B Movies Author:Don Miller The double feature lives in this fascinating look at the history of B movies! — Don Miller takes you inside Hollywood in the days of that popular low-budget staple: the B movie. The biggest stars in movie history debuted in these films -- Rita Hayworth, Melvyn Douglas, Ava Gardner, and Edward G. Robinson. And they were not alway... more »s cast in the roles they later became famous for. Imagine Humphrey Bogart as a bloodthirsty, zombie-like scientist, or Ronald Reagan as an intrepid newsman! Directors like Fritz Lang, Robert Wise, and Fred Zinnemann also began their careers in the B movie era. And some B movies -- including Detour, Cat People and Eyes in the Night -- went on to become cult favorites.
Miller also gives insights into:
How studios like MGM, Warner Brothers, and Twentieth Century - Fox survived, and even thrived, as they grew to become the majors of today.
The reasons why Monogram, Liverty, Grand National, and other smaller studios fell into obscurity.
How series films like Abbott and Costello, Tarzan, Charlie Chan, and Nancy Drew became dependable components of studio filmmaking.
The real power in B movies -- the producers.
Find out more about this often overlooked period of Hollywood filmmaking.
Features 32 pages of photos.
Forward by Leonard Maltin.
Cross-indexed by actor, director, and movie title!« less