Line #25 Creator/ColemanFrancis


1	[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Coleman_Francis_3558.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:228:Francis' CreatorCameo from ''Film/TheBeastOfYuccaFlats''.]]
3
4	->''"Coleman Francis had a dark, muddy vision. With some cars."''
5	-->-- '''Tom Servo''', ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''
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7	Coleman C. Francis (January 24, 1919 – January 15, 1973) is regarded as the leading challenger to Creator/EdWood for the title of Worst Film Director of All-Time. Starting out as an actor, he struggled to find work. He had bit roles in films like ''Film/ThisIslandEarth''. He didn't even score a film credit til appearing as a detective in Creator/RogerCorman's ''Stakeout on Dope Street''. Wanting to try his hand at filmmaking, at some point he met up with a highly decorated artillery gunner named Anthony Cardoza, who had the money to finance Francis' films. Both would appear in the films as well.
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9	He directed three films, and all of them have been featured on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
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11	His death was as dark and murky as his films: While officially, his death is listed as arteriosclerosis, according to co-producer Anthony Cardoza, he was found one day dead in the back of a station wagon, with a plastic bag around his head and a tube going into his throat (or around his neck, Cardoza never bothered to find out which because they were on the outs at the time.)
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13	!!The Coleman Francis Trilogy:
14	* ''Film/TheBeastOfYuccaFlats''
15	* ''Film/TheSkydivers''
16	* ''Film/RedZoneCuba'' (aka ''Night Train to Mundo Fine'')
17	----
18	!!Coleman Francis' films contain examples of:
19	* AmateurCast: Because of budget restraints, Coleman couldn't afford to hire real actors so he and Anthony resorted to casting friends and family to star in his films. He was able to afford Creator/JohnCarradine for ''Film/RedZoneCuba'' since John was known in the industry to [[MoneyDearBoy star in any movie that paid him]]. Tor Johnson wasn't cheap either, but there was almost no production costs spent on ''Beast''.
20	* BMovie: The films he directed fall well below the quality of ones he was taking bit roles in at the time.
21	* {{Bookends}}: Almost certainly unintentional, but his first film, ''The Beast of Yucca Flats'' starts with [[spoiler:Lanell Cado's character being killed by the mutated Dr. Javorsky]], and his last film, ''Red Zone Cuba'' ends with [[spoiler:another character played by Cado being wounded (and possibly killed; it's not very clear) in a shoot-out]].
22	* TheCameo:
23	** Anthony Cardoza, Coleman's financier and producer, appears in every one of his films. Additionally, quite a few of the extras in ''The Skydivers'' are all members of Coleman's and Cardoza's extended families.
24	** Francis himself narrates ''Beast'', appears as a gunman at the end of ''Skydivers'', is the gas station attendant and newspaper buyer in ''Beast'', and plays the lead in ''Cuba''--a performance only enjoyable due to his [[CelebrityResemblance physical resemblance]] to [[Film/TheThreeStooges Curly Howard]].
25	** Francis appeared in a bit part in ''Film/ThisIslandEarth''.
26	* CreatorKiller: ''Red Zone Cuba'' marked Coleman's final directing credit as the production of this and his other films took time away from producer Anthony Cardoza's day job and family, along with taking a toll on his finances. The two's working relationship soured after filming wrapped and Coleman spent the rest of his life taking bit roles in other movies.
27	* DrivenToSuicide: The details of Coleman's death have never been publicly revealed, but considering the themes of his movies, the description of the scene where his body was found, and what Anthony was able to recount regarding his personal life, it's become widely accepted amongst film historians that Coleman had taken his own life.
28	* DullSurprise: A disease endemic among Coleman Francis' casts.
29	* FandomRivalry: He has one with Creator/EdWood, specifically on which one was the worst director.
30	* {{Fanservice}}: Coleman Francis makes sure large breasts are thrust into the camera OncePerEpisode. Not that the male viewers ''object'', mind you.
31	* FauxlosophicNarration:
32	** The narrator from ''Beast of Yucca Flats''.
33	--->'''Narrator:''' [[MemeticMutation Flag on the moon. How did it get there?]]
34	** ''Red Zone Cuba'' also experiences this at the very end when, out of nowhere, a voiceover suddenly says "Griffin. Ran all the way to hell, with a penny and a broken cigarette."
35	** Reportedly, "Beast" ended up this way because all the audio was accidentally erased after filming. It is more likely that it was filmed without dialog, however.
36	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Him and Anthony Cardoza were this until the financial strains from producing ''Red Zone Cuba'' caused them to have a falling out.
37	* LeaveTheCameraRunning: Used far too many times to count - the scene where Griffin tries to put up the roof of the convertible in ''Red Zone Cuba'' comes to mind.
38	-->'''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Servo]]:''' OK, I'm just a bush, you can pan away from me now.
39	* {{Motifs}}: Coffee, death, cigarettes, terrible depressing tragedy, light aircraft, Tony Cardoza, people getting shot from light aircraft, a mountain somewhere in Kern County, women getting brutalized, and vigilante justice.
40	* NoBudget: All three of his movies, but ''The Beast'' takes it further by having next to no audio in an effort to save time and money on post production ADR.
41	* {{Padding}}: His films are heavily made up of scenes where almost nothing happens on screen.
42	* PublicDomainFeatureFilms: The three movies he directed fell into this sometime after his death, along with a few he had bit roles in.
43	* RandomEventsPlot: None of his movies stick to any straightforward plot; instead, they wander about with side characters and subplots that often go nowhere.
44	* RealitySubtext: It's very likely that Coleman was suffering from UsefulNotes/{{depression}} during his directing career and that it had an effect on the above-mentioned motifs in his films. On top of the mysteriousness of his death, evidence for this comes from an Anthony Cardoza [[http://www.bmonster.com/profile37.html interview]] where he reveals that Coleman's wife had divorced him prior to Beast's production and that he was addicted to Aspirin and rumored to be a heavy alcoholic off set. Given that his movies failed to get him recognized in Hollywood [[note]] outside of an occasional bit role [[/note]] and only served to destroy his relationship with Anthony certainly didn't help.
45	* ReclusiveArtist: Not much is known about Coleman's personal life other than he was a bit actor from Oklahoma and previously lived in UsefulNotes/{{Texas}} during TheGreatDepression. Anthony himself admits that all he knew about Coleman while working with him was that he was divorced and a supposed alcoholic off set.
46	* ShaggyDogStory: All three films. ''Film/RedZoneCuba'' goes one step further and [[ShootTheShaggyDog Shoots The Shaggy Dog]]. Not a very sympathetic one, though.
47	* TropeCodifier: Coleman's filmography can be considered the first official example of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_movie Z movie]], as his films established many of the characteristics associated with the term. All three were produced outside of both Hollywood and the indie film industry with next to no money he raised out of pocket, and often try to pass off local areas as locations that they're clearly not [[note]] such as passing off Lake Mead and the Nevada desert as the Caribbean Sea and Cuba in ''Film/RedZoneCuba'' [[/note]]; not to mention their [[SpecialEffectFailure poor production vales]] and cast members made up of friends and family rather than actual actors.

Context Creator / ColemanFrancis