From Zombos' Closet

Zombos' Closet...a vast trove of endearingly cheap thrills, including movie and book reviews, and scans of his collections of cinema pressbooks, goofy paper-cutout Halloween decorations, and his amazing collection of Mexican lobby cards from B-grade films. If you have time to descend into a serious rabbit-hole of marvelous trash-culture nostalgia, visit that site just as soon as you possibly can. (DangerousMinds.net)

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Mandrake the Magician (1939) Pressbook

Here's another Columbia movie serial pressbook for a comics hero, Mandrake the Magician. Lots of magical promotion for this movie can be found here. Wikipedia mentions that Mandrake may possibly be the first superhero (he appeared in 1934).

Comics reader version: Download Mandrake the Magician Pressbook

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New Adventures of Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder (1949) Pressbook

Here's another rare pressbook that recently went for over a thousand dollars at auction (crazy over-bidders!). Columbia's promotion for Batman and Robin is pretty smashing in these 16 pages. Of note is the single, but still important, promotion, Attract the Girls! on page 6. Looking back on those costumes, we can snicker a bit now, given all the high-tech stuff done today for the Batman movies, but audiences must have been just as thrilled as we were, back then.  As for me, I've not seen this serial yet, and look forward to doing so. The poster art is exciting. This one's for Will Meugniot on Facebook, who posts lots of wonderful animation, movie, and comic book stuff you shouldn't miss.

Comic reader version: Download New Adventures of Batman and Robin Pressbook

Black Dragons (1942) Mexican Lobby Card

This looks like a repop, but here's the still impressive Mexican lobby card for Black Dragons, one of the Monogram 9 movies starring Bela Lugosi. I must recommend two books for you to fully appreciate these low-budget but highly interesting (and downright weird most of the time) movies from poverty row, especially Black Dragons. The first book takes a welcomed highbrow and passionate argument approach to the nine with an aesthetic appreciation: Bela Lugosi and the Monogram 9 by Gary D. Rhodes and Robert Guffey. The other book by Tom Weaver, Poverty Row Horrors! Monogram, PRC, and Republic Horror Films of the Forties, will give you the filmographic data and background. My favorite one of the nine? The Corpse Vanishes; a weird mix (drunken doctor can revive the dead, house with hidden passageways, Lugosi doing Lugosi) that is highly watchable. 

Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972) Pressbook

Wikipedia notes this is the first Disney movie to be shown on television in a two-hour time slot, in 1975. Previous movies were edited or shown in two one-hour time slots. As usual, Disney heaps on the tie-ins, from jewelry to wallets and purses, to the Dell comic book. There's also a tie-in to 'Teen magazine. A plus for the movie is all the memorable stars appearing in it like Kurt Russell, Jim Backus, William Windom, and Cesar Romero to name some of them. The New York Times reviewer, Howard Thompson, at the time, said to try the real McCoy and see the original The Invisible Man, although other critics were kinder. 

Comic reader version: Download Now You See Him Pressbook

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Great Adventures of Captain Kidd (1953) Pressbook

When I think of movie serials, Spy Smasher, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers come to mind. Swashbuckling pirates, not so much. I wouldn't mind having a club card, though.

Comic reader version: Download Great Adventures of Captain Kidd Pressbook

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Hellzapoppin' (1941) Spanish Pressbook

The format of this Spanish pressbook for Olsen and Johnson's zany Hellzapoppin compelled me to add it to my collection. Their comedy was brash, insulting, crazy, and non-stop fast. They covered it all: vaudeville, radio, theater, television, and film. The wild cover art and long, slim appearance of this pressbook pays tribute to their unique style.

Here's the Hellzapoppin Theater Program. See more pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.

Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951) Pressbook

First, I'd like to confirm that I want the Capt. Video wallet and hosiery. The two-way radio and basque shirt with day-glow are also high on my list. Of particular note in the series is the Mu-ray camera, which allowed viewing of imagery of past events. This ability, in scientific or magical variations, appears in later genre movies and television series. A highly successful serial for Columbia, it is the only one built around a television series. The Honeymooners TV or Not TV episode (my favorite one) has Norton and Ralph pooling their money to buy a television set. Much mayhem ensues as both try to share it but disagree on what to watch, with Captain Video being a major sticking point as Norton, wearing a space helmet, puts up a fight. To infinity and beyond! Here's the rare Captain Video pressbook for your galactic pleasure.

Comic reader version: Download Captain Video Pressbook

Universal Classic Monsters Join Halloween Horror Nights 2019

This just in from...

