second feature

Japanese: second feature（英語表記）secondfeature

... As the novelty of early talkies faded and the prolonged recession following the Great Depression continued, the number of moviegoers in America dropped sharply in the 1930s. To address this, movie theaters began to hold events to attract customers, such as "dish night," where dishes were handed out as prizes to moviegoers, and "bank night," where lottery drawings were held. In 1932, the program of films to be shown was expanded from one to two, and so the "double bill" or "double feature" screenings began. The "B" picture is shown alongside the main "A" picture in a double feature, and is also called a "second feature" or "supporting feature" (the same as the Japanese word "supporting feature"). While a normal "feature" is over an hour and a half long, the "B" picture is around 55 to 75 minutes long. Each of the major Hollywood companies produced films in their own distinctive style, and the "B" pictures became a testing ground for directors who would later become major stars of the industry, such as William Wyler, George Stevens, Edward Dmytryk, Fred Zinnemann, Mark Robson, Robert Wise, and Anthony Mann. However, unlike regular feature films, "B" films were distributed not on a commission basis but for a fixed flat rate, so the profits were low, and naturally the major studios soon began to lose enthusiasm for "B" films. As a result, "B" films came to be mass-produced by minor production companies such as Monogram, Republic, PRC, Grand National, Mascot, and Tiffany under harsh conditions with limited production budgets and shooting time.

From [Program Picture]

...It is also called a programmer in English. In other words, it is a second feature, supporting feature, or co-feature to the main feature film of a program. In the case of Japanese films, there were methods of bundling, such as a program of one modern drama and one period drama, bundling with older works, mixing with other companies' works, or using a low-cost film called the second part as a supporting feature, from before the war. According to Junichiro Tanaka (History of the Development of Japanese Films), after the war, around 1950, when the film famine at the end of the war, when people were starved for entertainment due to the proliferation of movie theaters and the dumping of already-released films, became a thing of the past, double features, which were called a service to the audience, began to become prominent.

*Some of the terminology used to refer to the "second feature" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…　初期のトーキーのものめずらしさも薄れ，また大恐慌後の長びく不況の影響で，1930年代に入るとアメリカの映画観客が激減し，その対策として映画館では入場者に景品として皿を配る〈ディッシュ･ナイトdish night〉とか宝くじの抽籤会をやる〈バンク･ナイトbank night〉とかいった〈客寄せ〉の催しが盛んに行われたが，さらに32年には上映作品のプログラムを長編映画1本から2本に増やして充実させ，〈ダブル･ビルdouble bill〉あるいは〈ダブル･フィーチャーdouble feature〉と呼ばれる〈2本立て〉の興行が始まった。〈2本立て〉のメーンとなる“A”作品(“A”picture)に添えて併映されるのが“B”作品(“B”picture)で，〈セカンド･フィーチャーsecond feature〉あるいは〈サポーティング･フィーチャーsupporting feature〉などとも呼ばれ(日本語の〈添物〉映画にあたる)，通常の〈フィーチャー(長編映画)〉が1時間半以上のものとすれば，これは55分から75分程度のものであり，ハリウッドのメジャー(大手)各社はそれぞれ特色あるスタイルの作品を製作し，のちに第一線で活躍することになる監督たち，例えばウィリアム･ワイラー，ジョージ･スティーブンズ，エドワード･ドミトリク，フレッド･ジンネマン，マーク･ロブソン，ロバート･ワイズ，アンソニー･マンなどの習作の場，〈テスト･グラウンド〉になった。　しかし“B”作品はふつうの長編映画と違って歩合制ではなく一定の均一料金で配給されたため利益が少なく，当然ながらやがてメジャー各社は“B”作品の製作に熱意を失い始め，その結果，“B”作品はもっぱら〈マイナー〉のモノグラム，リパブリック，PRC，グランド･ナショナル，マスコット，ティファニーなどの群小プロダクションで，製作費も撮影期間も限られた過酷な条件のもとに量産されることになった。…

【プログラム･ピクチャー】より

…英語でprogrammerともいう。また別の言い方をすれば，番組のメーンになる〈本編feature film〉に対する〈併映作品，添えものsecond feature,supporting feature,co‐feature〉である。　日本映画の場合は〈抱合せ〉という形で，戦前から，現代劇1本と時代劇1本の番組，旧作との〈併映〉，他社作品との〈混映〉，あるいは〈第二部〉と呼ばれた低コストの作品を〈添えもの〉にする方式などがあったが，田中純一郎(《日本映画発達史》)によれば，戦後，〈映画館の乱立乱戦と既封切映画のダンピングによって〉娯楽に飢えていた終戦当時の〈フィルム飢饉〉が昔語りとなった1950年ころから，〈観客へのサービスと称する2本立て興行〉が目だち始めた。…

※「second feature」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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