October 16, 2019

Mars Attacks the World
and Planet Outlaws Movie Herald

October 16, 2019 / Pressbooks (Horror, Sci Fi, Fantasy) / Leave a Comment

Oct 16 2019

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 »

The Cradle Snatchers (1926)
Stage Play Herald

October 16, 2019 / Pressbooks (Non-Horror) / Leave a Comment

Oct 16 2019

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.

Red Barry (1938) Movie Herald

October 16, 2019 / Pressbooks (Non-Horror) / Leave a Comment

Oct 16 2019

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).