House of Usher (Roger Corman version - 1960)
Cost $300,000 B.O. - $1.5 Million.
Any businessman wishing to study how to have a successful career in Hollywood would do well to study the work of Roger Corman. After returning from WWII, used the GI Bill funding to attend Oxford University then worked his way up from the mailroom at 20th Century Fox. Frustrated for what he perceived to be a lack of credit, Corman started his own studio and would go on to produce and/or direct nearly 500 films. Filling the need for quick exploitation films to fill the drive-in movie fad, Corman initially found success with a series of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, ably lead by a man he would make a horror movie main stay, Vincent Price. Most notably, Corman mentored a series of young directors in their early career, giving starts to such giant names as Coppola, Scorcese, Ron Howard, and James Cameron.
