Customer Reviews

Second Feature: The Best of the B's (A Citadel Press Book)

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I knew nothing about this book when I found it on Amazon. There were no
pictures or reviews but I thought I could remember reading that John
Cocchi had a renowned still collection.
This is just a fantastic book. It starts off with an introduction by the
author, in which he traces his love of "B" movies back to his first cinema
visit (a double bill with "Swamp Fire" (1946) and "Dumbo" (1941). There is
then approximately 80 pages throughout the book of beautiful photos, many
personally autographed from the stars themselves. The frontispiece has a
gorgeous photo of Esther Ralston.
Each genre has it's own chapter and there are approximately 70+ movies discussed
in each chapter. Here are some examples
Comedy and Drama = "Night Work" (1929) - Cocchi feels is Eddie Quillan's
best work with a bit of everything (music, comedy, drama) thrown in.
"False Faces" (1932) - a movie that has always intrigued me about a quack
plastic surgeon, directed and starring Lowell Sherman and the beautiful Peggy
Shannon. "There's One born Every Minute" (1942) - Notable for the debut of
9 year old Elizabeth Taylor.
Westerns = "Scarlet River" (1933) spoofs the "real" West verses the "reel"
West. Tom Keene stars with Dorothy Wilson who also stars in "When a Man's
a Man" - Cocchi claims it is one of the best Westerns ever made. One of my
favourites "Between Men" with the fabulous William Farnum as a father turned
renegade when he thinks his son has been killed. Lone Star, Hopalong Cassidy,
Tex Ritter and Gene Autry are some of the other cowboys covered as well.
Mystery and Crime = "Alias Mary Smith" (1932) - Cocchi's infatuation with
Blanche Mehaffey makes this one sound interesting. Gwen Lee also stars.
Docks of San Francisco (1932) - One of Mary Nolan's last films. "Hell's
House" (1932) - One of Bette Davis' first, even though the real star is
Junior Durkin. The title refers to the reform school. "Penguin Pool
Murder" (1932) - Edna Mae Oliver is amateur sleuth Hildegarde Withers with
James Gleason as her sparring partner. Mae Clare also stars. "The Crime of
the Century" (1933) - Jean Hersholt confesses to a crime before he commits
it!! "Crime of Helen Stanley" (1934) - Gail Patrick, in an early role, as a
snooty star who thinks she is a target for murder. "The Ninth Guest" (1934)
a really excellent little film with Genevieve Tobin, who along with 7 other
invited guests finds 8 graves in the yard of the penthouse. "City Girl" (1937)
sounds interesting, Phyllis Brooks stars as a waitress who turns to crime.
Again there are plenty of other movies including series Charlie Chan, Nick
Carter, Boston Blackie, Michael Shayne, Dick Tracy and the Whistler. There
are also 40s Noir including "My Name is Julia Ross", "Detour", "So Dark the
Night" (1946), "The Guilty" (1947) and "Gun Crazy" (1949).
Action and Adventure = "King of the Jungle" (1933) - a spoof on the then
popular Tarzan with Buster Crabbe and Frances Dee. "Circus Girl" (1937) -
Mayhem under the Big Top. "Fly By Night" (1942) - Richard Carlson kidnaps
Nancy Kelly to prove to her he is not a murderer.
Horror = "The Drums of Jeopardy" (1931) - Stars Warner Oland as Dr. Boris
Karlov (film was released before Boris Karloff became famous). "Deluge" (1933)
- an amazing end of the world disaster epic with beautiful Peggy Shannon. Too
many movies to mention - "Murders in the Zoo" (1933), Night of Terror" (1933),
"The Sin of Nora Moran" (1933) - Cocchi claims one of the best movies of the
30s, "Terror Aboard" (1933) - a really terrific film about a gentlemanly
serial killer. There are also Frankenstein, Zombies, Dr. Death and Ed Wood.
Musicals = "Down To Their Last Yacht" (1934) considered to be the worst
musical ever made. It didn't do Sidney Fox's career any good. There are
plenty of Ann Miller movies mentioned as well.
Each movie (there are literally hundreds) has studio, year, director, main
stars and a paragraph dealing with anything of interest in them. The years
covered are 1930 to the late 1980s.
I can really recommend this book.