Regular marked price: $35.00Discount Price: $31.50
Cost Savings: $3.50 (10%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 791
EAN num: 9780786407989
ISBN number: 0786407980
Label: McFarland & Company
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 392
Printing Date: 1999-11
Publishing house: McFarland & Company
Sale Popularity Level: 233180
Studio: McFarland & Company
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Poverty row horror films were usually inexpensively (some would say cheaply) produced with writing that ranged from bad to atrocious. Yet these movies with their all-star horror casts (Carradine, Lugosi, Karloff, et al.) and their ape men, mad monsters, devil bats and white zombies still have a loyal audience 50 years after their release.
Essays contain full filmographic data on the 31 horror chillers made by the three studios from 1940 through 1946 and are arranged by year of release. Each entry includes the date of release, length, production credits, cast credits, interview quotes, and a plot synopsis with critical commentary. Filmographies for prominent horror actors and actresses, from John Abbott to George Zucco, are provided in the appendices.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
First, it should be noted that this book is, if nothing else, an excellent reference source for Poverty Row Horror. I have used it many, many times for its index, filmography, and its essays. It is one of the few books to cover this neglected genre, and the author is very knowledgeable and writes well. It deserves at least the 3 stars I have given it for these reasons alone. On a more generous day, I might have given it 4. Yet, I cannot deny that this book was a let-down. Here's way:
I was excited about this book. I love the work of the Poverty Row studios and was looking forward to a celebration of these films, but any expectation of celebration proved to be a mistake.
I find the films and serials turned out by studios like Monogram, Republic, PRC, and Grand National endlessly fascinating and entertaining, so I imagined this book would be written by someone who, at the very least, appreciated the spirit of cinema done on a shoe-string budget. The author of this work, though, only demonstrates a snide contempt for the genre. His essays, without exception, have an odd, sniffy bitterness to them and a tiresome pomposity, reading like the homework of a film student forced to write on a hated topic.
I could site endless examples of the mean spirit that permeates this book like a sulfur smell. Under Weaver's pen, The Corpse Vanishes (1942, Monogram) is "a mess." Strangler in the Swamp (1945, PRC) is "dull and silly." Bluebeard (1944, PRC) is "nothing special" and "an overrated disappointment." In fact, every single essay goes to great pains to describe the minute flaws in the production. I think the most insipid example is when Mr. Weaver, in a tone of sarcastic superiority, points out that the ferry in Strangler in the Swamp is really being pulled across a stage on wheels; that is, it is not a real ferry in a real swamp. Congratulations, Mr. Weaver! Good eye. Thanks for pointing that out. These stupid filmmakers really should have taken the production on location.
Again and again, Mr. Weaver takes pains to tell his readers that some of this trash might have actually made for a good movie, if it had been done by a real studio. For example, in a typical overheated hissy fit, the author writes of Edgar G. Ulmer's amazing Bluebeard: "Production of Bluebeard may have been prompted by the huge box office sucess of 20th Century-Fox's Jack the Ripper film The Lodger . . . Comparisons between the two are almost odious . . . Bluebeard looks like a photographed college stage show . . . Bluebeard simply isn't in The Lodger's league, or even close." About Strangler in the Swamp, Weaver brilliantly observes that it would have had potential "if it had been made by a major studio." The author says this with a straight face, not even appreciating his own irony. Why in the world would an author, writing a book on Poverty Row films, point out over and over how much better the films would have been under the banner of a major studio? He wouldn't, of course, if he had any sense or feel for the material at all.
In the introduction to this book, Weaver openly wonders what the appeal might be in these threadbare films. Could it be their camp value? Perhaps it's their "unintended humor" or the thrill of watching once-great actors on the skids? What the devil is it? Mr. Weaver seems stupefied and even writes" "almost without exception, the Poverty Row horror films of the 1930's were a dreary and antiquated lot."
If a may explain:
I imagine that a good movie is a very, very difficult thing to make. It must be like hoping the stars align on the eve of battle - the right combination of actors and director, the appropriate writer for the material, a fitting musical score, and a good cameraman whispering in the director's ear at just the right moment - in short - it is alchemy. This alchemy is easier, however, if you have a lot of money as opposed to very little money.
When you have little money, you can not attract any of the top tier ingredients; thus, when a good film appears, or even a good moment in a film (or even a good line), it's worth a genuine thrill. For fans of these films, it's like discovering a vein of gold in an abandoned tin mine; a vein no one seems to appreciate but you.
