From Zombos' Closet

Johnny Weissmuller in Jungle Moon Men (1955) Pressbook

The Jungle Jim pressbooks were usually a six-page foldout. I scanned the pages in the order you would see them when initially opening the pressbook. The JJ series had a long run of B (perhaps more C) movies to fill theater screens when patrons would spend hours at the theater; unlike today, where you pay a lot of money to see one movie. I'm sure lots of parents would "dump" their kids at the theater for a few hours so they could experience some freedom from parental duties. William Castle took very good advantage of that with his horror movies and their gimmicks. I pity the poor theater crew that had to clean up the mess after Emergo, after kids used the skeleton for target practice with anything at hand they could toss. Oddly enough, due to copyright issues, Johnny Weismuller's name replaced the Jungle Jim handle. Hence the reason the pressbook says Johnny Weissmuller in Jungle Moon Men. He played himself in the movie. This entry leans toward the fantastical, with an immortal Moon Goddess, pygmies that worshipped her (the Moon Men), and a hidden treasure. Wikipedia notes that plot elements were taken from She: A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard.

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Wild, Wild Planet (1966) Pressbook

Subpar miniatures, bad acting, and clumsy wire-work for space scenes renders the wild, wild plot more harebrained than wild. Still, the low budget 1960s space vibe, campy and unintentionally funny, is interesting.

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Love-Slaves of the Amazons (1957) Pressbook

Curt Siodmak strikes again. He can't seem to stay out of the jungle. Surprisingly, this movie gets a 6.5 rating on IMDb. Ah, I miss the good old days of cinema where savage women captured men to make them their love slaves, deep in some jungle somewhere. Ancient civilization, current civilization, no matter; everyone needs some love-slaving at some point, jungle or not. This one was paired with The Monolith Monsters on a double bill. Now that's some date-movie combo if ever there was one. 

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Abbott and Costello Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) Pressbook

One of the best parts about my growing up was watching Abbott and Costello movies every Sunday on WPIX Channel 11 in New York City. That was back in the 1970s. I miss the 70s. It was a wonderful time for pop culture fans, with conventions and the rediscovery of movie serials, meeting with comic greats, and participating in a growing fandom. You could say it was our low-tech methods for streaming and social media. Interesting items in this pressbook include the tie-ins to poultry and the glamazon hunt. While I didn't realize it at the time, women in many movies back then seemed to only be there for eye-candy. Pressbooks would hype their fashions, their makeup, and their bodies, but not much else regarding their talent or character development in the story (though with exceptions, of course). Film noirs deviated somewhat from that mold when it came to storyline characters, but just about everything else was guy-focused with a helping of woman in distress, woman in need (of a man, usually), woman clinging on a guy's arm, woman fainting, tripping, screaming, or arguing, woman watching guy(s) get beat up, woman being manhandled, woman doing the manhandling, and bunch of woman doing any of the previous stuff. Fee fie fo fun, indeed.

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Return of Chandu Movie Herald

Here's the promotional herald for Return of Chandu starring Bela Lugosi (he played the villain in the first movie). The blank space on the back was for the theater to print their advertising and location information. It is approximately letter-sized when unfolded. Mexican Lobby Card for Chandu.

Publicity Pressbook for Return of Chandu.

 

 

Cobra Woman Pressbook Front Cover

Ah, the good old days when Hollywood idealized, feminized, exoticified, and basically fronted eye-candy appeal stories for pretty women. Such women spent countless hours making themselves attractive to men and simply lounged around until a man came along to get the story moving. And of course they were surrounded by other pretty women, making all men swoon and lust after them. Here's the front cover to the pressbook for Cobra Woman (1944). Maria Montez plays the exotic woman and her twin  sister (points for twins!). I wish I had the whole pressbook, but this cover will have to do for now. Leonard Maltin called it a camp classic. You may call it something else. Of course, what's a pretty woman without a tropical locale? Here it's Cobra Island. Along with the prettiness you have Sabu and the not so pretty Lon Chaney Jr. What more can you ask for in a camp classic?

 

Double Shock Running Wild and Tarantula Insert

Get your bobby socks on. It's a double bill of shock and horror! Just when you escape the juke box jungle the tarantula grows on you (in a bad way). This double bill promotion insert fell out of the Running Wild pressbook I was thumbing through. I'm thinking this made a neat date night movie or drive-in snuggle. I'd think the date night would get more traction at the drive in, but the balcony might do in a pinch. I miss theater balconies. They were filled with mystery along with the sticky floors. Thanks to Trailers from Hell (Joe Dante and Charlie Largent) for supplying the Running Wild pressbook and this pleasant surprise contained within.

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) Pressbook

Not until Terry Michitsch sent along these wonderful scans of 20 Million Miles to Earth did I realize William Hopper was playing a lead role in it. Now an ardent Perry Mason fan (the television show with Raymond Burr), Hopper plays Paul Drake, the private detective Mason relies on; so now I need to watch 20 Million Miles again, just to see him in action. TCM's overview mentions how this movie started filming in Italy because Ray Harryhausen wanted to vacation there. Smart move, combining work and play at the same time, and getting paid for it to boot. Harryhausen's Ymir is one of his best creations, with a solid personality and superb body design. Given more budget money, and better scripting, this would be an all out classic.

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My World Dies Screaming (1958) Pressbook

Terror in the Haunted House, also known as My World Dies Screaming, was the first movie lensed using Psychorama. If you've seen The Exorcist, you know what psychorama is: think of those brief flashes of the demon face popping up. In this movie, flashes of a skull were used to subliminally convey terror to the audience, along with other images to convey other emotions. Or so they hoped. 

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Undersea Kingdom (1936) Rerelease Pressbook

Here's the rerelease, 1949, pressbook for Undersea Kingdom. This and Phantom Empire are on my top favorites list for movie serials (Mystery Science Theater 3000 be damned!). Watching guys running around in their shorts must have been pretty thrilling for audiences back then. I still want a few Volkites and definitely a Juggernaut to drive them around in. Interesting that the Reflector Plate gizmo showed up on Star Trek's Mirror, Mirror episode, but with a more deadly function. The Volkite robot became the go to automaton for Republic as it showed up in later serials. Wikipedia has an unusually extensive article on Undersea Kingdom, listing the re-shot cheats used in the movie. Cheats were cliffhangers that often fudged what happened at the end of the last episode with new shots of the "previous" action that changes what the audience had seen. Pretty cheeky if you ask me. So is the use of technology like rayguns and robots, while still using swords and catapults to fight with. One of the pleasures of watching these fantastic serials is to see how creative the wardrobe and prop departments were with a tight budget.

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Forbidden Planet Movie Herald

I know of two movie heralds made available for Forbidden Planet. Both feature Robby the Robot. Here's the second one. The theater would add its information on the last page.

Scars of Dracula (1970) British Pressbook

Christopher Lee may have disliked how his famous count was being treated by Hammer, but each movie was always a treat for me to catch in the local movie theater. The 1970s were a great time for horror movies and conventions. Hammer, and especially Lee's Count Dracula, were still the icing on the fandom cake. While Scars suffered from a lack of attention and commitment, it's still a fun, bloody romp.

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