Rhetoric and Taste in AIP's Promotion of Roger Corman's

12 In the Best Possible Tastes: Rhetoric and Taste in AIP’s Promotion of Roger Corman’s Poe Cycle Joan Ormrod One day over lunch in 1960, American International Pictures (AIP) executives Samuel Z. Arkoff and James Nicholson asked Roger Corman, their in-house director, to make two black-and-white horror films at $100,000 each. Corman pitched a better idea, a film based upon Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Corman ratio- nalized that Poe “has a built in following with [kids].… He’s read in every high school. Plus one quality film in colour is better than two cheap films in black and white” (qtd. in McGee 249). In his pitch, Corman identified the dual appeal of Edgar Allan Poe as a part of the American literary canon but also a fan favorite. He proposed a strategy for AIP to reposition the studio upmarket. Previously, AIP was regarded as an exploitative production company, something that Arkoff and Nicolson seemed to revel in. Arkoff, for instance, stated that all the company was interested in were “[t]its and ass. Sex and Violence.… Anything else is arty farty” (qtd. in McGee 137). Corman was a director that Arkoff and Nicholson employed for his fast turnover, miniscule budgets, and reli- ability as much as his competence. Up to this point he produced black- and-white films in teen-targeted genres such as horror, science fiction, and juvenile delinquency (JD). The Fall of the House of Usher (1960) and the Poe cycle “is one of the high points in the commodification of Poe, imposing a theatrically gothic aspect to his writings … and making him a favorite to a wide range of audiences” (Neimeyer 218). It was shot in EBSCO Publishing : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 7/28/2020 7:19 AM via UNIV OF FLORIDA - MAIN AN: 479585 ; D. Perry, C. Sederholm.; Adapting Poe : Re-Imaginings in Popular Culture Copyright 2012. Palgrave Macmillan. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law. Account: s8987351.main.ehost 9780230120860_13_ch12.indd 145 6/5/2012 2:54:31 PM 146 Joan Ormrod full color and Cinemascope for $270,000, most of which was paid to the star, Vincent Price. Price, Poe, Corman, and AIP were to be inextricably connected for four years and seven films in the Poe cycle. 1 Using The Masque of the Red Death (1964) as a focus, which is the sev- enth of the eight films in the Poe series and the most critically respected, this chapter examines the issues involved in promoting a film adaptation of Poe’s work, especially one perceived as exploitative rather than artis- tic. AIP’s promotional techniques, contrived by James Nicholson, were a forerunner of contemporary promotional practices and, in addition to advertisements, posters, and billboards, featured more creative strategies such as tie-ins, stunts, and newspaper article placement (advertorials). For many of their films, AIP began with a title for which a marketing cam- paign had already been prepared, and after audience studies, the script and film were produced. This strategy resulted in good profits for AIP in an era when television audiences were growing and film audiences were in decline. The promotion, however, often promised more than the film delivered. Rather than dwelling upon the more sensational promotion or the exploitation of Poe’s themes in the adaptation of The Masque of the Red Death (although, of necessity, this has to be addressed), this chapter explores the marketing of the Poe cycle, focusing on issues of both high and low culture in its promotion. Although these promotional materials have been discussed, it is usually either in validation of Poe’s exploitation within AIP’s distribution system (Watson 1997) or as an example of AIP’s promotional strategies (McGee 18). It is, perhaps, worth examin- ing the relationship between the promotion of adaptations because, as Wernick (112) notes, adaptations hail preexisting audiences and attract new audiences to the source texts (Wernick 92–121). They also encour- age audiences to complete narrative gaps (Hutcheon 76). The promotion, too, can be a source for the audience to understand the text as it sets up their expectations of the significant moments in the film, encouraging them to compare and fill in the gaps between the two narratives. Promotion is explored using a discursive analysis to frame The Masque of the Red Death within its cultural and promotional context using Cook and Wernick. As an adaptation, the timeliness of the Poe cycle cannot be overestimated because its changing cultural context includes the “amount” and kind of “hype’” used in promoting the adaptation (Hutcheon 143). In 1960, AIP aimed to develop an upmarket profile along- side its traditional teenage and fan bases. Corman’s proposal responded to an interest in the gothic canon inspired by the recirculation of 1930s Universal black-and-white films and Hammer’s full-blooded color adaptations of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and The Horror of Dracula EBSCOhost - printed on 7/28/2020 7:19 AM via UNIV OF FLORIDA - MAIN. