Zombos’ Closet…a vast trove of endearingly cheap thrills, including movie and book reviews, and scans of his collections of cinema pressbooks, goofy paper-cutout Halloween decorations, and his amazing collection of Mexican lobby cards from B-grade films. If you have time to descend into a serious rabbit-hole of marvelous trash-culture nostalgia, visit that site just as soon as you possibly can.” (DangerousMinds.net)
In 1981 I lost a girlfriend and watched Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen. Let me explain. I had just broken up with her. She was still in love with a previous guy who did a lot of bar-hopping, playing in a band he never could commit seriously to. She couldn’t commit seriously to another relationship either as she followed him around, from bar to bar, hanging on. I actually wonder what happened to him more than her, but I hope she made out okay. Anyway, I was feeling awful after our split that night and, driving around aimlessly, I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark playing, though I forget which Brooklyn theater I walked into to see it. Place was packed. I barely made it in. After the traps started springing, in the first few minutes, I forgot everything else and joined in the foreign locale derring-do and supernatural mayhem. I felt a lot better that night. I went back a few times more. I bought a few Indiana Jones 12-inch action figures a while later, marked down (with that memorable red sticker) at Toys R Us. I always think of her where Indiana Jones is concerned. I wonder if that guy ever got his act together (pun intended). Funny how such things hook up in your memory and hang on, no matter how long ago it was. Here’s the pressbook.
Comic reader version: Download Raiders of the Lost Ark Pressbook
…
Welcome, all lovers of all things weird and wonderful! Welcome to my Radio Spot Reliquary.
I was visiting with Granny Creech the other day when she noticed all the radio spots I had rearranged in my Reliquary and she wondered when I was going to start sharing them here on Zombos’ site. I told her I didn’t want to steal her thunder and, besides, I don’t have the way with words like she does. She chided me and told me that it would be OK. She said she concentrates on spots from the fifties and sixties, with a few later exceptional exceptions, and it would be cool for me to bring out those from the seventies and eighties. She said they were still good and fans would like to hear them. No detailed introductions would be needed just present them. So, I thought about it and decided that it could work. But I would need some help.
I’m no historian and I hate researching things, so I asked our old buddy Zombos if he would be able to help me. I aroused him from his usual stupor and, after much coercion and the promise of two cases of Guinness, he agreed to be my backup, filling in where I needed some help.
So, here is to the first of what promises to be a long series of classic newer radio spots, presented in no particular order, just however the mood strikes me. I’m sure you will enjoy them, as collecting them has been a labor of love for me. They are some of my favorite titles and I want you to hear them. …
According to Brian Patrick Duggan, in his book Horror Dogs: Man’s Best Friend as Movie Monster, the first dog in a motion picture appears in Edison’s Athlete with a Wand in 1894; but that dog just happened to be in the shot, lying at the foot of the athlete doing all the work, so he points us to Rescue Rover (1905), for a more action-oriented Collie. That family canine as rescuer theme leads us to Rin Tin Tin and more stories of dogs leaping into action to save us dumb humans or battle evil humans too, in movies, comics, and books. Of course, the horror genre has morphed the family-oriented dog to terrorize us, chase us, tear us apart, and, in general, make us run like hell or scream like hell. Rin Tin Tin was not a scary dog. Going to 1904, in Edison’s Dog Factory, the first hint of making dogs scarier, if only in a comedic way, can be found. Duggan goes on to note how the movie poster advertising began to show the dog as dangerous (in a wholesome way). By the time we get to 1978 and Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell, the movie poster art focused on those sharp canine teeth a lot more, which was definitely not wholesome.
Rin Tin Tin’s predecessor, Strongheart, starred in six films from 1921 through 1927, but just two of those posters show the dog only launching himself at bad guys. From 1922 through 1931, the more famous Rin Tin Tin averaged even fewer examples, with only three posters out of twenty-six showing him poised just prior to grappling with the film’s villain. The implied canine violence in advertising and what was shown on screen was justifiable, because Strongheart or Rin Tin Tin were protecting their people or meting out canine justice. (Duggan, Brian Patrick. Horror Dogs: Man’s Best Friend as Movie Monster (Dogs in Our World) (p. 103). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.)
End Note: Warner Brothers originally had the popular Rin Tin Tin, but dropped the poor dog because of sound issues and their focus on talkies with humans. That’s when Mascot picked up the franchise with their first all-sound serial Rin-Tin-Tin The Lone Defender. Clearly they didn’t worry about his barking.
By the early 1950s, Republic was looking to save money on serial production. They cut the runtime of each chapter, added stock footage from previous serials, and shortened production time.
