[Ads-l] "B movie" and related terms

Sun May 19 23:00:37 UTC 2024

My Wall St. Journal column this week is on the origins of the term "B
movie" (a tribute to Roger Corman, King of the B's):
https://on.wsj.com/3WOkboC

OED doesn't have a whole lot -- the unrevised entry for "B" (n.) includes
this:

---
II.4.b.iii. A supporting film to the main feature in a cinema programme.
1949 Here & Now (New Zealand) October 29/2 There is a current reaction
against the 'big' picture; and it is a sign of the times that the Academy,
one of London's repertory cinemas, has been showing two American 'B'
features.
1962 Observer 20 May 27/6 Just that something which distinguishes the good
documentary from the drab British B picture.
1967 Listener 7 September 316/2 Things are looking up on ITV, except on
farmer-and-B-film-haunted Southern.
---

Merriam-Webster has an entry for "B movie" (defined as "a cheaply produced
motion picture") and dates it to 1948.

Some citations of interest...

* class B picture

---
https://archive.org/details/movingpicturewor24newy/page/1951/mode/1up
Moving Picture World, June 19, 1915, p. 1951, col. 1
Class B subjects will have a lower rental valuation. [...] [Quoting Albert
E. Smith of Vitagraph:] Since the receipt of this letter, I have talked
with Mr. Smith, and therefore, am at liberty to add that the Vitagraph
Company considers "Hearts and the Highway" to be a class "B" picture, as
compared with "The Juggernaut," and "The Island of Regeneration," and for
this reason alone, the maximum price is fixed at $50.00 in cities of 20,000
or more inhabitants.
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/muscatine-news-tribune-class-b-pictures/147428797/
Muscatine (Iowa) News-Tribune, July 17, 1918, p. 7, col. 2
Class A pictures will be those that cost from $100 day and up. Class B
pictures will be those costing from $60.00 to $85.00 per day.
---
https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald12exhi/page/n221/mode/2up
Exhibitors Herald, Jan. 8, 1921, p. 86, col. 2
Sky Fire (Pinnacle), with Neal Hart. -- Not as good as expected, too slow
and draggy. Consider this a class B picture.
---

* class B feature

---
Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly (London), Vol. 19, Iss. 435, Aug. 26,
1915, p. 4 (advt.) [ProQuest]
Butcher's Film Service, Ltd.  [...] Class B Feature, approx. 2,000 ft.
(over 100 films to select from). 4,000 ft. Ordinary films, varying ages.
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/herald-and-news-class-b-feature/147429721/
Randolph (Vt.) Herald and News, Sept. 23, 1915, p. 12, col. 5 (advt.)
Pastime Theatre Program [...] 3-Reel Fox Class B Feature.
---
https://archive.org/details/widsfilmsfilmfol03wids/page/n125/mode/2up
Wid's Films and Film Folk, Feb. 22, 1917, p. 124, col. 2
As a “Class B” feature this will get by, although it never “gets under the
skin.”
---

* class B movie

---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-film-producers-to/147703805/
Binghamton (NY) Press, Jan. 4, 1937, p. 10, col. 4
Film Producers to Act on Class B Movies.
---
Dayton (Ohio) Herald, Jan. 13, 1937, p. 8, col. 6
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dayton-herald-class-b-movie/147698407/
Let it be said here that as a Class B movie the show is a good one, and
there can be no doubt that it offers a fine quality of entertainment for
those who prefer adventure shows.
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-class-b-movie/147698571/
Pittsburgh Press, July 13, 1937, p. 14, col. 1
They're roping them off down at the Warner; and the pity is that they
didn't give it a bigger break instead of letting it sneak into town like
any ordinary Class B movie.
---

* grade B movie

---
Life, Nov. 1934, p. 43, col. 2 [ProQuest]
A Grade "B" movie actress could make a terrible fool of herself in the role
of an unsophisticated 19-year-old girl free for the first time from the
shelter of boarding school but Jean Muir, in _Desirable_, makes you love it.
[Is that a (Grade B movie) actress or a (Grade B) movie actress?]
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-grade-b-movies/147702749/
Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), May 3, 1936, p. 8D, col. 7
We'll make it as good grade "B" movies as we can, however.
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-grade-b-movie/147699713/
New York Daily News, July 30, 1937, p. 45, col. 2
No picture ever won a war or even started one. Not even a Grade B movie.
---

