The Two Dollar Bills - Kings of the b-movies!
Most people have never heard of William H. Pine or William C. Thomas but these guys were the real deal back when real deals meant something. Affectionately known as the "Two Dollar Bills", this duo, if they didn't actually create the B-Movie category, certainly defined it and made it their own.
These guys lived it Hollywood Large in the forties and fifties, working a production deal out of Paramount they made over seventy films, with each directing several. They were the original "Indie Filmmakers" working the inside and looking out for number one. These are the guys who lived the myth of the seat of the pants producers who would rework a script around whatever sets were left over from an "A" picture. Got a leftover pirate ship?, let's turn that western script into a swashbuckler. That's how they rolled. Lean and mean.
Being the Kings of the B-Movie didn't mean they were making bad movies, it really meant they were making shorter movies. Most people aren't up to speed on the origin of the term B-Movie, it actually came from the exhibitor side of the industry and was a classification for a motion picture that ran around an hour in length and therefore was the second, or "B" movie in a double feature.
Pine-Thomas movies, for the most part, were very good. Well written stories orchestrated by highly competent directors overseeing casts that included up and comers getting their first big breaks before going on to achieve marquee status working along side industry veterans who had edged over to the downside of their careers yet still packed a punch or two in the talent department. And you would be amazed at just how much comedy, drama, action, and romance these Two Dollar Bills could pack into one hour. And they did it all on a shoestring budget.
So check out their movies, we've got around half of their films here - it'll be time well spent.
These guys lived it Hollywood Large in the forties and fifties, working a production deal out of Paramount they made over seventy films, with each directing several. They were the original "Indie Filmmakers" working the inside and looking out for number one. These are the guys who lived the myth of the seat of the pants producers who would rework a script around whatever sets were left over from an "A" picture. Got a leftover pirate ship?, let's turn that western script into a swashbuckler. That's how they rolled. Lean and mean.
Being the Kings of the B-Movie didn't mean they were making bad movies, it really meant they were making shorter movies. Most people aren't up to speed on the origin of the term B-Movie, it actually came from the exhibitor side of the industry and was a classification for a motion picture that ran around an hour in length and therefore was the second, or "B" movie in a double feature.
Pine-Thomas movies, for the most part, were very good. Well written stories orchestrated by highly competent directors overseeing casts that included up and comers getting their first big breaks before going on to achieve marquee status working along side industry veterans who had edged over to the downside of their careers yet still packed a punch or two in the talent department. And you would be amazed at just how much comedy, drama, action, and romance these Two Dollar Bills could pack into one hour. And they did it all on a shoestring budget.
So check out their movies, we've got around half of their films here - it'll be time well spent.