Hello, lovers of old movie radio spots…
The Witchwood Cemetery had a rummage sale the other day to raise money to purchase additional land (people are just dying to get in there!). Anyways, I was just browsing the tables when I came across an old Dell movie comic for a film I hadn’t thought of in a long time. It was December, 1959, when 20th Century Fox offered something different to movie goers. Up until then, science fiction movies had been concentrating on things “out there” in the vastness of space: where we could go, or who – or what – could come to visit or invade us. So, it was a nice change to turn our vision inward as Fox released Jules Verne’s 1864 epic thriller, Journey to the Center of the Earth.
As I remember it was quite a cinematic adventure, with great special effects, grand sets and vistas, and what many call the most realistic use of fin-backed lizards representing dinosaurs to be pictured on the screen. The music, by famed composer Bernard Herrmann, was awesome, too. Featuring a great cast, including James Mason, Arlene Dahl, teen heartthrob Pat Boone (minus his white bucks), Diane Baker, Peter Ronson, Thayer David (who can forget him in Dark Shadows?), and Gertrude the duck, moviegoers were believably transported to an underground world where sights hitherto unseen by man were presented. It was pure escapist adventure.
I went digging through my musty boxes and found the old record that was sent to theaters to promote the movie on the radio. The ten spots included here are excellent and capture the excitement of the film.
Are you ready…to don your spelunking gear and begin your Journey to the Center of the Earth?
10 seconds
20 seconds a, b, c
30 seconds a, b, c
60 seconds a, b, c
Do you have any radio spots you would like to share? Contact Granny at [email protected].