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Books About B Movies

Bad Movies | Film Noir | Movie Guides | Obituaries | Beefcake | Cheesecake | Tarzan | Horror and Sci-Fi | B Movie Actors | Gossip and Scandal | Mystery Science Theater 3000

books about bad movies

A funny book that lets you know that you are not alone when you are watching a late night film and find yourself screaming at the women in the nightgown on the screen "Are you nuts?!? Don't go down in that basement!" With inside stories, fun illustations by Dave Gatzmer, and a wild forward by Joe Bob Briggs, the B-Movie Survival Guide is a real laugh.

film noir

Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir by Eddie Muller
This book is film historian Eddie Muller's portrait of six great noir femme fatales: Jane Greer, Marie Windsor, Ann Savage, Evelyn Keyes, Audrey Totter, and Coleen Gray. Each actress is interviewed.

Death on the Cheap: The Lost B Movies of Film Noir by Arthur Lyons
The 'B' examples of film noir, with a few notable exceptions, have largely been ignored. This book helps rediscover the 'B' films, the second features that helped keep movie theaters full in the 1940s and 1950s. Produced on tiny budgets with lesser-known actors, these films nonetheless were effective thrillers. Republic was famous for its low-budget films and serials, as was Monogram, but even the major studios had B units. In addition to an overview and chronological history of B films noir, Death on the Cheap has a comprehensive filmography with title, date, studio, running time, alternate titles, credits, plot outline, and critique for each film. There is also a chronology of every B noir film from 1939 through 1959.

Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir by Eddie Muller
Film noir fans will have plenty to enjoy when they read Dark City. Beautifully illustrated with rare photos, this book explores the history of film noir and provides biographies of its biggest stars, including Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, and Richard Widmark.

The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the Classic Era of Film Noir by Eddie Muller
Muller's text is wonderfully illustrated with the gorgeous artwork done for film noir film posters of the 1940s and 1950s.

Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959 by Michael F. Keaney
More than 700 examples of film noir (from 1940 to 1959) are presented in this reference book, including The Accused, The Asphalt Jungle, Baby Face Nelson, The Beat Generation, The Naked City, Strangers on a Train, and more. For each film, the following information is provided: the title, release date, main performers, screenwriter(s), director(s), type of noir, thematic content, a rating based on the five-star system, and a plot synopsis that does not reveal the ending.

movie guides

Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever 2003: The Complete Guide to Movies on Videocassette and DVD by Jim Craddock
For years the movie buff's Bible, Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever provides the most information in one book, all related to movies available for the home video market. This book provides an overview of the plot, cast, and film makers, categories, awards, actor's film bios, and movie web sites.

The Psychotronic Video Guide to Film by Michael J. Weldon
Michael Weldon is the true B-movie guru; his newest guide encompasses more than 3,000 "psychotronic" films, including horror/sci-fi, exploitation, westerns, and more. Includes photos.

Leonard Maltin's 2003 Movie and Video Guide by Leonard Maltin (editor)
Maltin's huge home reference guide continues for the new year. This new edition adds hundreds of newly released VHS, DVD, and laserdiscs for a total nearing 20,000 entries on films. I do not necessarily agree with all his film reviews; however, when Maltin refers to the current film output as "a time of creative bankruptcy in Hollywood," I wholeheartedly support his assertion.

American Film Institute Desk Reference: The Complete Guide to Everything You Need to Know about the Movies by Melinda Corey and George Ochoa
The American Film Institute Desk Reference is the most comprehensive reference book on filmmaking ever published. Providing detailed information on the world of film, its history and its personalities, this single volume is loaded with enough facts and trivia to satisfy any movie buff. Highlighting filmmakers and costume designers, financiers and actors, this complete guide is packed with more than 500 photographs and illustrations, a year by year chronology of film, and many special annotated lists, including the AFI's celebrated list of the 100 Best Films of the Past 100 Years.

Video and DVD Guide 2003 by Mick Martin and Marsha Porter
This bestselling, fact-packed guide steers you toward the winners and warns you about the losers. Video & DVD Guide 2003 covers it all: films, serials, B-Westerns, made-for-TV movies, old television programs, and more. Each entry, alphabetized for easy access, includes a summary, fresh commentary, the director, major cast members, the year of release, and the MPAA rating, plus a rating from five stars to turkey. Includes new DVD listings, director and star indices, Academy Award listings, and video sources.


Bold! Daring! Shocking! True: A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959 by Eric Schaefer
Eric Schaefer's history of exploitation films encompasses those films that employed nudity, crime, and drug use in the name of civic-mindedness and education. Includes numerous photos.


