I'm a big Sherlock Holmes and Watson fan. The Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce series was a well-worked update to the characters. Here's the Mexican lobby card for The Woman in Green. Henry Daniell as Professor Moriarty was a perfect choice: he clearly showed, for me, that reptilian countenance Doyle wrote about. The ending is rather silly, though: Professor Moriarty is certainly more clever than that.
This is one of those horror movies that seems to impress more than its production should warrant. The music is pretty good for a budget horror, and the love storyline, of ancient man and reincarnated woman, brings a certain tragedy and out of time element to it all. But Richard Anderson was practically comatose throughout, and the voice-over wasn't needed. Still, once the music kicks in and Quintilus rises, albeit slowly, there's a definite eerie mood that begs you to yearn for more (an effect I also experienced with The She-Creature).
Lighted blow molds depicting ghosts are a quaint way to bring that vintage feel to your Halloween. Here are some I spotted on eBay.
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By now you probably have gotten the feeling I'm into Republic Pictures Serials, and jungle movies. Now, if Linda Stirling had actually worn the outfit shown in the illustration for this Mexican lobby card, well, I'd have liked that too. Of course, there are social considerations to discuss and argue in these older jungle movies and serials: how white men and women always seem to find themselves ruling over native tribes, and unlikely stuff like that. Or how the prop and art departments kept coming up with mismatching wardrobes for the culture and time period (yes, budget, I know). I wouldn't mind, though, wearing those puffy pants (see the inset scene). Those are awesome. And don't forget the boots.
A fun Republic Serial, Undersea Kingdom is one of my favorites, with ray gun-toting robots, a rocket submarine, and a cool armored vehicle called the Juggernaut. And with Ray "Crash" Corrigan leading the way, how can you go wrong. Visually, for a budget serial, it still packs a retro and hodgepodge stylish wallop.
Here's a fantastic Mexican lobby card for Horror Hotel (aka The City of the Dead), a little gem of a movie. They used a lot of fog to cover up the budget sets. Works like a charm. Creepy and spooky. And with Christopher Lee perfectly placed in his element.
Not sure why they bothered making a remake when the original is so darn good.
Comic reader version: Download Poltergeist Pressbook
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Nicely done Mexican lobby card that simply borrows the illustration from the English poster art.
I'm not certain, but I believe this is the Mexican lobby card for The Phantom of the West. The style is colorful and simple, similar to this Chandu lobby. An original photograph was pasted onto the card (I'm assuming by hand), which gave way to printing the scene later. The early Mexican lobbies with the pasted on photographs are quite novel and always a favorite find for collectors like me.
Here's the ad mat insert to the Invisible Agent pressbook. These are the newspaper ads that would be used by the movie theater for promotion. The ads shown here would simply be cut out and sent to the newspaper, along with the theater's location and show times. Now, of course, you just open Fandango or another app on your phone. But seeing these ads in the newspaper was a lot more visually exciting, if not as convenient.
See more movie pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.
Bert I. Gordon directs a horror movie with Orson Welles. Need I say more? Okay, Pamela Franklin is in it too.