"Death on the Cheap - The Lost B Movies of Film Noir" by Arthur Lyons

"Death on the Cheap - The Lost B Movies of Film Noir" by Arthur Lyons's icon

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"Robert Mitchum once commented to Arthur Lyons about his movies of the 1940s and 1950s: "Hell, we didn't know what film noir was in those days. We were just making movies. Cary Grant and all the big stars at RKO got all the lights. We lit our sets with cigarette butts." Film noir was made to order for the "B," or low-budget, part of the movie double bill. It was cheaper to produce because it made do with less lighting, smaller casts, limited sets, and compact story lines—about con men, killers, cigarette girls, crooked cops, down-and-out boxers, and calculating, scheming, very deadly women. In Death on the Cheap, Arthur Lyons entertainingly looks at the history of the B movie and how it led to the genre that would come to be called noir, a genre that decades later would be transformed in such "neo-noir" films as Pulp Fiction, Fargo, and L.A. Confidential. The book, loaded with movie stills, also features a witty and informative filmography (including video sources) of B films that have largely been ignored or neglected—“lost" to the general public but now restored to their rightful place in movie history thanks to Death on the Cheap."

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  1. 143 new

    Impact

    1949, in 1 top list Check
  2. 316 new

    Kiss Me Deadly

    1955, in 20 top lists Check
  3. 125 new

    Ruthless

    1948, in 1 top list Check
  4. 322 new

    The Phenix City Story

    1955, in 6 top lists Check
  5. 237 new

    Kansas City Confidential

    1952, in 3 top lists Check
  6. 158 new

    Too Late for Tears

    1949, in 1 top list Check
  7. 329 new

    Yield to the Night

    1956 — a.k.a. Blonde Sinner, in 1 top list Check
  8. 236 new

    Hoodlum Empire

    1952, in 1 top list Check
  9. 101 new

    Whispering City

    1947, in 1 top list Check
  10. 309 new

    Female on the Beach

    1955, in 1 top list Check
  11. 80 new

    The Flame

    1947, in 1 top list Check
  12. 147 new

    Manhandled

    1949, in 1 top list Check
  13. 141 new

    Obsession

    1949 — a.k.a. The Hidden Room, in 2 top lists Check
  14. 392 new

    Odds Against Tomorrow

    1959, in 3 top lists Check
  15. 384 new

    The Beat Generation

    1959, in 1 top list Check
  16. 323 new

    Queen Bee

    1955, in 1 top list Check
  17. 155 new

    Tension

    1949, in 1 top list Check
  18. 134 new

    Border Incident

    1949, in 2 top lists Check
  19. 287 new

    The Long Wait

    1954, in 1 top list Check
  20. 9 new

    Moontide

    1942, in 1 top list Check
  21. 185 new

    Scene of the Crime

    1949, in 1 top list Check
  22. 156 new

    Thieves' Highway

    1949, in 5 top lists Check
  23. 374 new

    The Unholy Wife

    1957, in 1 top list Check
  24. 375 new

    Wicked as They Come

    1956 — a.k.a. Portrait in Smoke, in 1 top list Check
  25. 85 new

    I Love Trouble

    1948, in 1 top list Check
  26. 317 new

    Mr. Arkadin

    1955 — a.k.a. Confidential Report, in 7 top lists Check
  27. 220 new

    The Raging Tide

    1951, in 1 top list Check
  28. 222 new

    The Scarf

    1951, in 1 top list Check
  29. 371 new

    The Tattered Dress

    1957, in 1 top list Check
  30. 73 new

    Born to Kill

    1947, in 2 top lists Check
  31. 354 new

    The Brothers Rico

    1957, in 1 top list Check
  32. 219 new

    The Prowler

    1951, in 4 top lists Check
  33. 129 new

    T-Men

    1947, in 4 top lists Check
  34. 163 new

    Woman in Hiding

    1950, in 1 top list Check
  35. 233 new

    The Captive City

    1952, in 1 top list Check
  36. 168 new

    The Capture

    1950, in 1 top list Check
  37. 136 new

    City Across the River

    1949, in 1 top list Check
  38. 169 new

    Convicted

    1950, in 1 top list Check
  39. 332 new

    Crime in the Streets

    1956, in 1 top list Check
  40. 173 new

    Guilty Bystander

    1950, in 1 top list Check
  41. 7 new

    Ladies in Retirement

    1941, in 1 top list Check
  42. 223 new

    The Second Woman

    1950 — a.k.a. Ellen, in 1 top list Check
  43. 193 new

    The Sound of Fury

    1950, in 2 top lists Check
  44. 195 new

    The Underworld Story

    1950, in 1 top list Check
  45. 231 new

    Another Man's Poison

    1951, in 1 top list Check
  46. 355 new

    The Burglar

    1957, in 2 top lists Check
  47. 254 new

    City That Never Sleeps

    1953, in 1 top list Check
  48. 334 new

    Confession

    1955, in 1 top list Check
  49. 138 new

    The Crooked Way

    1949, in 1 top list Check
  50. 283 new

    Hell's Half Acre

    1954, in 1 top list Check
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Last updated on Aug 6, 2014; source