Creature Features: The Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Movie Guide by John Stanley
This is John Stanley's newly updated guide to horror and science fiction films and is a must-have for fans of the genre. Includes reviews of both low-budget and big-budget horror films, from the well-known to the obscure.

obituaries

The Hollywood Book of Death: The Bizarre, Often Sordid, Passings of More than 125 American Movie and TV Idols by by James Robert Parish
The death of a celebrity is often as fascinating as a star's actual life. From the murders of Sharon Tate and Bob Crane to the peaceful deaths of Lucille Ball and George Burns, The Hollywood Book of Death is a captivating volume of more than 125 television and movie stars' final curtain calls. Arranged in an encyclopedic approach by manner of death, these accounts include details of celebrities' colorful lives and unusual deaths, their funerals, and the intriguing aftermath. With more than 100 rare photographs and a special "necrology" index of more than 6,000 stars and directors, along with a section revealing where Hollywood personalities are resting in eternal sleep, this enthralling reference promises to be on every film and television buff's "Top 10" gift list.

Hollywood Haunted: A Ghostly Tour of Filmland by Laurie Jacobson and Mark Wanamaker
This book exposes the legends of hauntings and haunted places in Hollywood. Haunting such locales are Bessie Love, Sharon Tate, Ozzie Nelson, Grace Moore, and others.

Hollywood Remains to Be Seen: A Guide to the Movie Stars' Final Homes by Mark J. Masek
Hollywood Remains to Be Seen is a fascinating, gossipy guide to the fourteen most significant Hollywood-era cemeteries and the final resting places of the movie stars who are buried in them. Arranged as easy-to-follow tours of the properties, the chapters---one for each cemetery---include histories of the cemeteries, directions for finding them, and a detailed listing of exactly where more than three hundred stars, and a detailed listing of exactly where more than three hundred stars are buried.

beefcake

Heartthrob by Donald F. Reuter
Devoted to hunky actors from the 1930 to today, Heartthrob features photos of Guy Madison, Robert Mitchum, Ty Hardin, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck, Robert Redford, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more.

Shirtless!: The Hollywood Male Physique by Donald F. Reuter
From the 1920s to the 1990s, many Hollywood hunks are represented, including George O'Brien, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Johnny Weismuller, Robert Mitchum, James Dean, Burt Lancaster, Sean Connery, and many more.

Retro Stud: Muscle Movie Posters from Around the World by David Chapman
David Chapman continues his string of hits with Retro Stud, a beautifully produced and illustrated survey of sword and sandal movie posters and graphics. From the 1914 film Cabiria starring Bartolomeo Pagano through the 1960s peplums with Steve Reeves, Reg Park, Samson Burke and others, Chapman's book is filled with gorgeous graphics from these muscle-bound epics.

cheesecake

Drive-In Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets of the Sixties by Tom Lisanti
Bikini-clad beauties ruled the roost in many 1960s B movies, including spy spoofs, hot rod movies and biker flicks. Tom Lisanti's Drive-In Dream Girls profiles 50 such actresses, including Quinn O’Hara, Melody Patterson, Hilarie Thompson, Donna Loren, Pat Priest, Meredith MacRae, Arlene Martel, Cynthia Pepper, and Beverly Washburn. Some (Sue Ane Langdon, Juliet Prowse, Marlyn Mason, Carole Wells) appeared in major studio productions while others (Regina Carrol, Susan Hart, Angelique Pettyjohn, Suzie Kaye) were relegated to drive-in movies only.

Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1963-1973 by Tom Lisanti and others
More than 100 actresses, all of whom had film and TV roles in the spy genre of the 1960s, are profiled here. Among the women included are Doris Day, Raquel Welch, Elke Sommer, Ursula Andress, and more.

Fantasy Femmes of 60's Cinema: Interviews With 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies by Tom Lisanti
The sexiest women from B movies of the 1960s!

Swingin' Chicks of the 60's by Chris Stodder
This is a tribute to the beautiful actresses of the 1960s, with photos and profiles of Annette Funicello, Ann-Margret, Diana Rigg, Patty Duke, Janis Joplin, Mia Farrow, Marianne Faithfull, Cher, Jane Fonda, Edie Sedgwick---nearly 100 in total, with more than 300 photos.


Bernard of Hollywood: The Ultimate Pin-Up Book edited by Susan Bernard
This book features the work of Bruno Bernard, famed pin-up and star photographer whose work was immortalized in the 1940s and 1950s. Paperback, 352 pages.

tarzan

Kings of the Jungle: An Illustrated Reference to Tarzan on Screen and Television, written by David Fury, Cast, production credits, chronicles every Tarzan film ever made. Includes release dates and running times for each of the Tarzan films. The plot synopses include the storyline, background information on the making of the film, and contemporary critical commentary. Also examined is Tarzan on television, from the TV movie Tarzan and the Trappers (1958) to the 1991 series. Heavily illustrated with many photos. Hardcover, 270 pages. Published April 2002.


