The emergence of the double-bill in the 1930s created a divide between A-pictures and B-pictures as theaters typically screened packages featuring one of each. With the former considered more prestigious because of their larger budgets and more popular actors, the lower-budgeted Bs served largely as a support mechanism to A-films of the major studios—most of which also owned the theater chains in which movies were shown. When a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court antitrust ruling severed ownership of theaters from the studios, the B-movie soon became a different entity in the wake of profound changes to the corporate organization and production methods of the major Hollywood studios. In The Battle for the Bs, Blair Davis analyzes how B-films were produced, distributed, and exhibited in the 1950s and demonstrates the possibilities that existed for low-budget filmmaking at a time when many in Hollywood had abandoned the Bs. Made by newly formed independent companies, 1950s B-movies took advantage of changing demographic patterns to fashion innovative marketing approaches. They established such genre cycles as science fiction and teen-oriented films (think Destination Moon and I Was a Teenage Werewolf) well before the major studios and also contributed to the emergence of the movement now known as underground cinema. Although frequently proving to be multimillion-dollar box-office draws by the end of the decade, the Bs existed in opposition to the cinematic mainstream in the 1950s and created a legacy that was passed on to independent filmmakers in the decades to come.

THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS--WHERE DANGER REIGNED SUPREME AND DEATH WAS A CONSTANT COMPANION The fighting was fierce in the Central Highlands where Green Beret George Dooley served with elite Special Forces A-teams, training the rugged Montagnards in guerrilla warfare and accompanying them on patrols. The Viet Cong and NVA were entrenched in the sparsely populated Highlands, where towering mountains gave them the ruthless upper hand. The missions Dooley led, often in enemy territory, provided a steady diet of sniping, ambushes, booby traps, and mines. As the war escalated, Dooley commanded his own A-team, and the battles against the large numbers of crack NVA troops became even more desperate and deadly. By then military command routinely assigned anything-but-routine missions to Special Forces and expected them to meet their objectives. BATTLE FOR THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS details the unbelievable valor of these legendary American warriors. . . .

"This book provides a vivid and powerful narrative of three connected battles in dense Georgia woods in the last week of May 1864. Neither side derived any tactical advantage from the fighting in this 'hell hole, ' as the soldiers described it, yet the final result was another Confederate retreat toward Atlanta in Sherman's seemingly inexorable advance toward that city." -James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom When Union general William T. Sherman marched toward Atlanta in 1864, he found himself face to face with Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, entangled in an untamed wilderness that came to be known as the Hell Hole. During the week-long ordeal of virtually continuous fighting at New Hope Church and nearby Pickett's Mill and Dallas, a new era of trench warfare was introduced and Sherman's and Johnston's strategies for the remainder of the Atlanta Campaign were forged. In this examination of a series of actions in Paulding County, Georgia, maps pinpoint battle locations while photographs capture the sites of conflict and portray the brave men who served on both sides of the War Between the States.

Can One Great Presentation Make You Rich? The answer is YES. Packed with battle-tested strategies and formulas to craft audience-retaining powerful presentations, this No B.S. guide is designed to turn any ordinary business into an extraordinary sell. Millionaire maker Dan S. Kennedy and public speaking expert Dustin Mathews teach you their blueprint for creating life-changing presentations and prove that your success is not just determined by what you're presenting—but also why you're presenting, how you're presenting it, and who you're presenting to. Kennedy and Mathews cover: The 12-Step Speaker's Formula A Blueprint for Creating Irresistible Offers The 4 Secrets of Mass Persuasion The 7-Minute Rule of Audience Engagement How to Automate Your Webinars and Your Profits How to Double Your Sales with a Multimedia Follow-up System Discover the battle-tested, carefully-crafted, revenue-generating tools to creating, delivering, and marketing presentations that can change everything.