Two men go into the jungle to search for a woman kidnapped by murderous apes. Much monkey-business ensues. Sure, complain about today’s movies, I dare you. Directed by Ron Ormond. He made Christian movies, too. He also directed Mesa of Lost Women. I’ll leave the innuendo up to you.
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.
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).
In the Green Spider cabaret, somebody gets shot during a trumpet solo. Cue the crime drama mystery. This Mexican lobby card is just as mysterious.
A gorgeous and dynamic Mexican lobby card for Big House, U.S.A draws attention to the crime drama. Five criminals go after the loot. Who will survive? Lon Chaney Jr gets minuscule billing. (Note: I'm thinking this is a repop, not the original card, but still a beauty.)
Dick Powell made an excellent Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet. He plays another tough guy here, successfully going against type (you know, the musical comedy leading man role that Hollywood wanted to peg him to). This Mexican lobby card shows the dames, the look, and the gun, essential elements for any noir crime drama.
Here's one for Doris Day's 97th birthday. I don't think she showed as much cleavage in the movie as shown here, but yee-haw! Keep 'em cracking, DD!
The old dark house trope as done by Alfred Hitchcock–and quite a movie it is. This Mexican lobby card does the movie justice. Well, except for the typo.
Here's the Mexican lobby card for Neutron contra los Asesinos del Karate (1964). At first glance it looks like a simple layout, but look deeper. The inset scene and text are given dynamism by being slanted short of the diagonal, allowing the proscenium illustration to show the story's key themes. Notice the careful balance of the woman at bottom left, perfectly positioned along the slanting text and scene, as she looks to left and upward, while Neutron looks toward left (ostensibly towards her).
Interesting that the leading lady doesn't receive top billing in this 1953 Western, Woman They Almost Lynched. She does get an embellished bosom, however, in this Mexican lobby card (and also in the American poster art). Of particular note is how she's holding two guns (again, also in the American poster art), but has only one holster. Hmm.
A very ominous Mexican lobby card for Damiano Damiani’s The Witch in Love (La strega in amore). This is a good example of how a simple layout can add subtle and not so subtle themes: the main scissor illustration showing violence and death; the younger woman on the left showing erotic fantasy but also foreboding as she faces toward the woman on the right; and the flaming passion or ill-intent shown by that older woman on the right. The eyes are drawn to each of these three visual statements in that order. The inset scene is one of action, too, which keeps the level of tension across this lobby card quite high.
Amando de Ossorio (he did the Blind Dead movies and other horrors) serves up a tale of sorcery and warlocks, decapitation, and leopard skin clad women. This Mexican lobby card incorrectly lists his name as "Armando."