Pressbooks (Non-Horror)

If Larry "Buster" Crabbe is in it, it must be good. He plays a detective after stolen bonds worth two million dollars, which in today's money is a lot more. Red Barry was a comic strip by Will Gould. No relation to Chester Gould who did Dick Tracy. William Gould played Commissioner Tom (again, no relation to either Goulds), and Rita Gould played Mama Sonia (once again, no relation to the other Goulds either). That's a lot of unrelated Goulds. The pressbook has a neat appearance with a centerfold spread of promotional ideas.

ComicRace reader version: Download Red Barry Pressbook

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Red Barry (1938) PressbookRead More »

Frankie Darro starred (more or less with the dog, Rinty) in The Wolf Dog (1933) serial and other actioners from Mascot. He had a big role in The Phantom Empire serial in 1935. His small stature and youthful looks kept him into young roles for a while until his age caught up with him. He also starred, along with Mantan Moreland, in movies like this one for Monogram. He also did a lot of television work. Notably, Mantan Moreland receives barely a mention in the pressbook as an “ace colored comic.” Moreland was, for a moment, considered as a replacement for Shemp in the Three Stooges, but that did not happen. He would have been awesome.

ComicRack reader version: Download Chasing Trouble Pressbook

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Chasing Trouble (1940) PressbookRead More »

The Red Ace pressbook, which is the oldest one in my collection so far (from 1917), is one of the most beautifully conceived pressbooks I’ve seen, with wonderful use of color, graphics, and text fonts. Size-wise, it’s rather small at 12.5 x 7 inches, but it packs quite a visual wallop; and, certainly, that old world, flourishy, charm in its design is nostalgic.

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The Red Ace (1917) PressbookRead More »

Here's the colorful theater herald for the 15-chapter serial, The Red Ace (1917), from Universal.

Johnny Weismuller (who played Tarzan) did 16 Jungle Jim movies. While his acting style lacked much (though it made him perfect for Tarzan), the usual jungle mischief would provide the action. In this one, the locals need to relocate so an atom bomb test can go off and destroy their homes and livelihood. And I’d think much of the jungle animals too, for that matter. Those 1950s were tough.

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Jungle Jim in Savage Mutiny (1953) PressbookRead More »

An all-talking production! Boy, that must have been quite a thrill to theater audiences when talking pictures replaced the silents. Earlier pressbooks used newsprint, which didn’t hold up well over the years; but this one for Murder on the Roof has lots of promotion, with newspaper ads, a book tie-in, and fashions to highlight.

ComicRack reader version: Download Murder on the Roof Pressbook

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Murder on the Roof (1930) PressbookRead More »

One of my guilty pleasures is watching the antics of the East Side Kids (aka Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, The Bowery Boys) troupe’s antics. Here they join with the FBI to foil terrorists. A surprising number of movies were made with various iterations of the boys, all starting from a serious play that moved onto the big screen, then an ongoing series of more light-hearted movies.

ComicRack reader version: Download Junior G-Men Pressbook

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Junior G-Men (1940) PressbookRead More »

Veronica Lake is wonderful as a singing magician and Alan Ladd is a block of dangerous ice as Philip Raven, a killer for hire. Their chemistry, the great Laird Cregar as a cunning but squeamish villain, and Robert Preston as the dogged lawman hot on their trail, makes for a solid and classic noir.

ComicRack reader version: Download This Gun For Hire Pressbook

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This Gun For Hire (1942) PressbookRead More »

Like a little ginger cheesecake with your film noir? Here’s Ginger Rogers in Tight Spot, a movie with some kick as she’s manhandled by the cops and the criminals. Brian Keith plays the big lug who falls for her tight legs and snippy personality. Edward G. Robinson looks short in every scene but acts big as usual. The cast is gold, the dialog a bit too sappy, but this one’s a keeper even without the dancing.

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Tight Spot (1955) PressbookRead More »

An Italian documentary capturing yet another excursion into the jungle, which seemed very big (think travelogue with exploitation tossed in) up until the 1960s. Now with the Internet and cable channel shows, the big screen isn’t needed anymore to show us the wild and exotic. Of course, there’s straight to DVD for that now, too. I’d love to have one of those kid mask giveaways. That’s another thing about today’s movies, no fun giveaways to promote a showing at the local theater. Bummer.

ComicRack reader version: Download Green Magic Pressbook

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Green Magic (1953) PressbookRead More »

Ray “Crash” Corrigan was a stuntman, western B movie star, and noted for putting on a mean gorilla costume now and then. I’m not sure if the “Crash” part of his name came from his stunt work or his appearance in the Undersea Kingdom (1936) serial. Some sources relate it to his being in the serial, since Flash Gordon, with Larry “Buster” Crabbe, came out around the same time and Republic’s publicity wanted a hero to buzz off of the “Flash” name. We tend to forget how often stunt people fill in for the actors or in critical roles where life and limb are at a premium. During the serial and western cinema days, many actors were stunt people too. It certainly saved money for the studios.

ComicRack reader version: Download Range Busters Pressbook

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The Range Busters (1940) PressbookRead More »

I bet his gun is short too. My favorite Hammer movie (no, not THAT Hammer) is Kiss Me Deadly. I guess most men would love to have million dollar dames, a gun, and an attitude to make the other two work well together, but that age of movie mystique, with girls swooning over a macho macho man who hits as hard as he can take it, doesn’t quite work with today’s audiences unless the name is Bond, James Bond. The “Spillane Dames” are no longer a natural for excitement, and I can’t say that’s a sorry-to-see-that-go thing. As a period piece, it’s engagingly “huh, they got away with that?”; as a plot enticement for today’s audiences, it no longer has any worth or should have. But I still like to watch Mike Hammer bust it up with his fists and red hot lips.

ComicRack reader version: Download My Gun is Quick Pressbook

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My Gun is Quick (1957) PressbookRead More »