I've been watching B movies

I've been watching a lot of B movies lately through the magic of Roku. They're public domain now and freely available. And they're not terrible.

They really did use "American shots", as the French called them. Actually, the French called them "plan américain". They're medium long shots used in old Hollywood B movies where a few actors are arranged, standing in such a way that the camera can see all of them. It was unnatural, but a conversation between them could be filmed in a single shot.

No, the movies aren't great. Some of the Westerns are more interesting since they get out of the studio and out into the open, and I watched some that would be considered shockingly violent today. In one, outlaws murder the parents of two boys in front of them. One of them walks off into the desert laughing maniacally. Years later, the brother comes back and murders the men who did it.

In another scene, a child staggers into a ranch and collapses. The rancher carries him inside then goes and gets into a gun fight with the kid's abusive father.

But the violence in these movies isn't that interesting. It would be better if they'd just kill each other instead of shooting the guns out of each other's hands.