* B-type picture/movie

---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-b-type-picture/147705366/
Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1936, p. 13, col. 1
Scheduled as a Class "A" rather than "B" type picture, "Take a Number" is a
new purchase of R.-K.-O., which will star James Gleason and Helen Broderick.
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-south-bend-tribune-b-type-movie/147428160/
South Bend Tribune, Nov. 23, 1936, p. 8, col. 5
B-Type Movie Is Bright. "Along Came Love" is a pleasant surprise. It was
manufactured as a B-type picture, the kind the studios make to balance
their budgets.
---

* B picture

---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-b-picture/147705779/
Oakland Tribune, Feb. 12, 1936, p. 11, col. 2
Or it may be M-G-M refused to have its super-epic soiled by contact with a
"B" picture.
---
https://archive.org/details/screen-and-radio-weekly-1937-02-07-albany/page/n14/mode/1up
Screen and Radio Weekly, Knickerbocker Press, Feb. 1937, p. 15, col. 2
And most commonly they express their disdain with the remark: "Well, as
long as we have double bills, we'll have B pictures."
---
https://archive.org/details/motionpictureher130unse/page/n157/mode/2up
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 8, 1938, p. 74, col. 2
If Evanstonians continue to backslide, refusing to patronize stale movie
programs, frequently consisting of 'quickies' and 'B' pictures, along with
occasional Class A pictures which are very much out of date, the city is
likely to get a triple-dose of double features from Balaban and Katz.
---

* B movie

---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-akron-beacon-journal-need-b-movies-t/147704092/
Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, July 27, 1937, p. 20, col. 1
Need B Movies To Train Stars Of Tomorrow, Film Producers Declare.
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-leading-producers/147703169/
Los Angeles Times, Oct. 31, 1937, p. III1, col. 8
Though Samuel Goldwyn, leading independent movie producer, fulminates
against the "B" movie and dual features you'll find many other independents
who all essay to specialize in "A" class films, admitting they have their
place.
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/spokane-chronicle-the-b-picture-is-dying/147698982/
Spokane Chronicle, Aug 17, 1946, p. 22, col. 7
The small-cost, or B, movie has long been the most maligned of motion
picture institutions.
---

* B film

---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-feature-films-to-be-long/147704754/
Chicago Tribune, Apr. 26, 1936, p. VII4, col. 2
Producers have been making second rate pictures, calling them "B" products,
which are to be used for double bills, but they are annoyed by the fact
that more costly films known as "A" pictures are, in most theaters, used
along with "B" films.
---
https://newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-hollywood-is-taking-ste/147705703/
Buffalo News, June 3, 1936, p. 16, col. 1
Hollywood Is Taking Steps To Combat B-Film Complex.
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-akron-beacon-journal-need-b-movies-t/147704092/
Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, July 27, 1937, p. 20, col. 1
The "B" film, if you are unacquainted with the term, is the movie usually
spotted in the second bracket of a double film.
---

* B, n.

---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-the-keeper-of-the-bs/147428299/
New York Daily News, Oct. 7, 1935, p. 28, col. 2
The Class B flicker is the cheaper product and can best be described as the
lower half of a double feature ... Over at the Paramount Studio, they have
a special title for the producer who specializes in this product. He is
called "The Keeper of the B's."
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-leading-producers/147703169/
Los Angeles Times, Oct. 31, 1937, p. III1, col. 8
Meanwhile all the larger organizations are committed to the policy of "A's"
and "B's," and once in a while may even turn out a few "Z's."
---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/spokane-chronicle-the-b-picture-is-dying/147698982/
Spokane Chronicle, Aug 17, 1946, p. 22, col. 7
Although it has some advocates, the B is generally greeted by moans of film
patrons who have to sit through it to see the A feature. [...] Spokesmen
claim MGM makes no B's, but smilingly admit "sub-A's."
---

--bgz

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