40's pulp roots....

The one movie in the series that stands out as a pulp 40's movie is ANH. It really reminds me of old B-movies like Prince of Space. I'm not saying I didn't like ANH, but it IS my least favorite entry in the series.

BTW, what, exactly, is a B movie?

 

A New Hope is a lot like an old pulp, but the Prequels are even more pulp-influenced, IMO. A New Hope is actually my favorite Star Wars movie of all, followed now by AOTC.

As for a B movie, it refers to a "B-Grade" movie. I'm not sure how official the term is, but it is normally used to describe the film equivalent of a pulp. "B" movies are seen as second-rate, and would not have been shown in prestigious theatres. Most horror films (or horror films pretending to be sci-fi) of the 1940's and '50's might be labelled as "B" Grade.

-JDR.

 

The review for AOTC in the New Yorker magazine hit the nail on the head. I can't find a link to that article now, but the reviewer remarked that Lucas isn't so much parodying 40s-era B-movies as he is re-doing them in a grand style. This strikes me as pretty cool: to appropriate a genre which is generally regarded to be second-rate and then elevate its aesthetic vocabulary for telling your own story.

While I agree that Lucas really explored this idea first in ANH, I would have to say that the idea really takes flight in eps. 1 and 2. They seem more "true" to the pulp style -- the leering sideways glances of Palpatine, for example, or Padmé's galactic sex-kitten outfit on Geonosis.

 

Actually, the term "b movie" refers to when films were paired together as a double feature, which was commonplace up through the sixties. two movies for the admission price of one! the 'a' picture was tha main feature, the "b" was what played after it. the b film would often be a lower quality (cheaper) production.

 

Gothman,

That was a very good definition of a 'B' film, and makes sense. I've often wondered why a letter is used there.

 

gothman is on the right track. "B" films were the second half of a double feature. The major studios at the time would tag them onto a quality feature and only offer them to theatres if the theaters used block-booking. In other words, the studios would say something to the effect of, "You want to play Gone With the Wind at your theater? Fine, but only if you buy it as part of a double feature." And that's where B films came into play. They were the second half of the double feature and the studios made easy cash off of them because they were low budget films made for a quick buck.

IIRC it was the Paramount Decision in 1948 that made the studios clean up their act and this was one of the provisions. If you want to get technical, no current films can properly be called B films anymore. They can be like the old B films in terms of quality or likeness, but not true B films.

SW is like a trumped up version of a B film. It certainly isn't low budget. I'll leave you with a cool poster. Kudos to whoever made this.

Edit: clarification

 

Yes....
That link, you will follow...
What I like is what I see....