Mayne, Laura Margaret Jayne (2016) Whatever happened to the British ‘B’ movie?:Micro-budget film-making and the death of the one-hour supporting feature in the early 1960s. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. ISSN 1465-3451
Abstract
The British ‘B’ movie had its heyday from the post-war period up until the early 1960s. ‘B’ movies were cheap feature films of around one-hour long which were shown along with ‘first’ features as part of cinema double-bill programmes. But by 1963, British film companies had ceased production of second features for a number of reasons: they were no longer commercially viable due to rising production costs, their quality was much maligned at a time when American companies were producing higher budget, glossier fare, and by the early 1960s television was producing the kinds of low-budget crime dramas favoured by ‘B’ movie producers. However, the passing of the ‘B’ movie was mourned by some, who had seen it as a potential training ground for talent in an indigenous industry which offered few routes in for film-makers. Some cinema exhibitors also worried about how the decline of the ‘B’s would affect the staple cinema double bill. This article will examine the events which led to the decline of the British ‘B’ movie in the early 1960s, arguing that the demise of this production mode can shed light on the structure of the British film industry in the 1960s, as well as highlighting some of the challenges which faced film producers throughout the decade. In Britain, the early 1960s saw a sharp decline in the p
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 The Author |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Theatre, Film, TV and Interactive Media (York) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number AHRC AH/L014793/1 |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 09 Sep 2016 09:11 |
Last Modified: | 25 Nov 2024 00:28 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2016.1220765 |
Status: | Published online |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/01439685.2016.1220765 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:104552 |
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Description: Whatever happened to the British B movie Micro budget film making and the death of the one hour supporting feature in the early 1960s
Licence: CC-BY 2.5