Pressbooks (Non-Horror)

You can’t get more American than singing cowboy Gene Autry in a Republic picture. Add Smiley Burnette for comic relief and your Saturday matinee is complete. Westerns and horror movies have been a staple popcorn machine’s worth of box office tickets for many studios, helping to pay the bills that made some of those A-listers possible, even though they may not have been so capital A with audiences.

ComicRack reader version: Download Rovin’ Tumbleweeds Pressbook

Rove on over to the pressbooks in Zombos’ Closet, pardner.

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Rovin’ Tumbleweeds (1939) PressbookRead More »

The pressbook for Roar of the Iron Horse contains a lot of promotional information and ideas. Of course, in the 1950s, cowboy movies were an easy draw for the younger set, until mutant monsters and atom bombs creeped out everyone enough to make the classic monsters in the 1960s more inviting. By then, science fiction and detective shows crowded out the Western dramas across television screens while the big screens showed less and less of them too. But in 1951, they were still roaring at the box office.

ComicRack reader version: Download Roar of the Iron Horse Pressbook

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Thanks to The Serial Squadron member Chris McCleary, I’ve been posting many pressbooks from his dad’s collection. He did two great things: collected serial pressbooks to keep the history alive and met his screen heroes to boot. Here’s one signed by Roy Barcroft. I miss the days when you could meet and greet your screen heroes, chat a bit, and walk away with a signed something or photograph while keeping your shirt on your back. Today, of course, it’s a Wells Fargo stagecoach holdup’s worth to do anything like that at a convention.

ComicRack reader version: Download Desperadoes of the West Pressbook

Don’t get desperate! Here are more pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet, pardner.

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Desperadoes of the West (1950) PressbookRead More »

Treasure, a miracle drug, and jungle mystery and intrigue are “sizzling” in this jungle serial from Columbia. I wonder if any theaters added jungle sounds or the fortune telling idol to their lobbies? I also would love to have one of those club cards, punched or unpunched. Nice use of contest mats, a code, and a jungle sundae help round out the promotional business. The poster art is also exciting and there were 8×10 art stills available highlighting it. I don’t know what was more exciting: the serial itself or the ballyhoo around it?

ComicRack reader version: Download Jungle Raiders Pressbook

You don’t need to raid a jungle to find more pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet.

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Jungle Raiders (1945) PressbookRead More »

Here’s the 1956 re-release pressbook for Columbia’s Hop Harrigan serial. Somehow, I don’t think going after everyone in town who is air-minded is the best promotional campaign I’ve come across. However, the other promotional items are nifty: a model display, a lobby death ray gun (always a draw for me), club card for youngsters (but I still want one), a substitution code, and inviting people named Harrigan to the opening. Of course there’s the usual clothing and luggage, the not so usual making paper planes, and the very challenging finding airplane parts “from your local air field” to put in theater lobbies.

ComicRack reader version: Download Hop Harrigan Pressbook

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Hop Harrigan (1946) Re-Release PressbookRead More »

I was drawn to this pressbook because you don’t often see early movies fronting a female lead character. There were three Sophie Lang movies of which this is the last one.  Promotion ideas for this one had fashionable clothing trends, luggage, a hope chest stunt, and a photo-fun contest. Larry “Buster” Crabbe (Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers) plays the heavy.

ComicRack reader version: Download Sophie Lang Goes West Pressbook

You don’t need to go West to see more pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet.

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Sophie Lang Goes West (1937) PressbookRead More »

It gets confusing trying to keep track of the Dead End Kids, the Little Tough Guys, the Bowery Boys, and the East Side Kids as they pop up in various serials and movies. Long story short: the Dead End Kids were a group of young actors that appeared in the Broadway play Dead End in 1935. In 1937 they wound up in Hollywood to star in the filmed version of the play. Then in 1938 some of them, along with newbies, starred in the movie, Little Tough Guy, so they also became known as the Little Tough Guys. This led to more movies and eventually acquiring the additional monikers East Side Kids and Bowery Boys as they continued to participate in the lucrative franchise over the years. Interestingly, though they began on a serious note, their movies became more comedic and light-hearted as time progressed.

ComicRack reader version: Download Give Us Wings Pressbook

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Give Us Wings (1940) PressbookRead More »

Burlesque stripper Ann Corio made her way to Hollywood to star in Swamp Woman, Jungle Siren, Call of the Jungle, and Sarong Girl. Note the trend toward steamy environs to lessen the need for clothing. What’s unusual about this pressbook is that it’s larger than most (18×12 inches) and has two fold-out sections, which makes this a pricey pressbook to print and distribute.

ComicRack reader version: Download Jungle Siren Pressbook

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Jungle Siren (1942) PressbookRead More »

Contrary to the title, the blonde woman is not a captive. She also puts in just a few minutes of screen time.  This whole movie is a sham. Basically taking a 1928 documentary and adding a blonde woman subplot along with some extra footage, blame Columbia Pictures for this pre-code weirdness in 1932.  Exploitation? Hell yes. Someone snoozing during a new ideas meeting for generating more box office? Hell yes. The only saving grace here is the poster art by Wynne Davies, a superb pulp-style artist who could capture the sexy and tawdriness with the best of them. This movie was lost at one point but someone found it in 2010.  They can’t find London After Midnight but they could find this?

ComicRack reader version: Download The Blonde Captive Pressbook

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What drew my eye to this pressbook for Pirate Treasure, Universal’s swashbuckling movie serial, was the showmanship page. From lobby stunts, pirate coloring competition, pirate mask and hat, pirate treasure bags, heralds, hangers, and more, it’s a splash of thrills. The stunt work in this serial is noted as stellar too. Yo ho ho!

Find more buried treasure pressbooks without a lot of digging from Zombos’ Closet.

ComicRack reader version: Download Pirate Treasure Pressbook

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Ida Lupino directs a gripping 1950s styled noir that brings home the dangers of picking up hitchhikers. William Talman’s performance (best known for playing Hamilton Burger on the Perry Mason television series, 1957 to 1966) is pitch perfect. He has the face, the voice, and the attitude for nasty in spades. Edmond O’Brien makes the perfect 1950s average Joe pushed to the extreme. This is one film noir you won’t want to miss. This 18×12 inches pressbook is no slouch either.

ComicRack Reader version: Download The Hitch-Hiker Pressbook

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The Hitch-Hiker (1953) PressbookRead More »

This pressbook for Fort Vengeance is more interesting than the movie. The campaign art promoted the "red savage" theme in the usual way (war paint, axe, feathers, and menacing face). Rita Moreno starred in a cardboard role and sold cardboard bread in a Hollywood Bread tie-in. Interesting to note that bread was a common tie-in (called tie-up here) with westerns, especially for television. The pressbook mentions "the movie was filmed in color to bring out the scenic splendor of the Canadian Northwest, but the movie was shot indoors and outdoors in California. 

ComicRack reader version: Download Fort Vengeance Pressbook

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Fort Vengeance (1953) PressbookRead More »