you said.

-Well, I like to think you would have made even more films.

All right, Roger, we're going to go back to

"Little Shop" for the stunning conclusion.

But you have to stick around because we're keeping you

for one more movie, okay?

-Fine. -All right.

Charles Griffith, the writer, called this a farce.

"A Bucket of Blood" was satire, but this was farce.

And we're now heading towards the extensive

special effects filled conclusion of

"The Little Shop of Horrors."

Only kidding.

The effects costs upwards of $10.

So roll it.

And Jonathan Haze, who plays Seymour --

Jonathan Haze is kind of forgotten today,

but he was a screenwriter and a producer as well as an actor.

He wrote the sci-fi comedy

"Invasion of the Star Creatures."

His cousin was Buddy Rich, the bandleader and jazz drummer.

He was from a showbiz family.

He started out as stage manager for Josephine Baker.

You get the impression that everybody

in the Corman world around this time

was just doing it all, writing, acting, assistant directing.

Everybody was hanging around the offices

there at the Chaplin Studios

waiting for Roger to have an idea.

And he always had one. "Ski Troop Attack."

[Laughter]

That's the movie filmed in South Dakota

with the ski team of the local high school

playing Nazi soldiers.

Who does that?

Roger does that.

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

-I don't care about you got a date with Audrey tonight.

I am no more sitting up with that no-goodnik plant!

[Cash register dings]

-But, gee, Mr. Mushnick,

you don't have to sit up with it anymore.

It's all grown-up now.

-Excellent, smart guy.

How do you know it don't be hungry no more?

-Well, because -- -Tonight you are staying.

Then tomorrow they're coming,

and they're going to give you a trophy,

and then after that, we are getting rid

once and for all for that plant.

-Getting rid of it? Why?

-Don't ask why, why. The end!

Into the garbage can! Aloha!

Oi...

Yes, Mrs. Shiva?

-Oh, Seymour, your wonderful plant.

-Oh, that's all right, Audrey.

I'll grow other plants, even more wonderful ones.

-I know you will.

Did you figure out what we're doing tonight?

-Yeah, we're going to a place full of beautiful flowers.

-We have to stay here?

-Yeah.

-Well, never mind. We'll have a picnic.

It'll be just like going to the country.

-Oh, boy! -Did you get our 3,000

pink azaleas? -For the arbor?

-And the 9,000 yellow mums? -For the border?

-And the roses for the front and the back?

-Around the back?

-What do you mean, you're going to a picnic

at night with that Fulquard girl?

-Don't you like Audrey, Ma?

-She's out after your money.

-I don't have any money.

-Oh, she's a smart one.

She'll latch on to you until you get some,

and then goodbye, fortune.

-But Audrey's an honest girl, Ma.

-Yeah, never trust a woman who's too healthy.

-But Audrey had a bad cold a couple of weeks ago.

-Oh, a cold? A puny cold?

Why don't you get yourself a real female

with something decent like mononucleosis or gallstones?

-Well, maybe she could catch something like that.

-The only thing she'll catch is you!

And she'll take you off to some shady sanitarium

and leave me to chiropractors and faith healers.

I know when I'm not wanted.

-Oop! Aw, gee, Ma.

-Don't feel sorry for me.

I'll just find a nice, wet alley somewhere,

and curl up and wait for the end.

-Aw, please don't die till I get back, will you, Ma?

I'll take care of you. I'll always take care of you.

I promise. Bye!

[Door opens, closes]

Gee, Audrey, I never tasted food like this before.

-A peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.

-Peanut butter and jelly? What does that cure?

-Nothing. It's just a food.

-Well, what good is it if it doesn't clear up pimples

or shrink your sinus tissues or something?

-You're just being silly, Seymour.

Seymour, what do you want to be?

-Well, I want to grow things.

If I had a lot of money, I'd go to the South Seas,

where they grow the most fabulous plants in the world.

-That sounds exciting.

-Yeah.

-I'd like to go to the South Seas, too.

-There's no reason why you couldn't go.

