Lewis Teague turns 88 today. He was born on 8 March 1938.
Teague is YACD — Yet Another Corrman Director. I don’t think Corman should get a lot of credit. He was just around at the right time to hand out small amounts of money to make films. It’s not like he was developing talent. He was just using the talent that was available.
This all shows that there is a lot of talent in the world. It just needs the opportunity to express it. I think this is why Canada produces so many great artists. But that’s a subject for another time.
Lew Teague has made a number of fun films. That’s what he’s known for. No one makes a big deal of his style. I love that! I’ve come to see directors known for their style as directors with tics. Like Stanley Kubrick and his overuse of symmetrical composition. You may consider it brilliant, but I consider it boring.
Teague is known for being an efficient director. But I think of he more like Clint Eastwood: someone who was focused on telling a compelling story. But in Teague’s case, those stories can be bizarre like sewer alligators!
He is perhaps most notable for making two films based on the work of Stephen King that were actually good! This has been a big problem over the years. King’s writing doesn’t lend itself to film. But Cujo and the anthology film Cat’s Eye are both great.
He also made two excellent films with John Sayles. First was the crime drama The Lady in Red. And then the monster movie Alligator. (They also worked together on the TV pilot Shannon’s Deal.)
So let’s watch The Lady in Red. It’s a remarkable film with a remarkable screenplay. And Quentin Tarantino called it a “miracle.” And given the budget, I think that’s accurate.
Image cropped from Lewis Teague by Rodleen Getsic under CC BY-SA 3.0.