No lie, this herald for Walt Disney’s Pinocchio will make you want to see the movie twice! This herald comes from the 1945 re-release pressbook. This giveaway advertising would be folded in half to create four pages and the theater would print their information on the last page.
Here’s the 1978 re-release pressbook for The Love Bug from It Came From Hollywood. Paul at ICFH writes “Disney for the win, again! Nothing is more satisfying in the annals of movie marketing and showmanship than a Disney Pressbook. It features Fabric-backed Ad Pad pages and a pressbook filled to the brim with every possible angle of showmanship, along with yet another fantastic full-page coloring contest sheet.”
I agree. The Disney pressbooks are always jam-packed with promotion and commercial tie-ins, making them a fun read. (ZC Note: I’ll post the Ad Pad separately.)
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Greetings, one and all.
Crazy Gary here, filling in for the ever vivacious and witty Granny Creech. I am her much-loved nephew and I work in the Dead Letter Office at the post office in Squirrel Hollow.
Granny’s mother, Hattie Jones, suffered a stroke recently and is in the intensive care unit in the hospital in Geyser Springs. Granny went to be with her. Before she left, she told me to carry on her weekly radio spot column, and I agreed, hesitatingly of course, because I don’t have the way with words Granny does nor her knowledge. I told her I would do the best I could. She patted me on the head and said I would do okay. I just wish she hadn’t had that hammer in her hand when she did it. Ha Ha. Just kidding.
Granny gave me a tentative list of the spots she wanted me to cover, and there are some good ones, believe you me. I just hope she gets back in time to do them justice. Until then, though, I will do the best I can.
Today we will feature radio spots for a movie I have never seen. It’s a 1949 comedy murder-mystery feature from Universal International called Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff.
Now I’ve seen several Abbott and Costello movies in the past, but this one has always escaped me. My favorite, of course, is Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Isn’t it everybody’s?!), a classic in every way. I had to look up the synopsis for this one on Wikipedia to see what it was all about and it sounds very confusing…a typical ‘who-dunnit’ with lots of suspects and the patsy, of course, being poor old Lou Costello. The odd part about all of this is the title of the movie. From the synopsis I see that the killer isn’t Boris Karloff at all, and why he is billed as such is a mystery to me. Even the radio spots can’t decide the proper name for the film, announcing it in some cuts as Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer. It must have been a ploy by the marketing department to capitalize on Karloff’s reputation and drawing power.
The spots are some of the oldest Granny has, and she said to thank The Radio Reaper. He dug deep into his reliquary to provide these. An audio rarity to be sure…
So, as Granny would say, sit back and enjoy these spots from 1949, and give a toast to The Radio Reaper the next time you meet with friends to enjoy cups of Granny’s witch’s brew.
I’ll see you next time…
15, 30, and 60 second radio spots
Do you have any radio spots you would like to share? Contact Gary (Granny’s nephew) at [email protected].
I was watching Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man last night. I still chuckle at the silly gags. That made me start thinking I’d like to catch Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, so I pulled out the pressbook to prepare. There is nothing more so 1940s than seeing Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi wearing a turban and tux. The article titled Karloff Still Haunted by Monster Role is worth a gander.
ComicRack and YakReader version: Download Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer .
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Abbott and Costello
Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
(1949) PressbookRead More »