Clean-living prizefighter makes good. Monogram made 12 movies based on Ham Fisher’s comic character, Joe Palooka. Lots of movies and shorts in the 1940s and 1950s knocked out stories centered around the boxing ring. We tend to label more contemporary comic book inspired movies as franchise, merchandise, and sequel-itis prone properties, but merchandising and repeated entries for a property started decades ago, even before Star Wars. If it’s hot its cloned more than a gaggle of storm troopers, when the force of an insatiable audience kicks in.

ComicRack reader version: Download Gentleman Joe Palooka Pressbook

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Gentleman Joe Palooka (1946) PressbookRead More »

Courtesy of Joe Dante and Charlie Largent (Trailers From Hell) comes this file copy for The Royal Mounted Rides Again serial. Always interesting are the costs associated with any movie (or serial) promotion. According to the onion skin typewritten page glued (see those annoying brown spots) to page 2, the cost for 6,000 pressbooks came to .233 cents per book; with art work taking 659 dollars for advertising.

ComicRack reader version: Download The Royal Mountain Rides Again Pressbook

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The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945)
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What’s a jungle without a witch doctor? At least that’s the theme in most jungle movies from the 1950s. See the movie herald. Of course it’s all about oil found in the jungle, which brings out the human wild beasts. The poster art focuses on a victimized white woman, scantily dressed of course, to sell butts in theater seats.

ComicRack reader version: Download Walk Into Hell Pressbook

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Walk Into Hell (1956) PressbookRead More »

The good old days, when we were focused on enemies from without and Reader’s Digest sensations that shocked the nation instead of dodging the rocks we’re throwing at each other now. This one’s a dramatization of a true hero, Claire Phillips. She spied on the Japanese during World War II and survived a lot of hardship and torture. This pressbook pushes the patriotism and zippo lighters, along with a song, Because of You. The poster art does a good job of exploitation without excess.

ComicRack reader version: Download I Was an American Spy Pressbook

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I Was an American Spy (1951) PressbookRead More »

Here’s the theater herald for Walk Into Hell, formerly titled Walk Into Paradise. The movie didn’t make any money when it was called Walk Into Paradise, so switching over to Hell did the trick. Americans are like that.

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Walk Into Hell (1956) HeraldRead More »