Michael Palm's 2004 Edgar G. Ulmer: The Man Off-Screen covers the life and career of the director of The Black Cat (1934), Detour (1945), and many other films. Ulmer had a gift for making the most of low budgets and short shooting schedules. Palm's documentary, though, paints an unflattering picture of this under-appreciated director. Although filmmakers such as Roger Corman (top still) and Peter Bogdanovich (middle) describe Ulmer's influence on independent and B-movies, the film calls into question, without resolving, some of Ulmer's claims about his early work with European filmmakers such as F.W. Murnau, G.W. Pabst, and Fritz Lang.
