It Came From Hollywood

It Came From Hollywood sends along this six page AIP pressbook for the science fiction movie, Unearthly Stranger. Scientist marries a woman who may (okay, she is, but the characters don’t know it yet) be an alien from outer space to stop his research. From that simple premise, the movie works well within its budget and with solid acting and dialog, you can’t go wrong. While the Publicity page in the pressbook is on the skimpy side, you will notice, like in other pressbooks of this period, the actress is shown in something skimpy too. In fact, many pressbooks going back decades would always highlight the female leads within the contexts of beauty, glamour, and fashion. The guys, of course, maybe got a watch, shirt or luggage tie-in.

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Unearthly Stranger (1963) PressbookRead More »

Another AIP pressbook courtesy of It Came From Hollywood, The Mind Benders was released on a double-bill with Operation Bikini. The movie fit the 1960s zeitgeist with elements of the Soviet Union, brainwashing, sensory deprivation, and spy secrets. TV Guide‘s review, dated 2014 (cited in Wikipedia’s article) noted: “a strange movie that leaves a deeper impression than one might expect due to the originality of the plot and the tense direction. It is the direct predecessor of Altered States.” On the seat-selling slants page they recommend suspending a mannequin from the theater marquee, dressed in a scuba diver’s outfit. Ah, the fun creative days of movie promotion without memes and social machines.

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Here’s a blast from the 1970s with Bo Svenson and Cybill Shepherd, courtesy of It Came From Hollywood. The decade of slinky women and bulky men onscreen gave us some cool matchups, even if the movies weren’t all that svelte. In Special Delivery, the pair run afoul of thieves, or rather, one thief  (Bo Svenson) has to deal with one woman (Cybill Shepherd) looking for some adventure and another guy (Michael C. Gwynne) looking to get the cash he stashed in a mailbox. Familiar faces pop up along the way: Jeff Goldblum, Vic Tayback, Sorrell Booke, and others you may find familiar from your movie-watching. If you ask me, no movie with either Bo or Cybill, or both of them, can do any wrong. This pressbook is unusual in that its pretty loaded with promotional goodies and solid poster art. It also has a coloring contest page! Both Paul at It Came From Hollywood and myself love coloring pages in pressbooks. They are so cool and retro but timely at the same time, and kids and adults could enjoy coloring them. So, bottom line, they made great advertising for movies in the local papers. In the pressbook you will also find promotional offerings with Special Delivery imprinted balloons and t-shirts. I wonder if Granny Creech has the radio spots? Music by Lalo Schifrin (Mission: Impossible tv series for starters, need I say more?) (Click each image to enlarge and read or right-click to download after you enlarge it.)

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Courtesy of It Came From Hollywood…The Groundstar Conspiracy pressbook with supplement. A noirish, spyish thriller movie with George Peppard and Michael Sarrazin. Peppard, of course, is best known as Hannibal in the television series The A-Team. He also played his annoyingly cool and supercilious leading man persona in Banacek. Michael Sarrazin, a Canadian actor, is notable for his role in They Shoot Horses Don’t They and to horror movie fans for The Reincarnation of Peter Proud. Funny, but I recall They Shoot Horses Don’t They mostly because my dad took me, I was pretty young, to see it and he said an expletive, along with his dislike for the movie’s ending. I wasn’t too keen on it myself at that age, either. But he did manage to bring me to science fiction movies (he didn’t like horror: my mom did), and he behaved himself when The Last Starfighter ended (though he found it just as underwhelming as Horses). Click each image to expand it–you will need a BIG screen–or right-click the expanded image to download it.) And you don’t have to read the signs to find more pressbooks, just rummage through our categories.

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