Raising Ron Howard

In the annals of good advice, producer Roger Corman's words to director Ron Howard on the set of the 1977 comedy Grand Theft Auto have a special ring.

"You do a good job for me on this film and you'll never have to work for me again."

He was right, too. Howard was a 23-year-old first-time director, best known as Richie Cunningham from TV's Happy Days and Opie from The Andy Griffith Show. Grand Theft Auto led to such hits as Splash, Apollo 13, the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind and the blockbuster Da Vinci Code and its sequel.

Corman is 85 now and still active -his latest producing credits include the amusing creature mash-ups Sharktopus and Piranhaconda. His own fame is twofold -he is king of the B-movies, and unofficial dean of what Howard calls "Roger Corman University." Other directors who got their careers rolling under Corman's tutelage include Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and James Cameron.

Grand Theft Auto has just been released in a double-feature DVD along with Eat My Dust!, a similar carracing comedy Howard had starred in a year earlier. The actor, who had been in movies and television almost from the time he could walk, knew what he wanted when he took that first role, and explains his thinking in an interview on the DVD.

"I read Eat My Dust! and it was fun, but it wasn't something I was all excited about doing," he says. So he went to Corman and, knowing the producer's way with nurturing new talent, told him: "What I really want to do is direct." He'd make Eat My Dust! if he could then direct his own movie.

The shrewd producer made a counter-offer. Make this movie, he told Howard, and you can write me a script, and if I like it, and if you star in it, you can direct it. Failing that, Howard could direct second-unit footage in a future Corman production.

"It wasn't exactly the dream offer," Howard remembers ruefully, "but it was a chance to roll film by hook or by crook and not have to pay for it myself, so I took him up on that offer."

It paid off. Eat My Dust! is an amusing if simple tale about a hotrod enthusiast who steals a race car to take the hottest girl in school (played by the oddly named Christopher Norris) on a joyride. Ludicrous stunts follow, like the guy who skateboards into a conveniently placed pile of empty cardboard boxes to avoid a runaway shopping cart.

Howard plays the main character, Hoover Niebold. "My father called me Hoover because I put him into a depression," he explains, a joke that must have been stale even in 1976.

Grand Theft Auto holds up much better today. This time, Howard plays Sam Freeman, who wants to marry his sweetheart, Paula (Nancy Morgan). When her wealthy father objects -"Get out of my mansion!" he shouts somewhat improbably -the kids respond by stealing the old man's goldcoloured Rolls-Royce and heading for Las Vegas.

Paula's parents quickly announce a reward for the return of their daughter -and, more importantly, their car -which leads to a full-on chase by all manner of stolen vehicles. (For some reason, everyone in the movie, even those with cars of their own, feels the need to boost their ride.)

In addition to the Rolls, there's a Dodge Charger, a classic Beetle, a bus full of seniors, a Chevy pickup, a honeymoon camper van, a police car and an ice-cream truck, most of which make it to the film's demolition-derby climax. Eyes in the sky were provided by a helicopter-borne, opportunistic radio reporter, played by real-life DJ Don Steele.

Howard's movies have long been family affairs, and these early examples were no exception. Eat My Dust! featured bit parts for Ron's brother Clint (who appears in most of Howard's movies, including the latest, The Dilemma) and their father, Rance.

Grand Theft Auto also features Clint and Rance -who did his own stunts, as Ron points out in the commentary. But Rance also co-wrote the script with Ron; Ron's mother recruited the bus full of seniors, which included his aunt Dot; and Ron's wife, Cheryl, provided the catering.

"She hadn't started off catering the movie," Howard says. "But the crew was just outraged by the quality of the food we were having."

Cheryl hired her grandparents as sous-chefs. "They were getting rack of lamb and swordfish, which is pretty good eating for the crew of a lowbudget film."

The two discs are packed with interviews and anecdotes from the colourful Corman. Among his recollections was that Eat My Dust! was originally going to be called The Car. Executives at Universal asked Corman if they could have the title for a 1977 horror film they were making.

Corman then went to a local high school and tested three titles. The most popular was Eat My Dust! Grand Theft Auto came second; The Car placed third.

Corman called Universal and said they could have it.

cknight@nationalpost.com

NEWDVDRELEASES

- Biutiful Raing 4

- Drive Angry Raing 2½

- Kaboom Raing 2

Also new to DVD this week

- Bands on the Run: The Rubber Band Movie

- Rock Steady

- Rookie Blue, Season 1

- True Blood, Season 3

- Undertow

New to Blu-ray this week

- American Graffiti

- Barry Lyndon

- Once Upon a Time in the West