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A Bucket of Blood

This article is about the 1959 movie. For the 1995 remake, seeA Bucket of Blood (1995 film).For other uses, seeBucket of Blood (disambiguation).

A Bucket of Bloodis a 1959 Americancomedy horrorfilm directed byRoger Corman.It starredDick Millerand was set in the West Coastbeatnikculture of the late 1950s. The film, produced on a $50,000 budget, was shot in five days[2]and shares many of the low-budget filmmakingaestheticscommonly associated with Corman's work.[4]Written byCharles B. Griffith,the film is adark comicsatire[2][5]about a dimwitted, impressionable youngbusboyat aBohemiancafé who is acclaimed as a brilliant sculptor when he accidentally kills his landlady's cat and covers its body in clay to hide the evidence. When he is pressured to create similar work, he becomes a serial murderer.[6]

A Bucket of Blood
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoger Corman
Screenplay byCharles B. Griffith
Produced byRoger Corman
StarringDick Miller
Barboura Morris
Antony Carbone
CinematographyJacques R. Marquette
Edited byAnthony Carras
Music byFred Katz
Production
company
Alta Vista Productions[1]
Distributed byAmerican International Pictures
Release date
  • October 1959(1959-10)[1]
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50,000[2][3]
Box office$180,000[3]
A Bucket of Blood(1959) by Roger Corman

A Bucket of Bloodwas the first of a trio of collaborations between Corman and Griffith in the comedy genre, which includeThe Little Shop of Horrors(which was shot on the same sets asA Bucket of Blood)[7]andCreature from the Haunted Sea.Corman had made no previous attempt at the genre, although past and future Corman productions in other genres incorporated comedic elements.[2]The film is a satire not only of Corman's own films but also of the world of abstract art as well as low-budgeted teen films of the 1950s. The film has also been praised in many circles as an honest, undiscriminating portrayal of the many facets of beatnik culture, including poetry, dance, and aminimaliststyle of life.[citation needed]The plot has similarities toMystery of the Wax Museum(1933). However, by setting the story in theBeatmilieu of 1950s Southern California, Corman creates an entirely different mood from the earlier film.[8]

Plot

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One night after hearing the words of Maxwell H. Brock, a poet who performs at The Yellow Door cafe, the dimwitted, impressionable busboy Walter Paisley returns home to attempt to create a sculpture of the face of the hostess Carla. He stops when he hears the meowing of Frankie, the cat owned by his inquisitive landlady, Mrs. Surchart, who has somehow gotten himself stuck in Walter's wall. Walter attempts to get Frankie out using a knife, but accidentally kills the cat when he sticks the knife into his wall. Instead of giving Frankie a proper burial, Walter covers the cat in clay, leaving the knife stuck in it.

Maxwell reciting poetry with saxophone accompaniment in abeatnikcoffeehouse.
Carla and Leonard admire Walter's "sculpture",Dead Cat.

The next morning, Walter shows the cat to Carla and his boss Leonard. Leonard dismisses the oddly morbid piece, but Carla is enthusiastic about the work and convinces Leonard to display it in the café. Walter receives praise from Will and the otherbeatniksin the café. An adoring fan, Naolia, gives him a vial ofherointo remember her by. Naively ignorant of its function, he takes it home and is followed by Lou Raby, an undercover cop, who attempts to take him into custody for narcotics possession. In a blind panic, thinking Lou is about to shoot him, Walter hits him with the frying pan he is holding, killing Lou instantly.

Meanwhile, Walter's boss discovers the secret behind Walter'sDead Catpiece when he sees fur sticking out of it. The next morning, Walter tells the café-goers that he has a new piece, which he callsMurdered Man.Both Leonard and Carla come with Walter as he unveils his latest work and are simultaneously amazed and appalled. Carla critiques it as "hideous and eloquent" and deserving of a public exhibition. Leonard is aghast at the idea, but realizes the potential for wealth if he plays his cards right.

