The Secret Lives of "B's"

As the drive-in market grew so did the "B" movie industry. In '45 there were 96 Drive-Ins, ten years later 3700.
"B" movies were the less publicized second-half of a double feature. Most "B's" of the 50's-60's genre were si-fi and horror; made on a low "Budget" with "B" actors and "B" scripts. These movies established actors such as John Wayne and Jack Nicholson and steady work for "A" movie actors such as Vincent Price and Karen Black. Bela Lugosi and Pam Grier worked in B's most of their careers.
The "King of the B's, Roger Corman, produced and directed "The Raven" '63 and featured Vincent Price and a young Jack Nicholson.
"Rocketship X-M" '50, is noted as possibly "the first post-nuclear holocaust film an ATOMIC BOMB cinema".
"The Tingler" '59 featured William Castle's Percepto gimmick: At the film's climax, buzzers attached to select theater seats would unexpectedly rattle a few viewers, prompting either appropriate screams or laughter. "GUARANTEED: "The Tingler" will break loose in the theater while you are in the audience. As you enter the theater you will receive instructions how to guard yourself against attack by THE TINGLER."
"The Hitch-Hiker" '53 is often referred to as the only classic directed by a woman and actress Ida Lupino, on a small budget and with an extremely intense focus on its 3 lead characters.

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" '56, selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically significant. June 2008, the American Film Institute recognized it as the 9th best film in the si-fi genre.
"I Was A Teen Age Frankenstein"
"Body of a Boy,
Mind of a Monster,
Soul of an Unearthly Thing"
Starred a 20 year old Michael Landon

"Bloodfeast" '63..."Nothing So Appalling in the Annals of Horror." Drummed up publicity by distributing vomit bags to theatergoers with the warning ....
"You May Need This When You See Blood Feast."

"Homicidal" '61 was released with a "fright break" that allowed patrons to receive a refund if they were to scared to stay for the climax of the film.

"Godzilla" '56, first in a series for the low, low budget of $30,000

"Them!" ‘54 black and white si-fi film about man's encounter with a nest of radiation-giganticized ants. Billed: “A horror horde of crawl-and-crush giants crawling out of the earth from mile deep catacombs.“It starred James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon and James Arness. And the first drive-in movie Mom and Dad took me to see.


Female Jungle ’55 black-and-white B-movie notable for being one of Jayne Mansfield's first films. It's rumored that Mansfield was paid $150 for her role in the film. The movie, which was held from release for over a year, was later reissued as "Hangover".

And HANGOVER is an appropriate substitute for THE END on this post.