-Would you take me with you, Seymour?

-Oh, I couldn't very well go without you, Audrey.

-Why not?

-Well, because --

Because I'm in love with you, Audrey.

-Oh, I'm in love with you, too, Seymour.

-Feed me!

-What did you say?

-I-I was just kidding.

-I'm hungry!

-Seymour!

-I didn't mean it.

-Well, why did you say it?

-Oh, food!

-You didn't even say that.

-Oh, yes, I did. I said it, I said it.

-No, I'm looking right at you.

-I-I-I'm a ventriloquist.

-You're what?

-A ventrilo-- -Feed me!

-Seymour, do you feel all right?

-Well, I don't know. I'm not sure.

-Well, then, stop all this nonsense and just kiss me.

-I'm dying from hunger!

-All right, if you're so hungry, eat something,

but forget about me.

-Gee, I'm sorry, Audrey.

-Give me to eat!

-If you can't control yourself, I'm going home.

-I need some chow!

-Ohh!

-Food! My empty stomach!

-Audrey, please wait. Listen to me.

-I've listened to all the nonsense

I want to hear, Seymour.

You're a nut.

You tell me that you love me,

and then you act like a complete idiot.

-Please listen, Audrey.

I'll be able to explain everything soon.

-Well, why can't you explain now?

-Because so many things are so important.

I want to marry you, but I got to take care of Mom.

Well, that plant in there is gonna make it all come true.

Tomorrow they're gonna give me a trophy, and I'll be famous.

I'll be a big botanist.

And then we can go to the South Seas,

just like we planned and all.

-But that doesn't have anything to do

with what went on in there.

When you're ready to come to your senses, Seymour,

then I'll talk to you.

Good night, Seymour.

[Creaking]

-I'm getting pretty tired of you.

-I need food!

-I don't care what you need. Look what you done to me.

You not only made a butcher out of me,

but you drove my girl away.

-Shut up and bring on the food!

-Don't tell me to shut up. You shut up!

Who raised you from a bunch of little seeds?

Who fed you all them high-class fertilizers

and sat up all night with you when you were sick?

Nobody else would've done that for you.

You think anybody else would've brought you human beings to eat?

You're darn right, they wouldn't.

Well, I've helped you, and you've helped me.

Now, shut your trap and go to sleep.

I'm tired.

-Krelboyne! Turn around.

Close your eyes.

You are asleep.

Open your eyes.

Now you will do as I say. Do you follow me?

-Yes, master.

-You will go out and find me some food!

-Yes, master.

-Now, be gone, and waste no time.

[Horn honks]

-Idiot!

-My name is Leonora Clyde.

How's the rain on the rhubarb?

-Master is hungry.

-Well, hello, there.

-I got to find food for master.

Food I got to find for master.

For master, I got to find food.

-Maybe I can help.

-Who are you?

-My name is Leonora Clyde. I love you.

-Master wants food.

-Let the old goat wait.

The night is young, and so are we.

-Master doesn't eat goat.

-Well, what kind of food does he like?

Ooh! [Laughs]

That's more like it. Kiss me.

What's the matter? Don't you like me?

-Too bony.

-Too bony?

Nobody ever told me that before.

-Beef is better than veal.

-Ohh! You're such a dodo.

What do you call this -- chopped liver?

Mmm. Ooh! [Laughs]

-Master would like more fat.

-Speak for yourself, John.

-My name is Seymour.

-"My name is Seymour."

-That's my name, too.

-[Sighs]

Are you interested, or are you just wasting my time?

-I never thought anybody would volunteer.

Do you volunteer?

-Sure, I do.

-All right, if you're sure you want to volunteer.

-All right. My place or yours?

-I don't care.

-Well, flip a coin.

-I don't have a coin.

-Flip anything, silly.

-Well, there's a rock.

Wet or dry?

-Wet.

[Thud]

-The search was narrowing,

and we knew that soon we would have the killer.

Not that we had any more clues than before,

but we had to tell the chiefsomething.