Please Don't Call Me Tarzan: The Life Story of Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett, written by Mike Chapman, is the story of the fascinating life of Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett, from the lumber camps of Washington to the Olympic Games to the Hollywood scene of the 1930s, '40s, '50s and '60s. The book takes the reader through Brix's life and to Guatemala, where Brix struggled not only to become the screen's eighth Tarzan, but to stay alive in primitive conditions. The book also includes a foreword by Danton Burroughs, the grandson of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. More than 90 photos. 150 pages.


Johnny Weissmuller: Twice the Hero
David Fury's biography of Johnny Weissmuller spans his entire life and includes a number of rare photos. The book covers Weissmuller's life from his birth in Europe in 1904 to his death in 1984. Foreword by Johnny Sheffield. Many rare photos.


The Tarzan Novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs: An Illustrated Reader's Guide by David A. Ullery
This book serves as a literary guide to all the Tarzan novels and makes a very good addition to a Tarzan fan's library. This book serves as a literary guide to all the Tarzan novels. Section One is an overview of Tarzan the character; Section Two covers the mythical language used in the novels; Section Three enumerates the lost cities, civilizations, tribes, peoples and religions discovered by Tarzan; Section Four describes the characters found in the novels; and Section Five gives summaries of all 24 books that comprise the Burroughs canon. The book also includes over thirty illustrations from the series' various printings.

horror and science fiction

Eaten Alive!: Italian Cannibal and Zombie Moviesby Jay Slater
Eaten Alive! tells the story of the graphically gory movies created from the late 1970s through the early 1990s by Italian exploitation moviemakers. The author explains how the myth of the Haitian walking dead (zombies) merged with legends of third-world cannibalism to create such gruesome zombie cult films as Cannibal Holocaust.


The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia by Peter Dendle
The exhumation of zombie films from obscurity is accomplished in terrifying detail in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. The first exhaustive overview of the subject, this book evaluates over 200 movies from 16 countries over a 65-year period starting from the early 1930s. It mostly treats feature-length films, covering everything from large studio productions to backyard videography, but also touches on memorable episodes of television series and miscellaneous shorts.


Who Goes There?: 1950'S Horror and Sci-Fi Movie Posters and Lobby Cards edited by Bruce Hershenson
This book contains images from original posters and lobby cards from such cult classics as The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, among others.

b movie actors

Peekaboo: The Story of Veronica Lake by Jeff Lenburg
This book, now back in print, chronicles the life of Veronica Lake, from her early years and film career to her final days.


Hollywood Beauty: Linda Darnell and the American Dream by Ronald L. Davis
Linda Darnell died tragically in a house fire at age 41 in 1965. This book exposes her troubled life, with a look at her film career as well.


The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, With Filmographies for Each by Daniel Bubbeo
The author profiles the lives and careers of Warner Brothers' fifteen biggest female stars, including Joan Blondell, Nancy Coleman, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Glenda Farrell, Kay Francis, Ruby Keeler, Andrea King, Priscilla Lane, Joan Leslie, Ida Lupino, Eleanor Parker, Ann Sheridan, Alexis Smith, and Jane Wyman.

gossip and scandal

Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger
Here's the book that started it all, written by former child actor and (later) avant garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Hollywood Babylon contains many scandalous stories from Hollywood's past and is wonderfully illustrated with numerous photos. Originally published in France in 1959, Anger's American version hit the streets in 1975, after undergoing a revision and update. A classic of its kind!

Secrets of a Tabloid Reporter: My Twenty Years on the National Enquirer's Hollywood Beat by Barbara Sternig
Barbara Sternig relates her humorous adventures while on the Hollywood beat for the scandal rag The National Enquirer. This book is a well-written and entertaining look into how scandal sheets work and what their subjects, the stars, are really like.

mystery science theater 3000

Kevin Murphy's A Year at the Movies
Kevin Murphy set out to see a movie a day for the entire year of 2001. He snuck into Cannes, roamed Route 66 in search of drive-ins, visited a midnight sun film festival in Lapland, and lived for a week on nothing but concession-stand food. Few would argue with Murphy's harangues at shoddy theaters and dopey summer movies ("people watch them simply to be distracted and sort of entertained, and since I can do this watching a ceiling fan, I bristle at paying good money"). Paperback. 368 pages. Published 2002.

Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese
In Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese, Nelson tackles recent big-budget Hollywood films, with the same irreverent spirit he displayed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Paperback. 288 pages. Published 2000.

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide
Facts and tidbits about the making of each episode from seasons 1 through 7, including the rarely seen KTMA episodes. More than 120 synopses of the first 120+ episodes. Paperback. 173 pages. Published 1996.