One major clearance problem involved the trade name of Ace Hi gasoline, required to be diplayed on the back of a tank truck [Ep. 7] to match stock [footage] from Mysterious Doctor Satan. When it was discovered that Ace Hi was a real brand marketed by the Midwest Oil Company of Minneapolis, associate producer Franklin Adreon and production manager Jack Baker approved the usage of Ace Hi with the addition of the nonexistent Holt Oil Company lettered beneath the product name. Loeb and Loeb, Republic’s law firm, opinioned that associating Ace Hi with the fictitious oil company still maintained the risk, but its incidence was lessened. In line with Republic’s policy not to prominently feature trade names, the pumps and signs at a Union Oil station used as a location prior to the truck sequence were masked with large X-lettered paper sheets to conceal the labeled product actually being dispensed on the immediate premises. (Valley of the Cliffhangers, Jack Mathis, 1975)
…
Government Agents
vs Phantom Legion (1951) PressbookRead More »
When you talk about exploitation cinema, here’s a good example to include in your discussions. The 1960s and 1970s were exorbitant decades for movies that pushed beyond good taste; which, of course, is the provocative and decadent theme of any enjoyable exploitation movie. The Devil’s Sisters took its cue from the real-crime story of the Gonzalez Valenzuela sisters (Las Poquianchis), who ran their murderous prostitution ring from the 1950s to 1960s. William Grefè (Sting of Death, Death Curse of Tartu, Whiskey Mountain, etc.), directed the movie in Florida over ten days. Rantbit has an engrossing write up worth reading. Grefè also directed Impulse, with William Shatner and Harold Sakata (you know him as Odd Job from Gold Finger). The extensive documentary, They Came From the Swamp, the Films of William Grefè, discusses Impulse and how Sakata almost strangled to death during one scene. Shatner, suddenly realizing turning blue wasn’t one of Sakata’s acting skills, rushed to help him.
…
I opened the door From Zombos’ Closet 20 years ago, first on Blogspot in 2005, then a switch over to Typepad in 2006, and over to WordPress in 2023. At the start, I had two simple goals in mind. Keep it commercial free (no pop-up ads, no links to buy stuff–except my book). Hell, remember those Flash intros to websites? And just keep it fun for you and me as I share my appreciation of the fantastique in film, literature, popular culture, and show off my collection of cool stuff while doing so. ZC has grown to include more than just horror because you can’t really appreciate a horror movie or a book without seeing and knowing a lot more beyond it. I like lots of stuff.
Good, rich, horror genre is fed by life, death, and everything in-between. You can’t create or understand movies or books without knowing what’s come before them and what’s happening around them. This includes comedy, drama, poetry, the classics, the clunkers, and all the other genres too. Creators can’t build on what they don’t know. They can’t create ground-breaking horror without knowing the lay of the land they’re standing on. Fans who only watch today’s horror are missing out on a wealth of terror waiting to be discovered, especially in black and white, especially without sound.
To be a true horror movie fan you need to embrace the old with the new. People who say the best movies were done years ago clearly haven’t watched much. This goes for books too. And music. What would movies be without the Hermans, Morricones, Elfmans, Williamses, Zimmers and others? Recently I read someone’s Reddit post where they referred to the “original” Thirteen Ghosts, the movie from 2001. I bit my tongue. The original is William Castle’s classic fun chiller, 13 Ghosts, from 1960. Dude, what the hell? …
20 Years and Onward
(or Yes, I’ve Got a Big Closet)Read More »
Bob Steele was a B movie cowboy star through the late 1920s to 1940s, working at the Republic, Monogram, Producers Releasing Corp, Supreme, and Tiffany studios (TMDB). I have a special liking for Steele because he stood 5 feet and 5 inches, my height, and still seemed to tower over the bad guys. He had a brief but unforgettable role in The Big Sleep, and won acclaim for his portrayal of Curley in Of Mice and Men. While his early cowboy days saw the most dusty trails, he still appeared in various westerns including Rio Bravo, The Comancheros and others. He also did the non-westerns, Atomic Submarine and Giant From the Unknown. In the 1960s, he played Trooper Duffy on F Troop. From the silents to the talkies, he had a long, and memorable for us, career.
…
Uncle Oscar called me the other day and invited me over to Witchwood Cemetery to see all the new spring flowers. The cemetery was in full bloom, he said, and presented a lovely sight.
I headed on over there and he was right. Bright colors were everywhere and presented a glorious picture. It was quite the contrast from the usual dreary and bland landscape the late fall and winter seasons presented. It was quite cheerful.
We walked around, enjoying the beauty and saying hello to old friends who were actively engaged in some much-needed spring cleaning. We made our way to the back part of the cemetery and came across The Radio Reaper’s large crypt. The Reaper greeted us as he swept out a large pile of trash.
