A "B" movie, according to industry lore, is a movie in which the sets shake when an actor slams the door. Although it has come to mean any low-budget feature that appeals to the broadest possible audience, the term "B" movies was first applied to movies of the 1930s and 1940s that were made quickly, cheaply, in black-and-white, usually without notable stars, and usually with a running time between 60 and 80 minutes, in order to fill out the second half of a double feature. During the Great Depression, the movie business was one of the few businesses earning profits, and many distributors competed for the patronage of increasingly frugal moviegoers by offering them more for their money: two films for the price of one, plus cartoons, a newsreel, and several trailers. The practice began in 1932, and by the end of 1935, 85 percent of the...