The Nearly Good B-Pictures of the 1940s
Can there even be a thing like 'nearly good B-pictures'? At first I wasn't so sure either. But after years of watching B-movies, more often than not I stumbled across a B-picture which I wouldn't exactly consider to be a good (or even brillant) one. On the other hand it didn't reach the absolute bottoms of z-grade moviedom that connoisseurs of this kind of pictures are used to either. It was simply a movie which, in terms of B-pictures, was competently done, had all those ingredients we love so much in this kind of movies, yes, possibly it was even done bad for all the right reasons. But nevertheless, it didn't click with me, didn't offer that special something which makes B-pictures so enjoyable. What you can expect on this list are B-pictures which are not bad per se, they are more like near misses which can still offer plenty for the B-movie fan. Especially if you are a fan of a certain subgenre, actor or whatever. So have fun browsing through the nearly, but not quite, good B-pictures of the 1940s.
If you're up to it, don't hesitate to leave a comment.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
If you're up to it, don't hesitate to leave a comment.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
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- DirectorPhil RosenStarsKeye LukeLotus LongGrant WithersResearcher James Lee Wong is on the scene as archaeologist Dr. John Benton, recently returned from an expedition in China where a valuable ancient scroll was recovered, is murdered while giving a lecture on the expedition.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMarjorie ReynoldsGrant WithersWhen Captain Street's best friend Dan Grady is murdered, Street receives help from Chinese detective James Lee Wong and local newspaper reporter Bobbie Logan.
- DirectorNorman LeeStarsLeslie BanksLilli PalmerRomilly LungeA murder is found to be connected to a false heir and a secret underground torture chamber.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMarjorie ReynoldsGrant WithersMr. Wong and a girl reporter investigate a shipping magnate's murder.
- DirectorRalph StaubStarsJames NewillLouise StanleyDewey RobinsonSgt. Renfrew and Constable Kelly go aloft to search for a plane missing with a shipment of gold from the Yukon Mine Company. Inventor Speavy has devised a power ray which disrupts electrical impulses, and Morgan and his gang of crooks has brought in Prof. Lewis to increase the ray's range, telling him he's helping the government develop this new weapon. Speavy spills the beans to Prof. Lewis and his daughter Madeleine,and Morgan threatens to implicate them in his crimes unless they cooperate. Morgan kills Speavy when he tries to warn Renfrew, but when Madeleine stows away on board the doomed plane Renfrew is piloting, will the crooks be able to make Prof. Lewis use the power ray to bring the plane down?
- DirectorRalph StaubStarsJames NewillLouise StanleyWarren HullWhen the plane owned by the "Yukon and Columbia Mail Service" crashes, RCMP Sergeant Renfrew (James Newill) and Constable Kelly (Dave O'Brien) suspect murder. Their suspicions are confirmed when Renfrew finds the control stick has been jammed, forcing the plane to fly in one direction until the gas ran out. Mine owner Louise Howard (Louise Stanley) reports that her superintendent is missing. The Mounties find him murdered and that too has been made to look like an accident. A new mail service pilot, Bill Shipley (Warren Hull), arrives. He had gone to training school with Renfrew but had been cashiered for misconduct. The Mounties discover that Raymond (Karl Hackett), who had been working for Louise, really owns the flying line managed by Yuke Cardoe (William Pawley.) They find proof that all the gold from the mine isn't being turned over to Louise, and suspect that Raymond and Yuke are stealing the gold and shipping it to Seattle by plane. Renfrew sets a trap and Yuke and Raymond try to escape in their plane.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsLloyd NolanBarton MacLaneLola LaneA criminal uses his knowledge of the law for his not-very-legal purposes, betraying friends along the way.
- DirectorD. Ross LedermanStarsAnita LouiseRoger PryorFrances RobinsonAn undercover man (Roger Pryor) recruits an escort-service rookie (Anita Louise) to inform him of scams.
- DirectorGeorge KingStarsTod SlaughterSylvia MarriottHilary EavesA madman kills a man who has just inherited a large estate, then impersonates his victim to gain entrance to the estate so he can murder his enemies.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsWayne MorrisMargaret LindsayWilliam GarganA man's ex-wife is found murdered, and he finds himself to be the prime suspect.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsEdmund LoweMargaret LindsayElisabeth RisdonDetective Adam Farradene postpones his honeymoon with wife Janet to investigate a murder. Janet puts aside her frustration to lend a hand, despite Adam's insistence on working alone.
- DirectorRalph StaubStarsJames NewillDorothea KentGuy UsherThe Royal Mounties are called in when one of the armored cars owned by Maxwell, containing a gold shipment, disappears with driver George Hill suspected of trying to get away with the gold. Actually, Maxwell and two henchmen had poured acid on the brake lines, causing the car to crash. Genevieve, daughter of the Mountie chief, suspects Maxwell and Thomas Hatch, president of the bank shipping the gold, but she quickly becomes more trouble than help to Sergeant Renfrew in charge of the investigation. Renfrew and Constable Kelly drive the next shipment but Maxwell plans to make them crash the same way as Hill did. Renfrew steers the vehicle into a hillside and this gives him an idea of what happened to the other car. Diving into the nearby lake, Renfrew and Kelly discover the missing car and Hill's body, and also finds the gold shipment is a fake. When Renfrew goes to arrest Maxwell and his cronies, they all escape in an armored car. The air brakes fail and the whole gang meets the same fate as the murdered driver.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsRichard CromwellHelen VinsonRobert ArmstrongA man is framed for being a spy. After he is released, he sets out to find who the real spies are.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJ. Farrell MacDonaldWarren HullPolly Ann YoungA veteran firefighter is forced to retire at age 65 by the Fire Department.
