Old Hollywood B-Movies

[ClassyCo]

Think of this thread as a home for those old-timey B-movies that came out during Hollywood's Golden Age. So, were talking B-movies from the early 1930s through the late 1960s.

B-movies were a pivotal source of income for major studios, who used the profits from these cheaper productions to fund their more prestigious films. B-movies were also a training ground for up-and-coming talent. Some actors and actresses made so many B-movies that they were nicknamed "kings" and "queens" of the style. B-movies explored multiple genres and experienced varying levels of popularity.

Do you have any old B-movies you particularly like?

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

The Old Hollywood B movies are far better than the overwhelming majority of Major Motion Pictures today

 

[ClassyCo]

One of my favorite Old Hollywood B-movies is WICKED WOMAN (1953), a low-budget film noir starring Beverly Michaels as an attractive blonde drifter named Billie Nash. The film is directed by Russell Rouse, a man Michaels would eventually marry in 1955.

I really enjoy the movie, the performances, and the song that opens and closes the film. Michaels made her career as the leading lady of B-movies, first as the protégé of Hugo Haas (until he found Cleo Moore), and later for other directors and studios. Michaels' career was brief, but this movie itself helped claim her some notoriety as one of "the B-movie bad girls".

It's a good, fast-moving little movie that I'd encourage you all to check out. The Village Voice says Michaels' performance is "wonderfully lurid" and lists WICKED WOMAN as one of the Top 25 cult films.