Hollywood Classics 2: B Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies [Paperback]

John Reid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2004

What makes a "B" movie? This survey examines a hundred typical "B" movies (with complete cast and credit details)from Hollywood's Golden Age, including good movies ("Charlie Chan at Treasure Island", bad movies ("Dangerous Cargo") and cult movies ("Abbott and Costello Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde").

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Lulu.com (July 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1411609972
• ISBN-13: 978-1411609976
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,530,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Movies > History & Criticism
  • #91 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Movies > General

More About the Author

John Howard Reid is the creator of Merryll Manning, the Miami-based police sergeant who made his debut in "Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island". This book was followed by "Merryll Manning: The Health Farm Murders" and "Merryll Manning: Beachfront Holiday". Next up is "Merryll Manning On the Rim of Heaven."

All 12 books in the series were published overseas from 1985 through 2001. All, except "Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island", were runaway bestsellers and ran through many editions, including hardcover, paperback (both trade and mass market) and Large Print.

All 12 novels except "Merryll Manning: Beyond Vengeance", on which the critics were divided, attracted highly favorable and indeed overwhelmingly enthusiastic reviews. The author was favorably compared with both Agatha Christie and Graham Greene.

Reid's historical novels, especially "In All His Glory" (set in Ancient Egypt), have also won wide acclaim. His short stories and poems have gained many prizes and commendations. Published prose collections include "Mexican Autumn" and "Micaela Morris in Jo's Heaven". Poetry anthologies include "Anyone for Love?", "Escape to Paradise and Other Poetic Fancies" (published under his "Tom Howard" pseudonym) and "A Salute to Spanish Poetry: 100 Masterpieces from Spain and Latin America rendered into English verse."

Reid is also a widely acknowledged expert on Hollywood movies. His latest book in this field is "Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD: A Guide to the Best in Cinema Thrills".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "B" Movie Blues, January 12, 2008

By 

John Howard Reid (Wyong, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hollywood Classics 2: B Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies (Paperback)

The definition of a "B" movie varies widely. Producers generally regard not only any film made on a limited budget as a "B", but also all productions emanating from the studio's "B" unit, despite their actual cost or the presence of major stars.

To a distributor, however, a "B" picture is any reel on his shelves that cannot (for one reason or another) be sold as a main attraction. A title change often offers a clue to this kind of distributor desperation. Thus "Young Man with a Horn" was marketed as a "B" in England and Australia under the title, "Young Man of Music".

In many cases, of course, the distributor, although equally desperate, was stuck with the original title. Take "The Phantom of Paris". There's a salable title in any territory. The problem in this case was an unsalable star: John Gilbert.

The case of "Guest Wife" is different again. Here we have two reasonably popular stars, Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche, a little past their prime but still reasonably marketable, but stuck in an independent movie. Generally speaking, ticket-buyers tended to be wary of movies that were not produced by the Hollywood majors.

What about "From Headquarters"? A Warner Brothers picture with a major star in George Brent, yet it was sold as a "B". Why? The problem here was the running time: Only 63 minutes.

As for "The Florentine Dagger" with its extensive cast list and impressive production values (and a running time of 70 minutes), it was marketed as a support feature simply because it was actually produced by the Warners' "B" unit.

"Fast and Furious" was the third of MGM's "Joel and Garda Sloane" series in which the studio tried to ape the success of "The Thin Man". Despite its extensive "A" cast and enormous entertainment appeal, it was sold as a "B" because the studio had second thoughts on the desirability of trying to displace "The Thin Man".

"Dead Reckoning" with Humphrey Bogart was sold as a "B" in many territories because the studio felt the movie fell below the standard Bogie's fans had come to expect.

On the other hand, "Trader Horn" was regarded by the studio as a write-off "B" picture until its producers convinced Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executive, Irving Thalberg, that it could be salvaged. The picture went on to reap a bonanza at the box-office and was even nominated for Best Film!

Such are the stories of just a few of the 100 movies examined in detail in this fascinating, 162-page, large-format book.