This very impressive pressbook, at 36 pages for Five Graves to Cairo, plays up Erich von Stroheim, an impressive director and Hollywood presence himself.
Comic book reader version: Download Five Graves to Cairo Pressbook
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With a completely electronic soundtrack and Robby the Robot, nicely centered around a creepy ID monster, Forbidden Planet is a great movie. One can only wonder at how theater marquees and lobbies, that employed the promotional items shown in this 20-page pressbook (like the standee and the fluorescent valance), must have looked to genre fans when the movie aired on the big screen. Oh, and there was Anne Francis to oggle at too, which the crew of the C-57D starship easily do for a good portion of the movie, in the usual 1950s cinematic mating process. A pulp fantasy come true, to be sure. Robby’s designer, Robert Kinoshita, also created another favorite: B-9 in Lost in Space. Unfortunately, someone actually used the pressbook as intended and cut out an ad mat or two. Luckily, it didn’t affect the readability much.
Comic book reader version: Download Forbidden Planet Pressbook
More other worldly pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet.
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Here's the tabloid newspaper herald for One Million Years B.C. I love the tongue in cheek approach. Raquel Welch's fur bikini pin-up was quite a seller after this movie came out. This was Hammer Studios first prehistoric movie. I'm not sure why Hollywood had a fascination with prehistoric period dramas back then, but I doubt many in the audiences went to see the dinosaurs.
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My favorite movie heralds are the comics-style ones. Here's the one for Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee. (See Black Belt Jones herald.) I fondly remember catching the early Lee movies in a Chinatown theater in New York City. After hearing all the hype, it was breathtaking to watch him on the big screen.
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Here's a 1974 double bill herald for a re-release of the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers space operas, Mars Attacks the World and Planet Outlaws. I'm more partial to Buck Rogers, but Flash was pretty cool too. Larry "Buster" Crabbe really made the characters come to life on the big screen. These serials and subsequent movies influenced a lot of creative people, Steven Spielberg being one of them. This is also a good example of the newspaper-styled herald some movies used for promotion. Notice also that this one isn't a pressbook sample: it has theater information printed on it. I'm guessing this was a college showing, based on the theater names, lack of location information, and the fact that colleges would do programs like this back in the 1970s, when fandom was beginning to pay attention to the serial heroes.
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Mars Attacks the World
and Planet Outlaws Movie HeraldRead More »
Humphrey Bogart was third-billed for this stage play, The Cradle Snatchers. Remember those battle-of-the-sexes movies and plays? Well, some of you, anyway, I'm sure. Fun, fun, fun. Here's the die-cut herald for the play. I found it too cute, so now it's in Zombos' Closet (I mean literally: it's in my closet). I have a soft spot for die-cut printing. This one in particular conveys the fun, fun, fun of the play in a (wait for it) playful way.
Here's the movie herald for Red Barry, a 13-chapter serial put out by Universal. The blank space on the last page was left for movie theaters to add their location, play dates, and whatever marketing hype they deemed relevant. The herald's purchasing cost was usually priced per thousand. Ordering information, and a sample herald, could be found in the campaign or pressbook sent out by distributors. Heralds were usually smaller than 8 x 11 inches and printed on one sheet, although both were often used, and larger heralds with multiple pages can be found. Many heralds were even fashioned to look like tabloid newspapers, while others, like this one, used a neat poster ad that conveyed all the thrills and chills to be found in the movie (hopefully).
Here’s a colorful herald for Dracula (1931), currently up for auction on eBay from seller cvtreasures1. Dr. Gangrene has another version here. Heritage Auctions auctioned off another version too.
While critics mostly hated Prom Night on its first release, I’d watch this on a double bill with Terror Train anytime.
Comic book reader version: Download Prom Night Pressbook
If you’re not back by midnight, you’re probably reading more sharp pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet.
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When your honeymoon starts with your wife telling you she’s bad, but will try to be good, you know you’re in for a wild ride. The poster art says it all. An intense thrill ride toward a dead end, Gun Crazy is a must-see noir film.
Comic book viewer version: Download Gun Crazy Pressbook
See more crazy pressbooks here.
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My guess is this is somewhat rare. While the Spanish pressbooks for notable old movies are usually small (this one is 8.5 x 6.5 inches), they are neatly laid out and use imagery well. Of course, being House of Dracula, I couldn’t pass it up. Read my review of HOD. (13 Ghosts and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed German pressbooks)
See more neat pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet.
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In this Western the bad guy goes straight and has time to sing three songs along the straight and narrow path.
Comic book reader version: Download Singing Guns Pressbook (See more crooning pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet)
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