Other library resource(s)
American independent cinema from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286American independent cinema, often called “indie cinema,” has no clear historical starting point and no single definition. Most broadly, the term refers to films made outside the Hollywood system, although some scholars date independent cinema from 1908, when enterprising filmmakers defied the near-monopoly of the Motion Picture Patents Company, formed by Thomas A. Edison and others hoping to control the rapidly expanding industry. ...
Midnight movies: from the margin to the mainstream by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #18562Between 1970 and 1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch movies: The allegorical freak-out "El topo," the graphic horror of "Night of the living dead," the outrageous filth fest "Pink flamingos," outlaw reggae's "The harder they come," the phenomenal "Rocky horror picture show," and the darkly disturbing "Eraserhead." Discover the stories behind the movies that defied mainstream America to change the world of cinema forever, featuring startling clips, rare archival footage and revealing interviews with the films' directors, distributors, exhibitors and supporters.
Samuel Z. Arkoff by Call Number: Jones DVD #18623Samuel Z. Arkoff, along with James Nicholson, founded the immensely successful American International Pictures (AIP). AIP discovered an untapped audience in the American teenager and proceeded to turn independent filmmaking on its head as they churned out drive-in double features overflowing with misunderstood teen heroes, horrific monsters, reform school girls, and leather-jacketed tough guys.
Internet resource(s)
- Badmovies.orgThis is the website where you can read reviews, talk with other b-movie fans, and glorify the genre.
- B Movie ManHe considers B Movies to be films that didn't make a splash in in the mainstream cinema world, but that are still good and worth watching and of course he includes all the horror films & Scream Queen features he can find too!
- British B movie from British 60's cinemaThis website will celebrate the vitality and variety of British cinema in the 1960s (whilst straying back into the 1950s and on into the 1970s, and sometimes just covering interesting British films from any era). Including British B movies.
Find new books in the library's collections
Find new books on B films. Starting from 2022 to the present.
A short definition for B movies
1. A low-budget film shown as part of a double bill alongside a major studio release.
2. A second-best film comparing unfavourably with the main attraction. Associated with US cinema in the 1930s (though appearing from the late 1910s), the rise of the double bill was in part a consequence of Depression-era innovation, with filmmakers and exhibitors having to work harder to retain their audience (see exhibition). B-movies were often, but not always, genre films, with the western, science fiction, the crime film, and the horror film predominating. The term B-actor is sometimes used to refer to a performer who finds work primarily or exclusively in B-movies. The major Hollywood studios (see studio system) made some B-movies, which enabled resources to be used as efficiently as possible, with sets, costumes, etc., recycled from other higher-budget films. A number of dedicated B-movie studios were also established: these were known as the ‘B-Hive’ or Poverty Row, and included Republic Pictures, Monogram Productions, and Grand National Films. The B-movie was also often a proving ground for filmmakers learning their trade, and there was a degree of licence in this sector to broach potentially controversial subject matter. Dedicated B-movie production continued throughout the 1940s—the films made at Val Lewton’s horror unit at RKO during these years are now held in high regard—but by the end of the 1950s, although low-budget salacious films were still made (see exploitation film), the strategy of placing them on double bills with more respectable fare became less common. Current usage of the term is flexible, but tends to refer to any low-budget film that is of poor technical quality and that features content of a salacious or controversial nature. In film studies, the B-movie has been considered in relation to studio-era production and exhibition practices, via the unsung work of certain filmmakers associated with B-movie production, such as Ida Lupino; and, increasingly, in relation to the production of B-movies across a range of national contexts. See also feature film; quota quickies.
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). B-movie. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 May. 2023
Finding library resources about B movies
Below are several subject headings to help you search the online catalog:
- B filmsThe call number range is PN 1995.9 .B2.
- experimental filmsMost works are located on Baker Stack Level 4 in the call number range PN 1995.9 .E96.