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use 9780230120860_13_ch12.indd 146 6/5/2012 2:54:32 PM In the Best Possible Tastes 147 (1958). The interest in gothic horror hailed two types of audiences that were by no means dissimilar in their obsession: fandom and academia (Jenson 18–21). In the late 1950s and early 1960s, magazines for horror fans such as Famous Monsters of Filmland and Horror Monsters began publication. Their articles often promoted AIP and Hammer films, and Edgar Allan Poe featured regularly in these publications, as much for his life story as his literary output. For instance, Horror Monsters, issue 2 (1961), ran an article promoting The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) along- side an article devoted to Poe. In the article, Poe is described as “the most original genius of American literature … master of the macabre, unhappy in life, wretched in death, but in his fame—immortal” (“Edgar Allen [ sic ] Poe” 24–25). I begin by discussing AIP’s promotion of the Poe cycle drawing on the notion of the “vortex of publicity” (Wernick 92–95). In the vortex of publicity, advertisements are self-referential, endlessly promoting other advertisements or products across a transmedia landscape. Analyzing the press packs for the films, it is clear that AIP foregrounded names, particularly Edgar Allan Poe and Vincent Price, in their promotion. This dual appeal is examined in the final section of this chapter using ideas of Pierre Bourdieu on aesthetic production and hierarchies in the fields of literature, art, and class. To contextualize this discussion, the next section examines the cultural and promotional production of AIP’s marketing. Promoting the Poe Series: AIP and the Vortex of Publicity Wernick proposes that promotion of media and popular cultural texts is similar to “a hall of mirrors. Each promotional message refers us to a commodity which is itself the site of another promotion” (121). There is no starting point in the chain of advertising, and it is continuously self-referential, relying on serial promotion to appeal to ever-expanding audiences. The Fall of the House of Usher represented a successful model; consequently it inspired further adaptations. The promotion and the films were self-referential as they referred to previous films within the horror genre and the cycle, not least of which was their refer- ence to Vincent Price as star. How this vortex of publicity relates to the Poe cycle is shown in the diagram in figure 12.1 , based upon Wernick’s model. Like all films in the Poe series, The Masque of the Red Death press book consists of a mixture of overt/covert promotion and serial promotion across commodities. Among the more outlandish stunts are sending EBSCOhost - printed on 7/28/2020 7:19 AM via UNIV OF FLORIDA - MAIN. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use 9780230120860_13_ch12.indd 147 6/5/2012 2:54:32 PM 148 Joan Ormrod Fans look for Increases celebrity of similar films – Price as horror star eg; Hammer, Sells more Poe other Price, books Corman, AIP Poe films Increases awareness AIP linked with of Corman as Corman/horror director/auteur films Figure 12.1 The vortex of publicity and the The Masque of the Red Death a man out into the streets dressed as the Red Death and passing out cards advertising the film, giving audiences smelling salts to revive those who faint at the screening, and offering the opportunity for clientele to attend a midnight screening. The Poe cycle generated a stunt that was a departure from the usual AIP excess: promotion of the film in library and bookshop displays. Under “exploitation” in the press pack, there were tie-ins of an adaptation of the Corman film by Elsie Lee ( figure 12.2 ) under the logline, “The Master of Horror, Edgar Allan Poe’s story of Good vs Evil.” The cover featured Vincent Price as the Red Death placed in a prominent position on a purple background. A monotone still from the film of the masquerade party was displayed as a banner across the top third of the cover. Dell, known for adaptations of film and television tie-ins, produced a comic book with a fine cover drawing of Price as Prince Prospero holding a bird of prey while the vari- ous Deaths lurk in the background ( figure 12.3 ). Promotion, though, was not one-way. The tie-ins and film promotion also inspired the publication by Panther of a book of short horror stories entitled The Masque of the Red Death ( figure 12.4 ) but featuring tales from Ray Bradbury and others.

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