Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.
Where Bela Lugosi lived his last decade in sad obscurity, Boris Karloff worked until the very end of his life, even as his body began to fall apart. Some of that work was for Roger Corman, the extremely prolific independent genre film producer whose movies helped to define the generation gap in the 1960's, while serving as a training ground for the next generation of auteurs. Karloff’s and Corman’s finest collaboration, Peter Bogdanovich’s directorial debut Targets, would serve as a bridge between cinematica eras, paying tribute to Karloff and his long career while depicting events that were shockingly of-the-moment--and still relevant today. Featuring Patton Oswalt as Boris Karloff and Rian Johnson as Roger Corman.
Director Roger Corman with Vincent Price on the set of The House of Usher, 1960
Boris Karloff in The Raven, 1963
Boris Karloff recording How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 1966
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
The Moguls: Hollywood's Merchants of Myth by Norman J. Zierold
Silent Stars by Jeanine Basinger
A History of Horror by Wheeler Winston Dixon
Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the 1930s by Christopher Workman and Troy Howarth
City of Dreams: The Making and Remaking of Universal Pictures by Bernard F. Dick
Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror by Michael Mallory
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind
Who the Hell's in It: Conversations with Hollywood's Legendary Actors by Peter Bogdanovich
Roger Corman: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series) edited by Constantine Nasr
Roger Corman: Blood-Sucking Vampires, Flesh-Eating Cockroaches, and Driller Killers by Beverly Gray
"A Bucket of Blood" by David Kalat, TCM.com
Music:
All of the music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro and outro, is from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca. Outro song "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo. Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode: "Waltz For Cello 1" by Jonatan Järpehag, "The Hipcat Swagger 3" by Martin Landh, "The Chairman of the Board 5" by Martin Landh, "Bachelor on the Move 1" by Martin Landh, "Bandit Dance" by Håkan Eriksson, "Bandit Dance 3" by Håkan Eriksson, "Optical Delusion 5" by Håkan Eriksson, "Wave Breaker" by Henrik Andersson, "Hot Rod Rebels 2" by Victor Olsson, "Psychedelic Background 2" by Merlean, "Bad Guy Approaching by Merlean, "Psychological Drama 4" by Marcus Ringblom, "Polka Dots" by Håkan Eriksson.
Sponsors:
This episode is sponsored by Winc.
Credits:
This episode was edited by Sam Dingman and Jacob Smith, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Featuring Patton Oswalt as Boris Karloff and Rian Johnson as Roger Corman. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.
Boris Karloff in Targets, 1968