I had that feeling in my bones

that the mystery was drawing to its climax,

and I was determined to be on hand.

-All right, out, out, out. Nobody is in.

Today we have a special occasion for Seymour Krelboyne,

which has invented the big plant.

So I want everybody to please stay out of the way.

-We want Seymour! -We want Seymour!

-We want Seymour! -We want Seymour!

[Shrieking]

-I tell you, this business

is worse than being a conductor in a revoluting door.

I'll be glad when this day is finished.

-What's the celebration?

-They're presenting my son with a trophy.

-Yeah, what'd he do, run away from home?

-Please don't look at me that way, Audrey.

I want to talk to you.

-I'm sorry, Seymour, but I just don't understand you.

-I'll explain everything after the ceremony.

-You, police, what are you doing here?

-Heard there was something going on here this evening.

-Just thought we'd come by and keep an eye on things.

-Look, we don't need no eyes kept on nothing.

-Make way -- the Society of Silent Flower Observers

has arrived, and sunset is almost upon us.

-Welcome, lady and gentlemen. We are honored for to have you.

-Still working on those disappearances.

-We think they were murdered.

-Hey, look here, young man.

That's no way to talk at a time like this.

Let me see your tongue.

Mm-hmm. Know what you got?

-Just the facts, Ma'am.

-Trench mouth. I know. I had it back in '09.

-Better have that looked into, Frank.

-Whatever you say, Joe.

-Uh, Mr. Krelboyne,

the sun is going down now,

and, uh, you do think those buds are going to open?

-I hope so.

-Because if they don't, Mr. Krelboyne,

we shall just have to present the award at another time.

-Ohh! It's starting to open.

-It's just marvelous!

-Oh, look, the first bud has opened.

-[Gasps]

-Isn't that...

-The railroad cop. Look at the rest.

-Ohh.

-Aah!

-What do you think, Frank?

-They're all there, Joe.

-Guess you're right.

Mr. Krelboyne. How do you explain this?

-I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it!

-That's right, officer. He didn't mean to kill them.

-Seymour! Seymour! You promised you'd explain!

-Looks like they're getting away, Joe.

-Guess you're right. Let's catch them.

-Right.

-Oh, now the float will be perfect!

-Yeah!

[Indistinct shouting]

-You wouldn't find him here with the toilets.

Let's go back.

-You dirty rat plant, you messed up my whole life!

-Feed m-e-e-e-e!

-I'll feed you.

I'll feed you like you never been fed before!

[Creaking]

-Let us to give up, gentlemen.

You wouldn't find him tonight.

-Look, the door's open, Frank.

-Yeah.

-He was such a good boy.

-Seymour!

-I didn't mean it.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Static crackles]

-One of two Corman films in which the monster wins.

The other one being "Creature from the Haunted Sea",

made a year later.

"Little Shop of Horrors" didn't make a whole lot of money

at the box office, but it played on late night TV

all through the '60s and '70s.

And why?

Because TV stations love movies that are only 72 minutes long.

Plenty of room for commercials in a two-hour block

or even a 90-minute block.

Jackie Joseph, who played Audrey,

would go on to be a regular on television

and Mrs. Kirkland in the "Police Academy" movies.

She has a newspaper column in the L.A. suburb of

Toluca Lake and saves all the homeless animals

in L.A. through various charities.

Mel Welles would move to Europe as an actor/producer,

but come back in the '80s, and we know that because

he was the cook in "Chopping Mall."

Dick Miller would become one of the most beloved

character actors in Hollywood, hundreds of movies.

Dick Miller and Jackie Joseph together would play

the Fuddermans, Mr. and Mrs., in "Gremlins" and "Gremlins 2."

Wilbur Force, the pain-loving dental patient,

would become one of the top 10 box office actors

of the century.

I never knew what the reference was supposed to be

with that name.

Wilber Force.

Because William Wilberforce is the 18th-century

British abolitionist, member of Parliament,

but I can't figure out any connection

to that reference, even as a joke.

Chuck Griffith was drunk or something.

The movie became so famous that people tried to search

for the origins of the story.

