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U.S.-Argentine Co-Productions, 1982-1990: Roger Corman, Aries Productions, "Schlockbuster" Movies, and the International Market

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U.S.-Argentine Co-Productions, 1982-1990: Roger Corman, Aries Productions, U.S.-Argentine Co-productions, 1982-1990: Roger Corman, Aries Productions, "Schlockbuster" Movies, and the International Market Tamara L. Falicov Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies, Volume 34.1 (2004), pp. 31-38 (Article) Published by Center for the Study of Film and History DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/flm.2004.0015 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/170449 [ This content has been declared free to read by the pubisher during the COVID-19 pandemic. ] Ta mara L. Falicov | Special In-Depth Section U.S.-Argentine Co-productions, 1982-1990: Roger Corman, Aries Productions, “Schlockbuster” Movies, and the International Market Tamara L. Falicov University of Kansas Introduction By examining the dynamics and processes of coproduction be- A series of low budget films were made jointly by U.S. tween these two countries, one can see how the relative size and producer Roger Corman and Argentine director-producer Héctor wealth of film markets play a determining role in the shaping of Olivera in the 1980s. Produced primarily for the direct-to-video film content and the formation of cultural products in general. and cable market, these commercial entertainment films with titles such as Deathstalker (1983), Barbarian Queen (1985) and Two Why Co-production between the to Tango (1988) were markedly different from the typical art house United States and Argentina? co-productions made in Argentina. For one, they were not des- During the 1980s, due to massive hyperinflation, the Ar- tined for the international film festival market. Second, in con- gentine economy was in a shambles. The film market accordingly trast to other Argentine co-productions, these films for the most had shrunk, and within the film industry community, new strate- part had no bearing on Argentine (popular) culture, history, or gies for encouraging international investment and film export were current events. Third, few were geared toward both the Argentine being considered. In 1982, around the time the transition to demo- and U.S. markets. cratic rule occurred, Héctor Olivera and a producer named This essay examines how co-productions as dual (or mul- Alejandro Sessa contacted Roger Corman about producing low- tilateral) cultural collaborations between countries may potentially budget cinema in the Pampas. Corman, who had previously ex- be plagued by unequal power dynamics that could have negative perimented with co-production in countries such as the Philippines, consequences on the productions. This case of Argentine-U.S. co- Mexico, and Yugoslavia, decided to produce a series of films to productions poignantly illustrates this tension. Despite the finan- be shot principally in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. He had en- cial gains these films brought to the Argentine film industry (such countered problems in some countries where he had filmed,1 and as employment, use of resources, etc.) I argue that the films ulti- thus did not have one specific place he felt comfortable making mately worked counter to the spirit of Argentine filmmaking due movies. Argentina was ideal for him because not only were labor to either the absence of Argentina from the cinemascape or the and other prices extremely low, but also the technical skill of the distorted representations and/or stereotypes of Argentine culture crew was excellent. in the few times it was depicted. For example, some of the “sword With the possibility of state subsidies in Argentina, as well and sorcery” films co-produced by Corman and Olivera were shot as the prospect of exhibition and distribution in Latin America entirely in Argentina, yet erased all cultural or geographic refer- (two channels that were ultimately underutilized), this co-pro- ences to the country. Instead, the Argentine landscape served as a duction venture seemed rife with opportunity for Corman. For backdrop and double for forests in medieval Europe. In other cases, Olivera and producer Sessa, it made sense to seek international images were depicted in stereotyped ways (e.g. tango dancing, partners during this difficult period in time. Hèctor Olivera, co- Latino ‘macho’ men, etc.) designed for the U.S. and other En- owner of Aries Studios, one of the most successful film studios in glish language market consumption. Finally, all of the films were Argentina, was aware that prices were low for foreign spending shot in English, with the exception of Cocaine Wars (La muerte in Argentina, and thus sought ways to encourage filmmakers from blanca) where both English and Spanish versions were produced. other countries to shoot films in Argentina. He recalls: Vol. 34.1 (2004) | 31 Falicov | U.S.-Argentine Co-productions, 1982-1990: Roger Corman, Aries Productions, “Schlockbuster” Movies, and the International Market At that moment, we were the owners of the Estudios duced commercial films, such as the psychedelic comedies Baires Films of Don Torcuato, and we needed to keep Psexoanálisis (Sexoanalysis) (1968) and Los Neuróticos (The the studio in motion. This was the time of “cheap Neurotics) (1969). Later the studio alternated between more com- Argentina” (Argentina barato) when production costs mercial hits such as comedies, rock concert documentaries, and were very low. The salary of an extra was equivalent thrillers, on the one hand, and more politically engaged national to three dollars and Corman took advantage of this.2 dramas on the other. Olivera directed and produced some of Argentina’s most well known testimonial films, Roger Corman might be called the “low- such as La Patagonia Rebelde (Rebellion in budget producer extraordinaire.” He began pro- Patagonia) (1974), La noche de los làpices (Night ducing and directing films in the mid-fifties. His of the Pencils) (1986), and El caso Maria Soledad first film, the Monster on the Ocean Floor, was (The Case of Maria Soledad) (1993). These films made on a budget of $18,000. Corman then began are feature-length dramas that document social producing a wide array of low-budget features for struggle and political repression in the history of American International Pictures. The majority Argentina. While he does have his share of de- were genre films—Westerns, sci-fi, gangster and tractors who feel these serious films were “op- rock ‘n’ roll. In 1957 alone Corman turned out portunistic,”5 he has won numerous awards for his nine films—some of which were completed in two work, and is well respected as a national film- or three days. Besides his knack for producing maker. Olivera stated in an interview that these films quickly and at a modest price, he is also Archives. Courtesy of Photo more politically engaged films were in a sense Roger Corman: “the low-budget known for directing films based on the works of producer extraordinaire.” “subsidized” by the more popular genres that he Edgar Allen Poe. and Ayala produced.6 In order for Argentine film In addition, Corman is credited with having to survive, Olivera believes, it must conform to launched the careers of very well known directors and actors, such an industrial model as well as serving as a vehicle for cultural as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Robert De Niro, Jack production. This model thus far has been successful, as Aries is Nicholson, Peter Fonda, and others. According to the biography one of the few remaining Argentine film studios still in produc- on his company’s website, Corman, “[a]ppalled by the intrinsic tion. waste of time and money, as well as executive interference, opted Aries produced nine films in conjunction with Corman’s out of the major studio system. In 1970, he founded his own pro- New World and Concorde/New Horizons, and Olivera directed duction and distribution company, New World Pictures.”3 five of them—Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (La guerra de los Roger Corman to this day remains an institution in Holly- magos) (1985), Barbarian Queen (Reina salvaje) (1985), Cocaine wood and has been called the “King of B Movies.” Key to his Wars (La muerte blanca) (1985), Two to Tango (Matar es morir success has been his timesaving techniques. For example, he would un poco) (1988), and Play Murder for Me (Toca la muerte por mí) contract actors who were on the set for a higher budget film, and (1990). simply borrow their set and hire them for their off-duty time. In 1990, Corman wrote (with Jim Jerome) his autobiography How I The “Sword and Sorcery” Genre: Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. As the title suggests, many of the anecdotes in this book reinforce Low Budget Movies with the notion that the keys to producing low-budget or cult movies B-rated Cast are production efficiency, resourcefulness (e.g., reusing the same The Corman-Olivera film productions can be divided into sets repeatedly for various films), low cost, and quantity over qual- two categories: First, films that were made in a subgenre of the ity. The ultimate goal was to successfully reap the financial re- fantasy genre, the “sword and sorcery” genre. These films set in a wards from his low-to-no-budget movies. When I interviewed him medieval time period could have been made in any forest locale, about his experience of producing films in Argentina, Corman and thus displayed no specific markings of Argentina in terms of recalled how cooperative crews in Argentina were, and how things the script content and the cinematography, and secondly, films ran according to schedule. The operative term during the inter- that were made with Argentina’s geographic and cultural locale view was how his filmmaking was purely “market driven”—that in mind. This latter set of films, two thrillers and one action film, is, profit is the goal of filmmaking.4 His distribution company is worked within a specific national or regional theme and for that now called Concorde/ New Horizons Company, where the major- reason were shot on location.
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