The next night, Walter is treated like a king by almost everyone, except for a blonde model named Alice, who is widely disliked by her peers. Walter later follows her home and confronts her, explaining that he wants to pay her to model. At Walter's apartment, Alice strips nude and poses in a chair, where Walter proceeds to strangle her with her scarf. Walter creates a statue of Alice which, once unveiled, so impresses Brock that he throws a party at the Yellow Door in Walter's honor. Costumed as a carnival fool, Walter is wined and dined to excess.

After the party, Walter later stumbles towards his apartment. Still drunk, he beheads a factory worker with his own buzzsaw to create a bust. When he shows the head to Leonard, the boss realizes that he must stop Walter's murderous rampage and promises Walter a show to offload his latest "sculptures". At the exhibit, Walter proposes to Carla, but she rejects him. Walter is distraught and now offers to sculpt her, and she happily agrees to after the reception. Back at the exhibit, however, she finds part of the clay on one figure has worn away, revealing Alice's finger. When she tells Walter that there is a body in one of the sculptures, he tells her that he "made them immortal", and that he can make her immortal, too. She flees, he chases, and the others at the exhibit learn Walter's secret and join the chase. Walter and Carla wind up at a lumber yard where Walter, haunted by the voices of Lou and Alice, stops chasing Carla, and runs home. With discovery and retribution closing in on him, Walter vows to "hide where they'll never find me". The police, Carla, Leonard, Maxwell, and the others break down Walter's apartment door only to find that Walter has hanged himself. Looking askance at the hanging, clay-daubed corpse, Maxwell proclaims, "I suppose he would have called itHanging Man... his greatest work. "

Cast

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Production

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Development

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I, being a young director and knowing a lot of young directors and writers, hung out with a group that could be considered vaguelybeatnik.I was not a beatnik, however. When we madeA Bucket of Blood,the beat scene was more or less at its peak...A Bucket of Bloodwas ultimately an affectionate satire on a movement that was soon to be replaced by thehippiegeneration.[9]
–Roger Corman,2016

In the middle of 1959,American International PicturesapproachedRoger Cormanto direct ahorror film—but only gave Corman a $50,000 budget and a five-day shooting schedule—plus leftover sets fromDiary of a High School Bride(1959).[10]

Corman accepted the challenge but later said he was uninterested in producing a straightforward horror film. He claims he and screenwriterCharles B. Griffithdeveloped the idea for producing asatiricalblack comedyhorror film about the beatnik culture.[11]

Charles Griffith later claimed Corman was very uneasy at the idea of making a comedy "because you have to be good. We don't have the time or money to be good, so we stick to action."[12]Griffith says he talked Corman around by pointing out that since the film was made for such a little amount of money over such a short schedule, he could not fail to make money.[12]

Corman says that the genesis of the film was an evening he and Griffith "spent drifting around the beatnik coffeehouses, observing the scene and tossing ideas and reactions back and forth until we had the basic story."[13]The director says by the end of the evening they developed the film's plot structure,[2]partially basing the story uponMystery of the Wax Museum.[11]

Griffith says Corman was uneasy about how to direct comedy, and Griffith, whose parents were in vaudeville, advised him that the key was to ensure the actors played everything straight.[12]

Shooting

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The film was shot under the titleThe Living Dead,[14]and filming started 11 May 1959.[15][16]

According to actor Antony Carbone, "[The production] had a kind of spirit of 'having fun,' and I think [Corman] realized that while making the film. And I feel it helped him in other films he made, likeThe Little Shop of Horrors−he carried thatBucket of Blood'idea' into that next film. "[14]

Actor Dick Miller was unhappy with the film's low production values. Miller is quoted by Beverly Gray as stating that,

If they'd had more money to put into the production so we didn't have to use mannequins for the statues; if we didn't have to shoot the last scene with me hanging with just some gray make-up on because they didn't have time to put the plaster on me, this could have been a very classic little film. The story was good; the acting was good; the humor in it was good; the timing was right; everything about it was right. But they didn't have any money for production values... and it suffered.[4]

Release

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Advertisement from 1959 forA Bucket of Bloodand co-feature,Attack of the Giant Leeches