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., ORLANDO, Fla. (April 29, 2019) – “Universal Monsters” will come to life in all-new terrifying Halloween Horror Nights mazes at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort, inspired by Universal’s original cinematic monsters and the movie studio that invented the horror films. The terrifying experiences on both coasts will wake some of the most frightening and legendary monsters in horror history and bring them face-to-face with guests at the nation's premier Halloween events.

On the heels of last year’s successful “Universal Monsters” experience, Universal Studios Hollywood will introduce an all-new horrifying maze, “Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man,” that delves deeper into the Universal Monsters’ lore. Loosely based on Universal’s 1943 horror movie of the same name, this reimagined tale for the 21st century takes guests on a terrifying journey that bears witness to a deadly confrontation between these two horror icons and the epic battle that rages between them.

Guests will follow in the footsteps of the Frankenstein Monster, lured by exotic music towards a nearby gypsy camp while desperately seeking sanctuary from a mob of angry villagers determined to destroy him. It is within the gypsy encampment that the Frankenstein Monster meets The Wolf Man and where the madness begins as guests are led along a path of destruction through the murky Moors, to a creepy cemetery and into the smoldering ruins of Castle Frankenstein and its icy cellars beneath.

Once again, GRAMMY® Award-winning musician, SLASH, long hailed as one of the best electric guitar-players of all time, will collaborate with Universal Studios Hollywood to compose an original score for the maze. Click here to witness the rise of the undead that begins this fall at Universal Studios Hollywood.

At Universal Orlando Resort, guests will be hunted by every single grisly monster from the anthology, including Dracula, The Wolf Man and Frankenstein, in the all-new experience, “Universal Monsters.” Each sinister environment will bleed from one to the next as guests press through the darkened realms of horrifying creatures.

Guests will face bloody terrors in Dracula’s castle and flee from what is behind the cryptic howls of the grim forest. They’ll run from the horrifying manmade monster within Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, and fall prey to an ancient Egyptian curse as they are pursued by the evil Mummy. Guests will try to escape the mysterious Creature lurking in the Black Lagoon, or become victims of other horrors waiting in the shadows.

Click here to witness the terror that is coming to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort.

“Halloween Horror Nights” begins Friday, September 6 in Orlando and on Friday, September 13 in Hollywood. Additional details about the events will be revealed soon. A limited time ticket offer and vacation package for Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights are on sale now.

For more information about “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort, visit www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com.

Updates on “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios Hollywood are available online at Hollywood.HalloweenHorrorNights.com and on Facebook at: “Halloween Horror Nights – Hollywood,” Instagram at @HorrorNights and Twitter at @HorrorNights as Creative Director John Murdy reveals a running chronicle of exclusive information. Watch videos on Halloween Horror Nights YouTube and join the conversation using #UniversalHHN.

Louisiana Hussy (1959) Pressbook

Yes, the only reason I like this pressbook is the Cajun beauty poster art and tagline. How can anyone pass up on "born to take love and make trouble?" Sounds like a perfectly good trashy drive-in movie to me. You can catch it on YouTube if you have some time to kill. 

Comic reader version: Download Louisiana Hussy Pressbook

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Valley of the Lawless (1936) Pressbook

This pressbook for Johnny "Mack" Brown's Valley of the Lawless is red, white, and blue all over. Brown appeared in Dell comics and on Wheaties boxes as well as making over a hundred cowboy movies.

Comic reader version: Download Valley of the Lawless Pressbook

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SOS Submarine (1948) Pressbook

SOS Submarine, the American title for the Italian movie, Men on the Sea Floor (1941), had a surprisingly interesting pressbook created for it. While only four pages, plus a one-page supplement for double-billing with Harpoon, its cover is more sophisticated in design and execution than most foreign movies pressbooks. The American-dubbed version hit theaters in 1948.

See more pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) Mexican Lobby Card

On a relatively modest budget, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms grossed millions. Beating Godzilla to the theaters, the giant monster here became the first to usher in the oops-we-dropped-an-atomic-bomb-and-this-happens movies that revitalized date-nights for countless teenagers in the 1950s. Ray Harryhausen does an excellent job of bringing the rhedosaurus to life and the script (helped along a little by Ray Bradbury's short story, The Fog Horn), keeps it all moving. Mental Floss provides 11 Deep Facts about the movie, which include the casting of a live reptile to play the monster (bad idea, glad they didn't), and Harryhausen devised the climax at Coney Island (a very good idea).