Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup

by Tom Weaver

For fans of SF and horror films, will there ever be a decade to compare with the 1950s? Actors, directors, producers, and crews prevailed over microbudgets and four-day shooting schedules to create enduring films. This book turns a long-overdue spotlight on many who made memorable contributions to that crowded, exhilarating filmmaking scene. John Agar, Beverly Garland, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Gene Corman, and two dozen more reminisce about the most popular genre titles of the era. Lengthy, in-depth interviews feature canny questions, pointed observations, rare photos, and good fun.

Genres: Film, Science Fiction

425 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1988

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review forthcoming!

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s something about low-budget science fiction movies from the fifties and sixties that just makes them so charming. It doesn’t matter how cheaply they were made, how threadbare their plots, wooden the acting, or nonexistent the science in their premises. There’s just an indefinable atmosphere of magic, and innocence in them. Most nights, given the choice between seeing a new, three-hundred and fifty-million dollar blockbuster and some seldom-seen, grainy monster movie, I’ll go with the latter every time.
Tom Weaver’s Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers is a book that understands the timeless appeal these movies have. It’s also a work by someone who understands that most of the people involved with the production weren’t talentless, but rather hamstrung by inconceivable constraints. Give Orson Welles seven days and fifty thousand dollars and there’s a limit to what even he could have done.
The author conducts interviews with everyone involved in the moviemaking process, from makeup men to scream queens and producers. Weaver’s about as film-literate and astute a fan as one could wish, and while he’s always respectful, he will sometimes offer a contentious opinion, or ask a hard question. His interview subjects, however, react almost universally with graciousness, wisdom, and a little bit of wonderment at how the schlock they made has now become timeless and meaningful.
It's also worth pointing out that there is quite a difference between a “cheesy” film and a bad one, and that a handful of these pictures are actually great. Edward G. Ulmer’s The Man From Planet X, for instance, like Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls, truly transcended its limitations to touch the soul.
One the book’s great joys is in finding the way that memory has sometimes warped and other times sharpened the recollections of the interview subjects. It’s a bit of a b-movie Rashomon, with some claiming a certain actor was impossible to work with, while others claim the same actor was a joy. There are even disputes about who did and didn’t get credit, who came up with which idea, and so on. The only common denominator in every testimony is that everyone claims that Boris Karloff and Vincent price were absolute joys to work with. And despite their already being established legends at the time, they showed no ego on set, and extended every professional courtesy they could to their collaborators.
This one’s essential for fans of films from this period, only sixty or seventy years in the rearview but a million miles away, culturally, from where film and society as a whole are now. Highest recommendation, with lots of photos, one-sheets, movie ephemera and lobby cards spread throughout the book just to sweeten the pot.

[LexIconDevil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mostly lighthearted collection of interviews with a lot of people who helped make would-be MST3K fodder from the 50s and 60s. It's great to see that these people (at least) enjoyed the work in general. The author does occasional nudge people into argumentative zones, by saying things like "Such-n-such said he actually did all the writing and directing on this picture". This leads to some hurt feelings and miffed responses, which either adds or subtracts from the book, depending on your point of view. A few photos and posters from the era help round out the collection nicely.