Introductory reading(s)
The battle for the Bs: 1950s Hollywood and the rebirth of low-budget cinema by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780813552538The emergence of the double-bill in the 1930s created a divide between A-pictures and B-pictures as theaters typically screened packages featuring one of each. With the former considered more prestigious because of their larger budgets and more popular actors, the lower-budgeted Bs served largely as a support mechanism to A-films of the major studios--most of which also owned the theater chains in which movies were shown. ...
The B list: the National Society of Film Critics on the low-budget beauties, genre-bending mavericks, and cult classics we love by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995 .N354 2008ISBN: 9780306815669What kind of collection could possibly find common ground among The Son of Kong, Platoon, and Pink Flamingos? What kind of fevered minds could conceive of such a list? What are the unheard-of qualities that tie them all together? The answers: This book. The National Society of Film Critics. And the far-reaching enticements of the B movie itself. ...
The British 'B' film by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .B2 C45 2009ISBN: 9781844573196This is the first book to provide a thorough examination of the British 'B' movie, from the war years to the 1960s The authors draw on archival research, contemporary trade papers and interviews with key 'B' filmmakers to map the 'B' movie phenomenon both as artifact and as industry product, and as a reflection on their times.
Death on the cheap: the lost B movies of film noir by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .F54 L96 2000ISBN: 9780306809965Robert Mitchum once commented to Arthur Lyons about his movies of the 1940s and 1950s: "Hell, we didn't know what film noir was in those days. We were just making movies. Cary Grant and all the big stars at RKO got all the lights. We lit our sets with cigarette butts." Film noir was made to order for the "B," or low-budget, part of the movie double bill. It was cheaper to produce because it made do with less lighting, smaller casts, limited sets, and compact story lines--about con men, killers, cigarette girls, crooked cops, down-and-out boxers, and calculating, scheming, very deadly women. In Death on the Cheap, Arthur Lyons entertainingly looks at the history of the B movie and how it led to the genre that would come to be called noir, a genre that decades later would be transformed in such "neo-noir" films as Pulp Fiction, Fargo, and L.A. Confidential. ...
Selected book titles
Cinema of outsiders: the rise of American independent film by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .E96 L43 1999ISBN: 9780814751237The most important development in American culture of the last two decades is the emergence of independent cinema as a viable alternative to Hollywood. Indeed, while Hollywood's studios devote much of their time and energy to churning out big-budget, star-studded event movies, a renegade independent cinema that challenges mainstream fare continues to flourish with strong critical support and loyal audiences. Cinema of Outsiders is the first and only comprehensive chronicle of contemporary independent movies from the late 1970s up to the present. From the hip, audacious early works of maverick David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, and Spike Lee, to the contemporary Oscar-winning success of indie dynamos, such as the Coen brothers (Fargo), Quentin Tarentino (Pulp Fiction), and Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade), Levy describes in a lucid and accessible manner the innovation and diversity of American indies in theme, sensibility, and style. ...
Crab monsters, teenage cavemen, and candy stripe nurses by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1998.3 .C68 N37 2013ISBN: 9781419706691Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses is an outrageously rollicking account of the life and career of Roger Corman--one of the most prolific and successful independent producers, directors, and writers of all time, and self-proclaimed king of the B movie. ...
Cut-pieces: celluloid obscenity and popular cinema in Bangladesh by Call Number: Baker-Berry GN 635 .B33 H64 2014ISBN: 9780231162890Imagine watching an action film in a small-town cinema hall in Bangladesh, and in between the gun battles and fistfights a short pornographic clip appears. This is known as a cut-piece, a strip of locally made celluloid pornography surreptitiously spliced into the reels of action films in Bangladesh. Exploring the shadowy world of these clips and their place in South Asian film culture, Lotte Hoek builds a rare, detailed portrait of the production, consumption, and cinematic pleasures of stray celluloid. Hoek's innovative ethnography plots the making and reception of 'Mintu the Murderer' (2005, pseud.), a popular, Bangladeshi B-quality action movie and fascinating embodiment of the cut-piece phenomenon.