American International Pictures' theatrical marketing campaign emphasized the comedic aspects of the film's plot, proclaiming that the audience would be "sick, sick, sick—from laughing! ",[17]a reference to cartoonistJules Feiffer's popularVillage Voicecomic strip and his1958 book with the same title.The film's poster consists of a series ofcomic strippanels humorously hinting at the film's horror content.[citation needed]

According to Tim Dirks, the film was one of a wave of "cheap teen movies" released for thedrive-in market.They consisted of "exploitative, cheap fare created especially for them [teens] in a newly established teen/drive-in genre."[18]

When Corman found that the film "worked well", he continued to direct two more comedic films scripted by Griffith:[2]The Little Shop of Horrors,afarcewith a similar plot toBucket of Bloodand using the same sets;[5][7]andCreature from the Haunted Sea,a parody of themonster moviegenre.

The film was acquired byMGM Home Entertainmentupon the company's purchase ofOrion Pictures,which had owned the AIP catalog. MGM releasedA Bucket of BloodonVHSandDVDin 2000.[19][20]MGM re-released the film as part of a box set with seven other Corman productions in 2007. However, the box set featured the same menus and transfer as MGM's previous edition of the film.[21]

Reception

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From a contemporary review, theMonthly Film Bulletinstated that although "the horror ultimately becomes rather too explicit, this macabre satire on beatniks and teenage horror films has some particularly adroit dialogue and tragi-comic situations."[22]The review praised Dick Miller, who "gives a performance of sustained poignancy as the half-wit hero."[22]

In a retrospective review,Sight & Soundreferred to the film as "Corman's best work" with "hilarious dialogue and a finale reminiscent ofFritz Lang'sM"and that his" low-budget comedy horror pic works both as satire at the expense of theBeat generationand as a trenchant little allegory about the New York art world in general. "[23]

Corman later said the film "wasn't a huge success, but I think we were ahead of our time becauseThe Raven,which is a triumph, is far less funny. Maybe the film was too modest, filmed in five days on sets that came from a film about youth. The distributors didn't know what to make of a movie that didn't belong to any particular genre. They were always scared of comedy. "[24]

Adaptations

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The film was remadefor televisionin 1995under the same name,although the remake was also distributed under the titleThe Death Artist.The remake was directed by comedianMichael McDonaldand starredAnthony Michael HallandJustine Bateman.The cast also included cameos byDavid Cross,Paul Bartel,Mink Stole,Jennifer CoolidgeandWill Ferrell.

A musical production ofA Bucket of Bloodwas produced by Chicago'sAnnoyance Theatrein 2009.[25]It opened September 26, and closed October 31, 2009, garnering exceptional reviews,[26]including a recommendation from theChicago Reader.[27]The musical was directed by Ray Mees, with music by Chuck Malone. The cast included James Stanton as Walter Paisley, Sam Locke as Leonard, Peter Robards as Maxwell, Jen Spyra as Carla, Colleen Breen as Naolia, Maari Suorsa as Alice, Tyler Patocka as William and Peter Kremidas as Lee.[25]Another musical adaptation is currently[when?]in development, retitledBeatsville.It features a book byGlenn Slaterand music and lyrics byWendy Wilf.[28]

