The Phantom Monster Show! Pressbook
More chills and spills (in the aisles) as Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein top this double bill of horror!
Comic book reader version: Download Phantom Monster Show Pressbook
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Pressbooks (Horror, Sci Fi, Fantasy)
The Collector (1965) Pressbook
I caught this on television a long while back and found it disturbing. A psychological horror story, it leaves you with a definite depressed mood. Terrence Stamp and Samantha Eggar provide the tension and terror as he displays really bad social skills and she's desperate to escape.
Comic book reader version: Download The Collector Pressbook
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Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Pressbook
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 my girlfriend. She was still in love with a previous boyfriend who did a lot of bar-hopping playing in a band he never could commit seriously to. So, 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. Funny how things match up in your memory and hang on. Here’s the pressbook.
Comic reader version: Download Raiders of the Lost Ark Pressbook
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Night of the Living Dead Insurance Policy
This is the ‘insurance policy’ theater giveaway for Night of the Living Dead. Of course, if you were actually frightened to death you couldn’t spend the money anyway. Below it is a copy of the NOTLD pressbook page highlighting this promotional gimmick. And here’s my take on this classic movie that frightened me as a kid. And I mean really, really, scared the sh*t out of me.
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) Pressbook
Fellow purveyor of popular culture goodness (and geekdom), Terry Michitsch, generously provided these scans of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad pressbook. My favorite Sinbad movie, this has it all: fantastic musical score, wonderful dynamation from the master, Ray Harryhausen, a perfectly nasty villain, romance, and a solid fantasy storyline with action sequences.
Comic reader version: Download 7th Voyage of Sinbad Pressbook
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Mandrake the Magician (1939) Pressbook
Here’s another Columbia movie serial pressbook for a comics hero, Mandrake the Magician. Lots of magical promotion for this movie can be found here. Wikipedia mentions that Mandrake may possibly be the first superhero (he appeared in 1934).
Comics reader version: Download Mandrake the Magician Pressbook
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New Adventures of Batman
and Robin, the Boy Wonder (1949)
Pressbook
Here's another rare pressbook that recently went for over a thousand dollars at auction (crazy over-bidders!). Columbia's promotion for Batman and Robin is pretty smashing in these 16 pages. Of note is the single, but still important, promotion, Attract the Girls! on page 6. Looking back on those costumes, we can snicker a bit now, given all the high-tech stuff done today for the Batman movies, but audiences must have been just as thrilled back then as we are today. As for me, I've not seen this serial yet, and look forward to doing so. The poster art is exciting. This one's for Will Meugniot on Facebook, who posts lots of wonderful animation, movie, and comic book stuff you shouldn't miss.
Comic reader version: Download New Adventures of Batman and Robin Pressbook
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New Adventures of Batman
and Robin, the Boy Wonder (1949)
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Now You See Him, Now You Don’t (1972)
Pressbook
Wikipedia notes this is the first Disney movie to be shown on television in a two-hour time slot, in 1975. Previous movies were edited or shown in two one-hour time slots. As usual, Disney heaps on the tie-ins, from jewelry to wallets and purses, to the Dell comic book. There’s also a tie-in to ‘Teen magazine. A plus for the movie is all the memorable stars appearing in it like Kurt Russell, Jim Backus, William Windom, and Cesar Romero to name some of them. The New York Times reviewer, Howard Thompson, at the time, said to try the real McCoy and see the original The Invisible Man, although other critics were kinder.
Comic reader version: Download Now You See Him Pressbook
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Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951)
Pressbook
First, I'd like to confirm that I want the Capt. Video wallet and hosiery. The two-way radio and basque shirt with day-glow are also high on my list. Of particular note in the series is the Mu-ray camera, which allowed viewing of imagery of past events. This ability, in scientific or magical variations, appears in later genre movies and television series. A highly successful serial for Columbia, it is the only one built around a television series. The Honeymooners TV or Not TV episode (my favorite one) has Norton and Ralph pooling their money to buy a television set. Much mayhem ensues as both try to share it but disagree on what to watch, with Captain Video being a major sticking point as Norton, wearing a space helmet, puts up a fight. To infinity and beyond! Here's the rare Captain Video pressbook for your galactic pleasure.
Comic reader version: Download Captain Video Pressbook
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Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951)
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Phantom From Space (1953) Pressbook
A colorful pressbook for an awful science fiction movie. Good for a few laughs. Very few. But this pressbook is quite impressive; I think they spent more money on this than the movie.
Comic reader version: Download Phantom From Space Pressbook
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Freaks (1932) Re-Release Pressbook
Tod Browning’s Freaks remains still freaky after all these years. Here’s the 1949 re-release pressbook. I’m surprised the studio had enough gumption to make audiences again squirm in their seats with another showing. This movie works its black magic by turning the monstrous, like a reflection in a mirror, back to the viewers. Browning made us uncomfortable because of our limitations, not those of the circus performers considered freaks because of their physical differences. A truly amazing movie, whose awkwardness from silent movie conventions and melodramatic performances only heightens its unnerving effect one feels after watching it.
Comic reader version: Download Freaks Re-Release Pressbook
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Tron (1982) Pressbook
A Disney pressbook is always a tutorial on what movie promotion was all about in the decades before the internet and social media news. Disney, especially, went all out for tie-ins. This Tron pressbook is no exception when it comes to those tie-ins and promotions. There is also an interesting vibe in the articles regarding computer imagery: it’s so 1980s. ” The computer plays a major role in Tron, and, indeed, is playing a greater and greater role in our everyday lives. The use of the computer by the average person, while not yet commonplace, is growing phenomenally, and you should capitalize on this new interest…” For those of you who grew up during the birth of the home computer age, this pressbook provides a lot of nostalgia too.
Comic reader version: Download Tron Pressbook
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