What is a B-movie

A.� B-movies were produced at a time when the film industry was markedly different from the one we know today.�They were the celluloid equivalent of the ancillary entertainment surrounding a vaudeville show's headline act.
They became integral to Hollywood for most of the 20th century, because audiences became accustomed to seeing two quickly-paced films of reasonable duration at at time. They were modest films, often using visual and narrative shortcuts to get to the point and, compared with grade A movies, they allowed more innuendo and daring.

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Q.� When did they start

A.� Films began as photographed theatre and, at around the turn of the century, most theatre was a conglomeration of music acts, comedy, novelty stunts, Shakespearean readings, semi-erotic dance numbers and animal acts.
Movies� had to carry on the tradition of giving people�quite a lot�for their money. They wanted to make the purchased entertainment an expansive rather than expensive night out, so they supplemented the main act with goodies.
That meant live act as openers, newsreels, short films, cartoons, coming attractions and, most significantly, a second, slightly cheaper feature film, usually belonging to a particular and popular genre, featuring players who had been relegated to the second shelf. The B-movie filled out the double-bill's 'bottom half'.

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Q.� How closely were they monitored

A.� The beauty of this sort of film was� that it was allowed to go relatively unchecked. Studio heads and government agencies didn't pay attention to the bottom half of the bill, and film-makers were allowed to run riot.
The giant bug and alien invasion movies of the 1950s, the Randolph Scott-Budd Boetticher westerns, the Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur horror films - all were examples of inspiration that could easily have been killed off by big stars and big money.

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Q.� What happened to them

A.� As drive-ins prospered in the 1950s, B-movies sometimes double-billed each other. In the 1960s, the films became cheapier, gorier and sleazier, thanks to independent exploitation. The double-billing continued into the '70s until film-makers decided a single film could prove overwhelmingly popular. The Sound of Music, The Godfather, The Exorcist, Jaws and Star Wars were all produced at around this time - and any extra action was deemed unnecessary.

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Q.� Will B-movies resurface

A.� It seems unlikely, as virtually every film released since the 1970s has had to justify itself as a free-standing event worthy of a full ticket price. As ever, though, Hollywood is turning to remakes of old movies. The new dragstrip action film The Fast and the Furious is an expensive, wildly publicised remake of a 1954 quickie that really is a B-movie. Today there are straight-to-video cheapies, endless remakes and made-for-TV dramas - but it is unlikely B-movies will find their way onto the cinema bill again.

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by Katharine MacColl