samkydd

Instead of the movie industry churning out very long winded, boringly padded out features, which promise much and deliver very little and go on for hours, isn’t it about time we had the return of the B movie supporting feature? I know most offerings billed as main features these days are B movie standard, but why not make it part of the evening’s cinematic experience by bringing B movies back into the fold? Two shorter movies are better than one self-indulgent pile of kack that goes on forever, and a break inbetween allows for a toilet/fag break and a stretch of the old legs!

They still had supporting features back in the 1970s, when my teenage social life involved going to the flicks a lot, and there were some pretty good ones, some awful ones, but on the whole they were enjoyable. Even cringe worthy efforts like Doc Savage were good fun and made you guffaw at the serious bits!

I think it also gave the opportunity for new film makers to learn their trade and work with a limited budget and try and produce something memorable. As opposed to today where they don’t bother learning their trade, have big budgets and produce something instantly forgetable!

Have you any memories of B movies which you considered good, and in some cases, were better than the main feature?

Can you identify any films we talk about on here which were originally B movies when they were released at the pictures?

Apart from the obvious padding out of the main feature, why were B movies done away with?

Finally, when working on such films did the people involved know that they were making a supporting B movie feature?

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Fellwanderer

To be honest, I have no memory of any B movies - seen at the cinema, that is. Plenty on the small screen though.

Obviously I saw them and do remember seeing them but they were clearly so unmemorable that they've been permanently erased from my memory - that, or I'm losing my marbles.

FELL

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

DB7

Some quota quickies or second features were little gems, esp the odd Butchers and Danziger thriller, but given the Hollywood strangehold on distribution you'd struggle to find an outlet for low-budget films unless you aim at the indie/festival market and hope for a crossover hit.

Stephen Spielberg's Duel is a great example of low-budget (400k) filmmaking or Christopher 'Batman Begins' Nolan's b&w thriller Following which cost a few grand. As always it's down to the strength of the story.

mysteriesofedgarwallace

Mind you, the new Wallace and Gromit film had a supporting feature when I saw it last week.
'Christmas penguins in the snow' or some-such cack.

Clinton Morgan

Oh goodness, that was awful! Toy Story also suffered from having a short Roger Rabbit cartoon.

Rob Compton

Well do bear in mind that Christmas Penguins in the Snow was designed for children - not adults!

My 12 year old son loved it!

rgds
Rob

Allen Dace

I think that we no longer need B-movies because their place has been taken by TV series made on film. Little self-contained stories often with better plots than overblown blockbusters.

samkydd

I didn't like the style of animation at all but the story was quite good.

Better than extended telly type adverts, or those old cinema ones from Pearl & Dean! Ba bah ba bah ba bah bah bada-bah! "Enjoy the very best in exotic Indian cuisine after the film, visit....." ("Sckweek" noise as the localised restaurant's name card comes to view) "The Taj Mahal - Only 3 minutes walk from this cinema!"

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Rob Compton

"An hour from now you'll wish you'd had one!"

rgds
Rob

Jackdaw

I'm a great supporter of the B-movie.
In 1963 I was dragged by a girlfriend to see 'Kid Galahad', starring 'The King', (of smirking).The whole thing was made only vaguely bearable by 'Roadrunner', the newsreel, and the support movie,ECHO OF DIANA,starring Betty McDowall and Vincent Ball(ock).
Every 'woman's movie' should compulsorily have supporting attractions of interest to the poor sod on escort duties.

Cheers

Jacky

Rob Compton

Blimey jackdaw, I wish I had your memory of what was on the bill in 1963! What ice cream did you have?

I struggle to remember what I've done today.

rgds
Rob

Jackdaw

Actually Rob,this is what happens when your'e an 'ageing person'.
I can remember whole swathes of the past,but I've not been able to find my spare phone for three months!Isn't that a symptom of something?And I can smell bacon all the time.That can't be right,can it?
I can probably remember the 'Kid Galahad' evening so well because I had a near-death experience - it was so awful, I nearly topped myself!

Cheers

Jacky

Steve Crook

It's when you can smell fried onions when there aren't any around that you should watch out.
(See A Matter of Life and Death)

Steve

Johnjackgilbert

Yes, bring back B movies - and the usher/ettes who supplied the tasteless icecream and the exceptionally cold cartons of orange squash. The B movie better than the main feature? Back in the late '70s, I was about 8 or 9, the cinema was virtually empty... I have no idea what the main feature was, but the B movie 'Watch Out We're Mad' was hilarious. A dubbed Italian film with a comedy duo whose names I cannot recall at the moment. They did the 'Trinity...' films too. The cinema experience of the 1970s and early 1980s was particularly depressing - I would have liked to have experienced the cinema of the 1930s! Beautiful Art Deco buildings, okay the films are rather hit ands miss - but the hits are worth all the misses!!

piroflip2

a very long time ago i saw the "dave clarke five" vehicle called "catch us if you can".

it was o.k. but very slow,,,,,,i much preferred the B movie shown with it.

it was about college kids involved in drag racing comps,, dont know the title though.