Here is another large-format book that not only provides essential information for classic movie fans, but also represents wonderful value for the less-than-ten-dollars cover price. So what does a Hollywood film fan get for only $9.62? 162 large-format pages, covering in detail a large selection of "B" movies from "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" to "Zombies on Broadway". All films carry complete cast and camera credits, release information and background details, as well as comprehensive reviews.

everyone who enjoys vintage Hollywood pictures.

the 36 illustrations, many of them full page, from movies like "Dead Reckoning", "The Blue Dahlia", "Block-Heads", "Young Man with a Horn", "Personal Affair", "Moby Dick", "The Outlaw", "Guest Wife" and "I Cover the Waterfront".

thank the author for suggesting so much entertainment that I can add to my DVD library.

glad to be alive when most of these films are available to buy on DVD.

is thorough. He obviously knows his classic Hollywood movies and can tell you both the strong points and sometimes the weak strands in every picture he details and discusses.

it is both well-written and highly informative.

The following review by editor, Ross Adams, appeared in the February 2009 issue of "Dress Circle" magazine:

Discuss movies with today’s generation of 18 to 30 year olds and mention stars like Jane Russell, Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, even Burt Lancaster and John Wayne, and they will look at you as if you’ve spoken a foreign language. Were it not for writers like John Howard Reid, the movie greats would disappear, forgotten icons of a golden era. John himself has become an icon, although he would probably be embarrassed by the label. Over many years, he has recorded for posterity thousands and thousands of films and their stars, from the silent era to recent times. Unlike some reviewers who only record the boxoffice spectaculars, John has reviewed the good, the bad and the ugly!

"B" Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies should appeal to all tastes in film and reading. The reviews cover such stars as Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Boris Karloff, Tom Neal, Dennis O’Keefe, Rossano Brazzi, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, Veronica Lake, Carole Landis, Mary Astor, ZaSu Pitts, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Russell, Glynis Johns and Virginia Mayo.

Some of the movies reviewed are as diverse as the actors: Humphrey Bogart and Lizabeth Scott get together in "Dead Reckoning"; Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche in "Guest Wife"; Glynis Johns, Leo Genn and Gene Tierney in "Personal Affair"; Charlton Heston meets Fred MacMurray in "The Far Horizons"; Tom Conway tangles with Harriet Hilliard in "The Falcon Strikes Back"; amateur detectives Franchot Tone and Ann Sothern escape from a heat wave in New York to judge a beauty contest in "Seaside City" in Busby Berkeley’s little masterpiece, "Fast and Furious"; John Barrymore has a grand time as both "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"; Edward G. Robinson walks away with "The Widow from Chicago"; Buster Keaton tries his hand as "Sherlock Junior"; Alan Ladd plays a Raymond Chandler hero in "The Blue Dahlia"; Jimmy Cagney impersonates "Jimmy the Gent", assisted by Bette Davis; Philo Vance (William Powell) investigates "The Kennel Murder Case". And for good measure, Tarzan swings again from tree to tree in "Tarzan and the She-Devil".

Featured on the color covers are George Montgomery and Nancy Guild in Raymond Chandler’s "The Brasher Doubloon", and John Wayne in "Three Texas Steers". Inside are many reproductions of vintage posters and lobby cards.

John Howard Reid doesn’t disappoint with detailed information. Production staff and full cast lists, plus running times, synopses, and release dates are supplied for each movie.

With such a wealth of information, no serious movie buff or film enthusiast or DVD collector should be without John Howard Reid’s books. They are essential reading and reference tools.

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Created Nov 08, 2008 at 2:59am • Submit your own review...