Critics have suggested it was based on

Charlie Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux."

I see absolutely no connection.

They're both black comedies about murder,

but that's about it.

Plus I don't even think any of Seymour's kills

can be considered murders.

People have also pointed to a 1932 short story

by John Collier, the weird beard British fiction writer,

called "Green Thoughts," but John Collier was

in Hollywood when the movie came out.

He was writing big studio scripts like "The African Queen"

and "I Am a Camera."

He would have said something

if he thought it was derived from that.

It's a Chuck Griffith story all the way.

All right, Darcy,

no Rick Moranis, but pretty good, right?

-Yeah.

I just - I love the musical version so much

so I put off watching this one for, like, the longest time

because the remake is when I fell in love with

Rick Moranis forever.

-You like it that much?

-I love it.

I used to play the soundtrack over and over again

on repeat daily for years.

And I still listen to it all the time.

And I have so much memorabilia.

I have dolls, I have a board game,

which believe it or not, is even better than

Cracker Barrel-opoly.

-Oh, no, nothing's better than Cracker Barrel-opoly.

-I beg to differ. -But, you know, I've never heard

of a "Little Shop of Horrors The Musical" fanatic.

-I even raised a little Venus fly trap for a while.

-You're kidding! You did not.

-I'm totally not kidding.

-So I guess you hate the original, as usual.

-I don't hate it.

I definitely prefer the remake, but I appreciate what they did

with the little bit of time and the small budget they had.

I'm not a big Jack Nicholson fan, but he killed it in this.

And the ending is creepy as hell.

-Are you saying that just because Roger's on the show?

-No, I really mean it.

I can appreciate the original.

It's just that I have, like,

a total addiction to the musical version.

-Didn't they get the Four Tops, the Four Tops were

the Audrey plant in the musical?

-I believe that's correct.

[Laughter]

-And Steve Martin was the dentist,

and Bill Murray did the Jack Nicholson part.

And one of Audrey's lyrics in the musical is,

"I know Seymour's the greatest, but I'm dating a semi-sadist."

-Yes. -Right?

-Classic.

-That thing ran at the Orpheum Theatre

in Greenwich Village for, like, 100 years,

thousands of performances,

before they did the movie version.

All right, you want to do the Silver Bolo?

-Last one of the year. -That's right.

-This week's Silver Bolo for excellence

in horror media goes to...

Good Bad Flicks.

-Which is a...?

-YouTube series dedicated to cinematic oddities.

Movies that have been unfairly criticized or overlooked.

The creator calls them "the underdogs of movies."

-And the creator is...?

-Cecil Trachenburg.

He describes himself as a "caffeine-fueled robot",

and he provides the production history on each film covered.

-Give us some examples?

-"Blair Witch 2", which is amazing.

"Kill and Kill Again." "Logan's Run."

And "Hitman Agent 47."

-Very interesting, although I don't think

"Logan's Run" is an underdog movie.

-Sometimes he does mainstream films

that he thinks are underappreciated.

-Okay, sounds great.

Yuki, come on over here and please see that this

Silver Bolo is delivered to Cecil Trachenburg.

And please make sure it's genuine silver.

-Thank you, Yuki.

Also, he says he was inspired by Cinemassacre,

which is another Silver Bolo winner.

-These genre critics are just springing up everywhere,

aren't they? Which is great.

Okay, Darcy, we just have two hours left with Roger.

-Aww. -Not enough time.

-Never. -This is Joe Bob Briggs,

reminding you that it don't take a very big person...

to carry a grudge.

The drive-in will never die!

Did I tell you the one about the elderly vultures?

-No, you didn't. -Okay.

These two elderly vultures decide it's time to fly south

for the winter, but they're just too old.

They don't think they can make it.

So they decide to take an airplane.

So they're checking in for the flight,

and the check-in officer notices that each vulture

is carrying a dead raccoon.

And the check-in officer says,

"Do you wish to check the raccoons through as luggage?"

And the vultures say, "No, thanks, they're carrion."

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]