“Greetings, Granny and Uncle Oscar,” he said. “How are you two? Beautiful day for cleaning out the cobwebs.”
“Yes it is,” I said. “What have you been up to?”
“Oh, just cleaning, rearranging, and sprucing up. In fact, I’m glad you came by. I found something you might be interested in,” he said.
He went into his crypt and soon reappeared, a large record in hand. …
Binge watching the streams and eye-balling the books falling off the shelf. What a life.
Finally caught up to the Punisher on Disney Plus. I’d say the title should be more like the Punishment. He does get beat up. A lot. Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle presents the perfect picture of a human punching bag that punches back. Castle returns in a one-off special for Disney Plus, to be co-written with Bernthal, to air in 2026. The two seasons, so far, are intense, with Castle hunting down the people involved in his family’s murder. A twist pops up in season two when one of those people survives a horrific beating with some screws shaken loose and little past memory of how evil he was. He struggles between guilt and embracing that evil as it returns in flashes of violence. Castle just struggles with everything, but especially some internally driven guilt, leaving him open to bleeding. A lot. The Punisher ties neatly into the Jessica Jones and Daredevil universe, so essential viewing if you like that dark underbelly of crime noir dripping off of wet urban sidewalks feeling. …
Have not caught this movie noir yet, but the reviews are meh. Filmed in ten days, notable problems mentioned with the film include lackluster direction, stifled acting, and lack of suspense. It’s use of San Francisco landmarks and its depiction of a city-wide manhunt provide a unique period snapshot for the city in the early 1950s (San Francisco Film Locations). The movie also made use of voice-over narration that early 50s movies seemed to love. Here it’s more of the documentary-styled type (used in crime dramas) instead of the character-driven type (like in Sunset Boulevard). Noir movies especially used the voice-over narrator to instill a sense of reflection, and inspection, into the private gumshoe’s mind and viewpoint. See Jessica Jones for a good example of its modern usage. Sonny Tufts (yeah, that guy in Cat-Women of the Moon), had a good career going until his slide into alcoholism, making the 1950s and beyond one, long, downhill run. This period of his life led eventually led to his name becoming a punchline for joking, with it mentioned in such places as The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and My Mother the Car. Marjorie Steele did only four movies before moving on to a career in sculpting and painting.
…
It Came From Hollywood sends along this pressbook for The Night They Killed Rasputin. Here’s what they had to say.
Distributed by Brigadier Films, this drama picture features John Drew Barrymore as the character Prince Felix Yousoupof, an homage to this father, John Barrymore’s, portrayal of the character Prince Paul Chegodieffin in the 1932 film Rasputin and the Empress. That 1932 Rasputin offering also featured John Drew Barrymore’s Aunt & Uncle, Lionel and Ethel, respectively. Drew Barrymore, daughter of John Drew Barrymore, has yet to make a Rasputin picture. If you’re keeping count, I’ve mentioned the name Barrymore five times and the name Rasputin three times, just in case this turns into an internet-drinking game! Brigadier Films distributed only four films in its existence between 1960-1962. The other three were The Tell-Tale Heart (1960), Kamikaze (1961), and The Smashing of the Reich (1961). Kamikaze & Reich saw some success as a double-bill in 1961, and both showed up in TV packages that were played almost non-stop between 1962 and the mid-1970s.
John Barrymore Jr. (he changed his name to John Drew Barrymore) had a lot of weight on his shoulders coming from such an illustrious family of actors. He did fairly well in American movies and television, and also in Italian movies, but a troubled life with addiction problems, and four marriages, eventually made acting parts dry up and he turned away from public life. “Barrymore eventually withdrew from acting, with his final two appearances being a 1974 episode of Kung Fu and an uncredited role in the 1976 film Baby Blue Marine” (Wikipedia).
Try selling a movie today with the tagline “with guts and a gun and a babe for bait,” I dare you. Yes, there was a time where the male gaze was all over the place in movies, and bosomy women were always depicted with little clothing in the poster art. That’s not to say the movies were bad to watch; just male-centric to a point that wouldn’t be acceptable today. And for good reason. Typecasting beauty could be stifling when the variety of roles was limited. But Anita Ekberg was indeed an eye-full and Dana Andrews, even through his alcoholism, was good to watch, with that raspy, pillowy, voice and his hardboiled edge. From Laura to Night of the Demon, he delivered the goods.
The Cobra, an Italian and Spanish production, imported by AIP, was pure 1960s movie fodder with its drugs, espionage, and spy drama. Anita Ekberg plays a strung out junkie in the film. Given little to do except look pretty (which kind of worked against being strung out), critics still took notice of her acting chops. She is forever remembered for THAT scene in La Dolci Vita where she waded into Rome’s Trevi Fountain. She also appeared in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars and Screaming Mimi.
…