If you want to read about these nearly lost films, written by an author who actually likes this budget filmmaking, try Death on the Cheap, The Lost B Movies of Film Noir by Arthur Lyons. Critical at times, yes, but never done gleefully (as in this work) and always with respect and obvious care.
As mentioned, however, the work does contain a very good index and filmography, which I have refered to several times as a reference. So little is written on the films of Poverty Row, any endeavor is welcome and appreciated, even one as loveless as this. --Mykal Banta
Rated by buyers 
-
Poverty Row films make today's direct-to-video films look like "A" features. Shot on the tiniest of budgets and often completed in a matter of a few weeks, these films were the bottom of the barrel in 1940's Hollywood and yet somehow many have survived to considered cult classics in the horror genre, This is largely due to the stars of these cut-rate cheapies such as Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, George Zucco, and others.
Tom Weaver, perhaps the foremost expert on these films is the man behind this fantastic book detailing all 31 poverty row horrors produced by Republic, Monogram, and PRC studios. The 31 films are listed in order of release date beginning with "Boys of the City" in 1940 and ending with "Spookbusters" in 1946, both East Side Kids/Bowery Boys films. For each film Weaver provides complete cast and credits, run time, release date, and a lengthy plot synopsis. Weaver gives his expert analysis of each film as well as informative anecdotes. Snippets from reviews of the day are also included.
Among the films featured are: "The Ape", Boris Karloff's only true poverty row film shot in just one week. This gem must be seen to be believed. One can only imagine how the distinguished and proper Karloff must have felt parading around inside a gorilla suit.
Of course the king of poverty row was Karloff's rival Bela Lugosi. Lugosi did nine of these low-budget offerings including "The Devil Bat", "Invisible Ghost", "Black Dragons", "The Ape Man" and "The Corpse Vanishes". One can only feel for Lugosi who needed the work and always gave his fullest in every performance no matter how ridiculous the script was. In an appendix, Weaver along with other luminaries such as Forrest Ackerman, Joe Dante, and Gary Svehla of Midnight Marquee magazine rate all of Lugosi's poverty row films and give their opinions on his best...and worst!
One of my favorite films that Weaver covers is "King of the Zombies" which was intended to star Lugosi as the evil Nazi doctor but he was already committed to another film. Great grey character actor, wide-eyed Mantan Moreland steals the show hands down and deservedly, is the only one in the cast who gets good mention for his comedic performance.
Other films in the book are George Zucco vehicles "Fog Island", "Dead Men Walk" and the "Mad Monster". The book also spotlights some of the truly little known poverty row horrors: "Strangler of the Swamp", "The Face of Marble", `The Girl who Dared" and more.
Weaver brings his vast knowledge and intelligent writing to this book. He never fails to surprise me with interesting notes about films and their stars.
Reviewed by Tim Janson
Rated by buyers -
Great film reviews and data about these low budget horror films. Good writing, detailed plot summaries and detailed facts. These movies often had far out plots and bad acting, but Mr. Weaver gives them credit where due (original monsters, better than usual direction, or original premises). He also tells of the dizzying heights of absudity they reach . Really good write-ups and highly recommended.
Rated by buyers -
Tom Weaver does good horror history. Fifty years hence, anyone doing a history of the Horror Film will find himself resorting agan and again to the ouvre of Thomas Weaver. Besides his numerous and valuable Interview books as well as his groundbreaking work in UNIVERSAL HORRORS, Weaver has undertaken an important task in writing about the Poverty Row Horror films produced by Republic, Monogram and PRC. As usual for Weaver, the book is methodical and well written. While also an entertaining and informative read, the book will probably be the definitive research tool for the films covered and the studios discussed for the foreseeable future. As "poverty row" productions, there was some danger of these films "falling through the cracks" and vanishing into the mists of time but, through the auspices of Weaver, the films have not merely been saved but canonized. And, with Weaver, one knows that POVERTY ROW HORRORS is accurate. An excellent book with the only flaws being the brevity that Weaver handles such important films like NABONGA and WHITE PONGO.
Rated by buyers -
That this book should be out of print is a travesty. Synposis of 31 "horror" films from PRC, Monogram and Republic are mixed with behind the scenes info, anectdotes and factoids that make this a true necessity for the low budget 40's horror fan. Additional appendices provide info on music, filmographies, "borderline" films and "experts" ranking of the major Monogram entries.
Find other books like this one:
