The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960)

It's another edition of Sunday At The Classics and I couldn't think of a better guy to check out a film from then the legendary b-movie director/producer Roger Corman (The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent). The man in his career and lifetime has directed over 50 films and has produced 415 of them and today we are checking out a film he directed in 1960 in The Little Shop Of Horrors. The film stars Jonathan Haze (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes) as bumbling idiot Seymour who works at a struggling flower shop on skid row. One day as he is about to get fired, he presents a flower that he had created as a way to save face and make more business for his boss in order to keep his job, but this new plant could end up costing him his life. The film also stars Jackie Joseph (Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol) as Audrey, Mel Welles (Attack Of The Crab Monsters) as Gravis Mushnick, Dick Miller (Gremlins 2: The New Batch) as Fouch, Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest) as Wilbur Force, Myrtle Vail (A Bucket Of Blood) as Winifred Krelborn, Karyn Kupcinet (Hawaiian Eye) as Shirley, Leola Wendorff (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) as Mrs. Shiva, Wally Campo (Tales Of Terror) as Sgt. Joe Fink, and Jack Warford (Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype) as Detective Frank Stoolie.

Maybe it was just the type of film that they used at the time or maybe the type of camera, but this was kind of poorly shot. It makes me believe that whatever master copy there is of this film didn't do well over time and what you see is certainly what you get. I was so used to the 80's version of this film with Rick Moranis that I think I was expecting a little bit more from Audrey Jr. only because the 80's version was so much more animated than the caveman feed me more version we had in this film. If the 80's version was the big Hollywood film this was definitely B-movie gold because there were a lot of things to like about this film and that was the acting. Jonathan Haze was exactly what you want a bumbling fool with no confidence to be and he played it with perfection. Even when things were seemingly going great for him, he never lost his identity of who he truly is. I thought Mel Welles was terrific as the owner of the shop who sets of morals were a little twisted around a dollar bill. Sure, what Seymour was doing was bad, but it was bringing him money so why would you talk to the cops? One of the best moments in the film though belongs to the brief introduction of the legend himself Jack Nicholson who plays this twisted idiot who loves pain a little too much. The whole time I kept thinking to myself is that who I think it is? For all the faults the film had, it had some bright spots in it for sure, but I am going to give this film an C+ for a final grade.