AIP used the cool folder-styled pressbook to hype this double bill, Motorcycle Gang and Sorority Girl. When you opened the folder, nestled in a pocket (the red stripe at the bottom) would be a two-sided press sheet for each movie. I picked up this nifty item from Professor Kinema recently. I’m a sucker for the folder-styled pressbooks, what can I say? Motorcycle Gang was directed by Edward L. Cahn and Roger Corman directed Sorority Girl.
Roger Corman (Producer-Director): “AIP had developed the script and it had to be rewritten rather hurriedly. Because I was a partner in the film with AIP, I questioned some of the construction costs. I decided to rent a house and use it for the sorority house and saved a great deal of money. The lead in Sorority Girl was Susan Cabot, who was a very dedicated method actress from New York.” (Smith, Gary A.. American International Pictures – The Golden Years . Bear Manor Media. Kindle Edition)
…I remember there was an extremely emotional scene she [Susan Cabot] had to play around a swimming pool with an actress playing her mother. I was going to shoot the scene in a medium shot and a close shot. Utilizing what I had just learned in the class [Jeff Corey’s acting class]. I talked about the scene with Susan and we did the first take in a medium shot. And she was brilliant. She was really wonderful. The crew applauded and I went over and congratulated her. Then we set up for the close shot and although she was good, she was never able to reach the level of intensity she had in the medium shot. Of course, what you want is the close shot for the most emotional part of the scene but I left more of the medium shot than I had planned to. I learned a lesson and that was to let the performers know they needed to save something for the close shot and not use all of the emotion for the medium shot. (McGhee, Mark Thomas. Roger Corman: The Best of the Cheap Acts. McFarland Classics)
