Pressbooks (Non-Horror)

Norma Desmond got it wrong. It wasn’t the pictures that got smaller, the pressbooks did. Clyde Beatty’s Darkest Africa serial pressbook measures 12 inches by 24 inches, with stiff cardstock for the covers that are in gorgeous color. At 16 pages it isn’t the longest pressbook out there page-wise, but boy, it does pack a wallop to promote the serial to the theater managers. Clyde Beatty liked getting lost in the jungle and this was Republic Pictures first serial. The Bat-Men were the first to use the special flying effects that Republic would continue to improve in future serials, notably 1941’s The Adventures of Captain Marvel. Stock footage of Clyde Beatty’s Lost in the Jungle made it into this serial. Beatty’s name was sellable enough that he, along with Crash Corrigan (Undersea Kingdom) and Ray Mala (Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island) played under his own name. One of six jungle pics for Republic, an envisioned sequence would have had our hero dealing with giant centipedes and arachnids in the Cavern of the Scaly Ones, in episode two (cited from Valley of the Cliffhangers by Jack Mathis). Also from the Mathis book, see the rundown on Beatty’s animal bits for the serial, below. Download larger images: Darkest Africa Pressbook

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Darkest Africa (1936) PressbookRead More »

TCM, in their notes section for Dante’s Inferno (1935), states that Spencer Tracy “agreed to have his name eliminated from advertising and publicity regarding the film and from the opening screen credits.” He said it was the worst picture made anywhere, anytime. Variety did like the ten minutes of Hell, though. I haven’t seen the movie so can’t say either way, but this pressbook is awesome and cost a lot of money to print. It is 15.5 inches by 21.5 inches and lots of pages crammed with promotional information. There’s also a translucent red plastic sheet that was inserted into the pressbook, but not sure what that was for. (You will need a large screen to view this beauty online.) One other note from TCM citing the Hollywood Reporter: the movie was delayed due to the need to manufacture small articles of clothing for thousands of devils so the “purity squad’ wouldn’t be offended. Download the pressbook images here: Dante’s Inferno 1935 Pressbook

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Dante’s Inferno (1935) PressbookRead More »

I recently picked this pressbook (more like two-sided large sheet) for La Jungle en Feu. The poster art is gorgeous and has that propaganda-style of idealized imagery.  Luciano (Arturo de Córdova) has a strong dislike of women. Guess where that goes when Estrella (Dolores del Rio) enters the part of the jungle the guys hang out in. Click the images to enlarge or download.

As was par for the course with Orson Welles and Hollywood, he’d polish up a gem of a movie and they would just chisel away at it until, while it still had its luster, Welles sparkle of cinematic genius was dulled and edited away into lost pieces of what should have been. Another director who also wasn’t taken all that seriously by Hollywood was William Castle (but taken seriously by horror movie fans), who was originally hoping to direct The Lady from Shanghai, but had to settle for an assistant director position. Welles’s whimsical and dark comedic wit permeate the movie that Harry Cohn hated, and the shootout in the hall of mirrors is classic noir. So much editing was done outside of Welles’ control that elaborate scenes and extended drama in the fun house were lost. I wonder what Welles, given today’s streaming environment, could have accomplished? Rita Hayworth and Everett Sloane were perfect in their roles. Definitely, this is one movie to see on the big screen.

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The Lady from Shanghai (1947) PressbookRead More »

An AIP double-bill (that ran like the wind for drive-ins everywhere) with The Mini-Skirt Mob (an all-girl biker rumble). The New York Times critic gave a succinct “two reels of celluloid junk” to both movies, and sums up with “Mini-Skirt is sickening and Angels is merely dull.” Okay, so you can’t please everyone. But toss these two babies onto a drive-in screen and add some snack shack goodies and I’ll bet a good time would commence. Vroom! Vroom!

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Angels From Hell (1968) PressbookRead More »

A bunch of pretty (and pretty loopy, scheming, petty, and the usual female cinema stereotypes for the 1940s) sorority sisters get together on a dark and stormy initiation night. One of them winds up dead. Much finger-pointing and rivalries ensue as the mystery is secondary to having a bunch of–did I mention?–pretty girls being the focus of this B seat-filler. TCM has a page of quotes from this movie: my favorite is “Suppose I pick you up and we’ll do something gay?” Ah, those wacky sorority types. Exploitation for this movie included suggestions to “use lots of girlie photos” and “start early search to find the nine most popular girls in town.” Also, there was the “plant pictures where men meet” and snipe mystery and girlie magazines by affixing labels hawking Nine Girls. To be honest, these are the kinds of pressbooks (and movies) I really enjoy. Go figure. And where do men meet? That sounds like a catchy title for something, not sure what though.

Click each image to expand it–you will need a BIG screen–or right-click the expanded image to download it. And no sleuthing or sorority babes needed to find more pressbooks from Zombos’ Closet. But, you can still invite a sorority babe if you like.

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Nine Girls (1944) PressbookRead More »

Here is the 4-page movie herald for Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back 1934. Debonair Ronald Colman again stars as the urbane adventurer fighting crime. Lucille Ball makes an uncredited appearance as a bridesmaid. In 1947, another Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back starring Ron Randell hit the screens. Warner Oland (aka Charlie Chan in 16 movies) provides the sinister machinations in this pre-code B thriller.

The first Bulldog Drummond movie with sound and Ronald Colman’s first talkie, too. And what a voice he had, with dashing good looks. By all accounts, a first rate actioner, with humor, thrills, great camera work, and pre-code writing.

Download the zipped images: Bulldog Drummond 1929

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Bulldog Drummond (1929) PressbookRead More »

Federal Agent Rex Bennett (Rod Cameron) goes up against a group of saboteurs. Republic liked the Rex Bennett character enough to have him in a following serial, Secret Service in Darkest Africa. Here are some interesting notes from Valley of the Cliffhangers, by Jack Mathis. In this one the fist fights are plentiful, a staple of serial action, and the Lydecker brothers set up a really elaborate and creative death device in Episode 8 that Vivian needs to be rescued from, building up a really good cliffhanger.

Episode 2…"Originally entitled "Oriental Torture," which did not pass Hayes office muster, this episode was re-named Japanese Inquisition."

"Tight shooting schedules and the numerous scenes filmed each day for a serial occasionally resulted in minor production lapses, such as Rex's office door, which was lettered to read "Private" from inside and thus [was] incorrectly backwards from the hallway entry point."

Comics Reader version: Download G-Men vs the Black Dragon

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G-Men vs The Black Dragon (1943)
PressbookRead More »

One does not live by horror movies alone. Sometimes a good crime melodrama, noir, western, fantasy, science fiction, guy movie, girl movie, kid movie, or documentary will do. This time around it's crime! The reason I found this pressbook so interesting was its use of pink and blue tones, and the fact that I like crime movies from the 1930s to 1950s. This one boasts a good cast with Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Anthony Quinn, Lloyd Nolan, Evelyn Brent, Mary Carlisle, and J. Carol Naish. The premise is bad girls helping rob trucks of their cargo. Shame on them!

Version for your comics reader: Download Tip-Off Girls Pressbook

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Tip-Off Girls (1938) PressbookRead More »