{"product_id":"the-battle-for-the-bs-blair-davis-9780813552538","title":"The Battle for the Bs: 1950s Hollywood and the Rebirth of Low-Budget Cinema","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 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. When a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court antitrust ruling severed ownership of theaters from the studios, the B-movie soon became a different entity in the wake of profound changes to the corporate organization and production methods of the major Hollywood studios. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Battle for the Bs\u003c\/i\u003e, Blair Davis analyzes how B-films were produced, distributed, and exhibited in the 1950s and demonstrates the possibilities that existed for low-budget filmmaking at a time when many in Hollywood had abandoned the Bs. Made by newly formed independent companies, 1950s B-movies took advantage of changing demographic patterns to fashion innovative marketing approaches. They established such genre cycles as science fiction and teen-oriented films (think \u003ci\u003eDestination Moon\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eI Was a Teenage Werewolf\u003c\/i\u003e) well before the major studios and also contributed to the emergence of the movement now known as underground cinema. Although frequently proving to be multimillion-dollar box-office draws by the end of the decade, the Bs existed in opposition to the cinematic mainstream in the 1950s and created a legacy that was passed on to independent filmmakers in the decades to come.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Blair Davis\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0813552532\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813552538\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Rutgers University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/05\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 260\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.98lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.96w x 0.70d","brand":"Blair Davis","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48086910402815,"sku":"9780813552538","price":40.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_81f20ece-07eb-4ce3-afb1-97b4035d306e.jpg?v=1769097274","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-battle-for-the-bs-blair-davis-9780813552538","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}