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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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!

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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.

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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. 

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