- DirectorEugene FordeStarsLynn BariLloyd NolanJoan ValeriePoliceman (Nolan) flirts with waitress (Bari) and finds out her sister (Valerie) is involved with the robber (Fowley) he is trailing.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsFrank AlbertsonConstance MooreJerome CowanA young newspaper reporter finds himself framed for murder.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsLola LaneJames CraigEduardo CiannelliA beautiful young woman organizes an expedition to Africa to search for a sacred skull that is worshiped by the locals.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsRalph ByrdLorna GrayGeorge LynnOn his way to a post as special adviser of the new parachute troops of the French Foreign Legion in Morocco, Paul Dumont meets the beautiful Helene on the ship. A romance ensues, but the two decide to part when Paul learns that Helene is the fiancée of his best friend and fellow officer Raoul. Raoul is wounded during an Arab attack and the wedding is postponed, and Helene and Paul are thrown together and find it impossible to hide their feelings. They meet in the tent of Hassan, a fortune teller, not knowing the tent is a storage place for arms and ammunition belonging to Addullah, an Arab leader determined to avenge the death of his brother Ben Ali.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsDorothy LamourRobert PrestonLynne OvermanHaving been marooned on an isolated island as a child, Dea grows to adulthood without human contact, her only companion being the chimp "Koko." Years later, on a South Sea island, Skipper Joe, a former bookie who has traded chasing dark horses for the pursuit of black pearls, meets Johnny Potter, a former Navy man who has lived in a drunken stupor since being kicked out of the service. The skipper tries to convince Johnny to sign on as his navigator, but Johnny refuses to return to the sea. However, after a bar room brawl with the savage Kehi, Johnny is knocked unconscious and is shanghaied by Skipper aboard his rusty old submarine. The men are chased from the harbor by Kehi, who is furious because Mekaike, one of the skipper's men, has stolen his black pearl earrings. After running out of oil because Mekaike has forgotten to refuel the tank, they reach the island inhabited by Dea, where Johnny collapses on the beach in a drunken stupor. The skipper leaves his friend on the beach, where Dea and Koko find him and take him to their tree house to recover. When the skipper returns to the beach, he thinks that Johnny has been washed out to sea. As the skipper and his men build a boat to leave the island, Dea begs Johnny to stay, but fearing that he is doomed to die an early death from alcohol, he refuses. Finding his way back to the beach, Johnny arrives just as Mekaike leads a mutiny against the skipper. After tying Johnny and the skipper to a tree, the men steal the submarine, only to drown when they dive with the hatch open. Stranded, Johnny and the skipper continue building their boat until Kehi tracks them down and sets fire to the island. As the flames consume the foliage, a typhoon roars in from the sea and floods the island, leaving a lifeboat behind in its wake. Dea, Johnny, the skipper and Koko then board the little craft and sail off to civilization.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsVictor McLaglenJohn LoderAnne NagelStory of the early days of the diamond-mining era in South Africa.
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsRichard ArlenAndy DevineJohn EldredgeA secretary sends a coded plea for help in her monthly report; two detectives investigate and find out that men are jailed on phony charges, forced to work in oil fields and then murdered if they try to escape.
- DirectorCharles LamontStarsDonald WoodsKathryn AdamsWallace FordIn despair after breaking up with his girlfriend, a man hires a thug he has never seen to kill him. However, he changes his mind when he falls in love with another woman--but he can't stop the man trying to kill him because he doesn't know who he is.
- DirectorJohn RawlinsStarsRichard ArlenAndy DevineAstrid AllwynA shifty boxing promoter places an amateur in fixed fights, then hands his contract over to an suspicious female investigative reporter as a raffle prize. He later regrets his actions, however, when the boxer becomes an honest champion.
- DirectorRay TaylorStarsJohnny Mack BrownFuzzy KnightNell O'DayWhen Sam Osborne, owner of the Circle S Ranch, is killed by cattle rustler Bo Gillman, the outlaw is advised by crooked attorney Virgil Parker to report the "mysterious" killing to Osborne's daughter, Helen. Steve Logan, a stranger, is jailed for the crime. He escapes and learns of Parker's scheme to steal the Circle S. Steve presents his Cattleman's Protective Association credentials to the sheriff and receives assurances of aid. Steve's former sweetheart, Mary Curtis, confirms Parker's treachery. In a gun battle, Parker, Gillman and the rustlers are rounded up and the Circle S is saved for Helen. Steve and Mary take up their romance again.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesJulie BishopBill Hickok, assisted by Calamity Jane, is after a foreign agent and his guerrilla band who are trying to take over some Western territory just as the Civil War is coming to a close.