Grand National, Producers Releasing Corporation, and Screen Guild-Lippert: complete filmographies with studio histories by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .U6 O37 1989ISBN: 9780899503844Throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s, several independent film production companies (referred to a poverty row studios) turned out hundreds of B movies--low-budget feature films that were specifically designed to play the bottom half of the double bills. This handy reference focuses on the output of three of these independents--Grand National (1936-1939), Producers Releasing Corporation (1939-1948), and Screen Guild/Lippert (1945-1955).Here are studio histories and details on all their output (title of movie, director, producer, writer, cast, plot, synopsis, running time, release date, and more). Films are covered chronologically by release date.
He was some kind of a man: masculinities in the B western by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .M46 M345 2009ISBN: 9781554580590He Was Some Kind of a Man: Masculinities in the B Western explores the construction and representation of masculinity in low-budget western movies made from the 1930s to the early 1950s.
Preparing for takeoff: preproduction for the independent filmmaker by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .P7 V47 2013ISBN: 9780415661683You have the camera, time, money (or credit card), so why don't you just start shooting? That's one way to do it. However, be prepared for major mid-shoot changes, unhappy actors, a resentful crew, wasted days and dwindling finances. All of these instances can be avoided by solid planning - but where do you start? This book gives you the tools you need to fully prepare for your independent film. Vincie breaks down the entire life cycle of a film, showing how preproduction tasks such as scheduling, previsualisation, location scouting, clearing permits, and more are just as vital to the success of your film as the shoot itself.
Finding scholarly articles & journal title(s)
Articles and other writings about B-movies can be found in many publications. You can use Film & Television Literature Index to find articles or the search box at the top of the page.
Film & television literature index by Call Number: Electronic resourceUse this index to find articles about B movies or low budget films.
Web of science citation databases by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.
Selected movie titles in the library's collections
For more B-movies, search the online catalog.
Army of darkness by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #18394Forced to lead a makeshift Dark Ages army against the demonic Deadites, who posses all the deadly magic of Hell, the shot-gun toting, chainsaw-armed, reluctant 20th century time traveler Ash must save the living from the dead, rescue his medieval girlfriend, and get back to his own time.
The brain that wouldn't die by Call Number: Streaming videoDr. Bill Cortner is a brilliant young surgeon who experiments illegally with the bodies and minds of fellow humans. When his fiancee is decapitated in a freak accident, he tries to transplant her still living head and brain to another body.
Killer klowns from outer space by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #19976ISBN: 9780792850540Aliens who look like clowns land in their circus-tent spaceship near a small town with the plan to turn all humans into cotton candy.
Letters from Fontainhas: three films by Pedo Costa by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #9851ISBN: 9781604652369Portuguese director Pedro Costa has been steadily building an impressive body of work since the late eighties, and these are the three films that put him on the map: spare, painterly portraits of battered, largely immigrant lives in the slums of Fontainhas, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Lisbon.
Queen of outer space by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #5824ISBN: 9781419850288Male astronauts crash-land on an all-female planet Venus.
Stranger on the third floor by Call Number: Jones Media DVD 14511A reporter provides eyewitness testimony that helps sentence a small-time loser to the electric chair for murder. When the reporter himself is fingered ina second murder, he realizes both crimes are the work of a furtive stranger - but will anyone believe him?
Trog by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #19919ISBN: 9781419850318A wild half-man, half-ape emerges from his countryside cave. People call him Trog, short for a prehistoric cave dweller called a troglodyte. To anthropologist Dr. Brockton, he's the scientific discovery of the age. To others, he's walking death. A grocer is impaled on a meat hook, a car is tossed aside like a twig, a child is kidnapped--all after local resident Sam Murdock prods the brute into a blind rampage.
Two thousand maniacs by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #22510Six "Yankee" tourists are the horrified "guests of honor" for the centenniel celebration of a small southern town in this Herschell Gordon Lewis drive-in cult classic.
Keeping up with the journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's you can download and read the articles you want.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.