#19: Coppola Cast 1: 3 Early Francis Ford Coppola Films

Now that we’ve watched all the Shyamalan movies there are to watch, we begin working our way through another director’s filmography: Francis Ford Coppola. To start discussing Francis Ford Coppola’s filmography we have to go to the exploitation drive-in. Long, long before The Godfather and just as he was finishing UCLA’s film program, Francis Ford Coppola began his career in the exploitation film genre. For our first Coppola Cast episode we take a look at 3 films he directed but not in the traditional sense. First he was recruited to work on two “nudie cutie” films, The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1962) and Tonight For Sure (1962). Then he was picked by legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman to work on Battle Beyond the Sun (1959/62). It’s a peculiar start to a very notable career and just the right way to start a new series.