The Unholy Rollers | |
---|---|
Directed by | Vernon Zimmerman |
Screenplay by | Howard R. Cohen |
Story by | Vernon Zimmerman Howard R. Cohen |
Produced by | John Prizer Jack Bohrer |
Starring | Claudia Jennings Louis Quinn Betty Anne Rees Roberta Collins |
Cinematography | Michael Shea |
Edited by | Martin Scorsese George Trirogoff Yeu-Bun Yee |
Music by | Bobby Hart |
Production company | |
Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Unholy Rollers is a 1972 American action comedy film directed by Vernon Zimmerman and starring Claudia Jennings.
The film focuses on a team of roller derby skaters whose members are hostile to each other.
Karen wants more action out of life and quits her job at the cannery to become a skater in the roller derby. She encounters friction from the other skaters—especially Mickey, the current star of the team. Karen proves herself a feisty competitor but refuses to be a team player. As she skates her way to stardom, she incurs the wrath of jealous team members and the owner of the team.
The film was made to cash in on publicity from MGM's roller derby film, Kansas City Bomber . Roger Corman agreed to produce the film for AIP, even though he had established his own studio, New World Pictures. This was one of the last times Corman collaborated with AIP.
There were several other competing roller derby films announced in early 1972. They included Jam produced by Al Ruddy starring Mama Cass and George Hamilton and directed by Steve Inhat, and Wipeout with Lois Nettleton and Ina Clair. The Corman project was known as Leader of the Pack. However Jam and Wipeout where never made. [1]
The movie was the first screenplay credit for Howard R. Cohen who went on to have a long association with Corman. [2]
Due to delays in editing Kansas City Bomber was released first to cinemas before Unholy Rollers. [3] Martin Scorsese, who had directed Boxcar Bertha for Roger Corman and AIP, was called in to supervise editing. He said the delay in releasing the film caused it to be "destroyed" commercially. [4]
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette called it "a poverty row version of Kansas City Bomber ." [5]
Take One magazine said Jennings "carries the film. Her characterization of a woman so angry that she becomes, in some strange way, an all-avenging Kali figure, is fascinating." [3]
Roger William Corman was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film.
American International Pictures LLC is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing films from 1955 until 1980, a year after its acquisition by Filmways in 1979.
Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sidewalks, and bike paths.
Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, though it is most popular in the United States.
Boxcar Bertha is a 1972 American romantic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Roger Corman, from a screenplay by Joyce H. Corrington and John William Corrington. Made on a low budget, the film is a loose adaptation of Sister of the Road, a pseudo-autobiographical account of the fictional character Bertha Thompson. It was Scorsese's second feature film.
Joan Weston or Joanie Weston, known as the "Blonde Bomber", "Blonde Amazon", "Golden Girl", and "Roller Derby Queen", was an American athlete and was the most famous personality in the original Roller Derby.
Roller Games was the name of a sports entertainment spectacle created in the early 1960s in Los Angeles, California as a rival to the Jerry Seltzer-owned Roller Derby league, which had enjoyed a monopoly on the sport of roller derby — and its name — since its inception in 1935. Roller Games provided a mostly televised, increasingly theatrical version of the sport. Roller Games and its flagship team, the Los Angeles Thunderbirds (T-Birds) has endured several boom and bust cycles, including a roller derby attendance record in 1972, a major reorganization in 1975, appearances on ESPN in 1986, a TV series called RollerGames in 1989–1990, and a small number of untelevised exhibition matches in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, and the early and mid-2000s.
Roller Game was a variation of the sport of roller derby that was played in Japan by the Roller Game League, established in 1990. Roller Game was played on either a flat or banked track, and on either traditional (quad) roller skates or inline skates. Although its name is similar to that of the relatively theatrical Roller Games, Roller Game was, according to its promotional videos, inspired more by the original Roller Derby—it is a full-contact athletic competition with strictly enforced rules and no staged fighting.
RollerJam is an American television series featuring roller derby that aired on The Nashville Network from 1999 to 2001. It was the first attempt to bring roller derby to TV since RollerGames.
The history of roller derby traces the evolution of roller skating races into a unique sport which underwent several boom-and-bust cycles throughout the 20th century. Although it was a form of sports entertainment for much of its existence, a grassroots, early 21st century revival spearheaded by women has restored an emphasis on athleticism.
Kansas City Bomber is a 1972 American sports drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Jerrold Freedman and starring Raquel Welch, Kevin McCarthy and Jodie Foster in her second appearance in a feature film.
Helena Kallianiotes is a Greek-American film actress. In 1973, she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her role as Jackie Burdette in Kansas City Bomber.
"Kansas City Bomber" is a song by Phil Ochs, a US singer-songwriter best known for the protest songs he wrote in the 1960s.
This annotated bibliography is intended to list both notable and not so notable works of English language, non-fiction and fiction related to the sport of roller derby listed by topic and format, and then year. Although 100% of any book listed is not necessarily devoted to roller derby, all these titles have significant roller skating and roller derby content. Included in this bibliography is a list of classic texts, roller derby history texts and roller derby local league created materials devoted to roller derby.
The International Women's Flat Track Derby Association Championships are the leading competition for roller derby leagues.
Judy Sowinski was a roller derby skater and coach.
Mo Sanders, known as Quadzilla L.K. or simply Quadzilla, is an American roller skater, who has competed at international level in roller derby and aggressive inline skating, and national level in jam skating.
Denise Grimes, known as Ivanna S. Pankin, is a roller derby skater and organizer.
Vernon Lehr Zimmerman was an American writer and director who made his debut as director with the 1962 short Lemon Hearts starring Taylor Mead. He collaborated with Terrence Malick on the script to his directorial debut, the road movie, Deadhead Miles. Zimmerman wrote and directed the Claudia Jennings roller derby drive-in film Unholy Rollers. He was most well known for his horror slasher film Fade to Black, a dark and despairing psychological study of an awkward and alienated hardcore film buff who exacts a harsh revenge on his cruel tormentors. Zimmerman received a Saturn Award nomination as Best Director for the film, a predecessor to more well-known modern parodies of the horror genre. Vernon also wrote the scripts for the horror-Western Hex, the redneck crime exploitation film Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw, the made-for-TV wrestling comedy/drama Mad Bull, the failed TV pilot film Shooting Stars, and the teen fantasy comedy Teen Witch. Zimmerman's last film was the six-minute comic short Chuck and Wally on the Road. He also worked as a script analyst, taught screen-writing courses at UCLA's Extension and Certificate Program, and taught classes on both writing feature scripts and directing actors for film and television at the USC School of Cinema and Television. Vernon Zimmerman lived in Los Angeles and was a member of both the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America.
Howard R. Cohen was an American writer and director who worked several times for Roger Corman and Julie Corman.