In March 2023, the La Mirada Theatre premiered a musical adaption ofA Bucket of BloodentitledDid You See What Walter Paisley Did Today?[29]Although no promotional material ever directly stated thatWalter Paisleywas an adaptation ofBucket of Blood,the plot and characters of the musical are identical to those of the film, including exact character names. The only major difference is the ending, in which Walter falls into a concrete mixer rather than hanging himself. The show featured a libretto by Randy Rogel and choreography by Connor Gallagher, as well as direction by BT McNicholl, and ran from March 16, 2023 to April 2, 2023.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ab"A Bucket of Blood".American Film Institute.Archived fromthe originalon October 3, 2016.RetrievedJuly 29,2016.
  2. ^abcdefCorman, Roger;Jerome, Jim (August 22, 1998).How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime.Da Capo Press. pp.61–62.ISBN0-306-80874-9.
  3. ^abIsenberg, Barbara (May 5, 1970). "Formula flicks".The Wall Street Journal.ProQuest133440245.
  4. ^abGray, Beverly (2004).Roger Corman: Blood-Sucking Vampires, Flesh-Eating Cockroaches, and Driller Killers.Thunder's Mouth Press.ISBN1-56025-555-2.
  5. ^abGraham, Aaron W."Little Shop of Genres: An interview with Charles B. Griffith".Senses of Cinema.Archivedfrom the original on January 25, 2007.RetrievedMarch 11,2007.
  6. ^Gary A. Smith,The American International Pictures Video Guide,McFarland 2009 p 35
  7. ^ab"Fun Facts".A Bucket of Blood(Media notes).MGM Home Entertainment.2000.ISBN079284680X.
  8. ^Wright, Gene (1986).Horrorshow.New York: Facts on File Publications.ISBN0-8160-1014-5.p. 4.
  9. ^Alexander, Chris (2016)."Interview: Roger Corman Remembers 1959's A BUCKET OF BLOOD".p. ComingSoon.net.
  10. ^Mark McGee,Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures,McFarland, 1996 p145
  11. ^abClarens, Carlos (1997).An Illustrated History of Horror and Science-Fiction Films.Da Capo Press. p.148.ISBN0-306-80800-5.
  12. ^abcBeverly Gray,Roger Corman: Blood Sucking Vampires, Flesh Eating Cockroaches and Driller KillersAZ Ferris Publications 2014 p 48
  13. ^Roger Corman, "Wild Imagination: Charles B. Griffith 1930–2007",LA Weekly17 October 2007ArchivedApril 21, 2014, at theWayback Machineaccessed 20 April 2014
  14. ^abWeaver, Tom (2004).Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Flashbacks: Conversations with 24 Actors, Writers, Producers and Directors from the Golden Age.McFarland & Company. pp. 64–67.ISBN0-7864-2070-7.
  15. ^"FILMLAND EVENTS: Ilona Massey Signed for Airplane Drama".Los Angeles Times.May 5, 1959. p. A13.
  16. ^"Briefs from the Lots".Variety.May 6, 1959. p.15.
  17. ^"Taglines forA Bucket of Blood(1959) ".Internet Movie Database.Archivedfrom the original on June 22, 2016.RetrievedOctober 3,2007.
  18. ^Dirks, Tim."The History of Film – The 1950s: The Cold War and Post-Classical Era, The Era of Epic Films, and the Threat of Television, Part 1".Archivedfrom the original on May 7, 2016.RetrievedMay 24,2011.
  19. ^A Bucket of Blood.ISBN0792845544.
  20. ^A Bucket of Blood.ISBN079284680X.
  21. ^"Roger Corman Collection".ASINB000SK5ZFC.Archived fromthe originalon July 19, 2009.RetrievedOctober 3,2007.
  22. ^ab"Bucket of Blood, A, U.S.A., 1959".Monthly Film Bulletin.Vol. 27, no. 312.British Film Institute.1960. p. 6.
  23. ^Tunney, Tom; Macnab, Geoffrey (January 1997). "A Bucket of Blood".Sight & Sound.Vol. 7, no. 1. British Film Institute. p. 59.
  24. ^Nasr, Constantine (2011).Roger Corman: Interviews.Conversations with Filmmakers. University Press of Mississippi. p.10.
  25. ^ab"The Annoyance Theatre and Bar".Archivedfrom the original on December 26, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 9,2014.
  26. ^[1][permanent dead link]
  27. ^"Chicago Reader".June 9, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon June 9, 2011.RetrievedMarch 1,2021.
  28. ^"New Music: NAMT Announces Selections for 2008 Festival of New Musicals - Playbill.com".February 6, 2016. Archived fromthe originalon February 6, 2016.RetrievedMarch 1,2021.
  29. ^Gans, Andrew."La Mirada World Premiere of New Musical" Did You See What Walter Paisley Did Today? "Begins March 16th".Playbill.com.Playbill.
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