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The Night of the Hunter (1955) Pressbook

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Directed by Charles Laughton (his only directed movie), The Night of the Hunter offers a poetically sinister mix of silent movie and expressionistic inspired terror. It’s one of the best horror movies you’ve probably never seen. Robert Mitchum is more than chilling in his role as a serial-killing preacher, whose hand tatoos signify his inner turmoil between love and hate. According to Wikipedia, “the influential film magazine Cahiers du cinéma selected The Night of the Hunter in 2008 as the second-best film of all time, behind Citizen Kane.” I wouldn’t argue with their assessment.

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King of the Forest Rangers (1946) Pressbook

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Jack Mathis (Valley of the Cliffhangers) made a reprint of this pressbook available in the 1970s, when fandom was rediscovering the serial action format (especially with the more comic book and comic strip-sourced heroes on the silver screen). I would love to find the "circus" herald, mentioned on the Exploitation page. I'm not sure what denotes a circus herald, but the 5×17 inches size may be a clue. And not many movies would suggest a Special Timber or Logging District Stunt fo promotion, I'm sure.

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Killers From Space (1954) Pressbook

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Yes, Killers from Space is a very low budget, and a lazy production for early 1950s science fiction movies. I suggest you revisit it, though, because it’s storyline involving alien abduction and espionage is still good, albeit never fully realized. As a kid watching this on television, I was always fascinated by the ping pong eyes of the aliens. As an adult, hell, I’m still fascinated. It’s awful but still fun to watch. Given more money to expand the story and the action, the giant insects, dying-planet aliens, and subversion plot would have made it a memorable entry among 1950s science fiction movies.

See more pressbooks and heralds From Zombos’ Closet. Comic book reader version: Download Killers From Space Pressbook

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Blackhawk: Fearless Champion of Freedom
(1952 ) Pressbook

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Made in the final years of the serial format, Blackhawk didn’t have the budget power to fully realize the popular comic book character. Still worth a watch, though, as Kirk Alyn was always super in his roles. Here’s the exciting pressbook used to promote the movie to theaters. The title change (The Miraculous Blackhawk: Freedom’s Champion to Blackhawk: Fearless Champion of Freedom) happened when home video kicked in, according to the wiki article. Miraculous is a bit presumptuous, when you think about it.

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Republic Confidential Prospectus

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Jack Mathis's monumental book, Valley of the Cliffhangers, was published in 1975. Heavily illustrated and exhaustively researched, Mathis documented dozens of Repubic serials, first run in movie theaters in the 1930s and 1940s. Serials, made by Republic and other studios, were a staple of cinema for decades, bringing pop culture influences such as Flash Gordon, Captain America, Commando Cody, Superman, and Captain Marvel to life. Many western, crime, and jungle adventure serials filled the theater screens weekly too. In the 1970s, when fandom was coming into prominence, serials were rediscovered and re-examined for their important role in cinema history. Mathis's Valley of the Cliffhangers is essential reading, albeit an expensive one (the rare, coffee table sized, book usually sells for upwards of a thousand dollars). Also essential reading, but a bit easier to find and less expensive, is his Republic Confidential, a smaller-sized, two-volume set. RC was eventually released in the 1990s. Here is the prospectus promotion for RC. Two prospectuses were created and this is the first one.

Comic book reader version: Download Republic Confidential Supplement

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The Stranger From Pecos (1943) Pressbook

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The Stranger from Pecos was the second movie in Monogram’s Marshal Nevada Jack Mckenzie franchise, starring Johnny Mack Brown. Brown appeared on Wheaties boxes and in comic books and roped in well over a hundred movies before he passed away in 1974.

Comic book reader version: Download Stranger From Pecos Pressbook

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The Monster Times Issue 33, 1974

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Issue 33 of The Monster Times really does go ape. The Planet of the Apes movie franchise gets most of the bananas–I mean coverage–in this issue, but other apes in movies aren't left with just the peel. I had hit a local theater with a bag of McDonald's, back in Brooklyn, circa 1970s, to catch a Planet of the Apes marathon. Ah, memories. I'd do it again faster than someone hitting the floor after slipping on a banana peel. 

To read issues 1 through 48 of The Monster Times, including two specials and the merchandise catalog, slip on over to the magazine morgue From Zombos' Closet.

Comic book reader version: Download The Monster Times Issue 33

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Jungle Man-Eaters (1954) Pressbook

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The good old days, when the only thing you had to worry about in the jungle was what was going to eat you. I'm nonplussed about that tagline: "Johnny Against the Cannibals! as the flames lick her lovely legs." Did Johnny have lovely legs? The sentence logic here is atrocious. So is Johnny Weissmuller's acting throughout the Jungle Jim series, in spite of his lovely legs. But there is a strange fascination for me with these jungle adventures, I admit.

Comic book reader version: Download Jungle Man-Eaters Pressbook

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Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) Pressbook

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Black Camel (with Bela Lugosi) and Charlie Chan at the Opera (with Boris Karloff), are two of the best Chan movies. Currently, you can see both on YouTube. I strongly recommend them. I realize for many that Charlie Chan reflects a less politically correct age, but I would only recommend you re-evaluate this very large body of work, especially with  Warner Oland, arguably the best Charlie Chan (even though he was Swedish). An essential reference work to aid you is Charlie Chan at the Movies:History, Filmography, and Criticism by Ken Hanke.

Comic book reader version: Download Charlie Chan at the Opera

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The Monster Times Issue 32, April 1974

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The latest issue of Little Shoppe of Horrors, issue 43, has a fascinating oral history of The Monster Times, plus a near-complete listing of who did what for each TMT issue. It also has extensive histories on Children of the Damned and The Blood Beast Terror, so don’t miss it. And speaking of TMT, issue 32 shouldn’t be missed either. With Marvel’s Mightiest Monsters, A Profile of the Late Bruce Lee, Questor (some of you may recall when we kind of laughed at robots and thought no way, right?), and Attack of the Mexican Monsters (scoop of some brains with Brainiac and wrestle some mummies works for me).

Comic book reader version: Download The Monster Times Issue 32

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