Lots of sell and promotion fills this pressbook for The Scarlet Spear, a jungle movie "actually filmed in the jungle." From a chimp delivering the film reels, to street bally and product tie-ups, they covered all the bases; and tossed in a coloring page for good measure.
Comic book reader version: Download The Scarlet Spear Pressbook
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This is the re-release pressbook for 1962. I'm willing to bet you never knew there was an Alfred Hitchcock Coloring Book to promote the movie! Well, only four pages, sure, but the "This is a seat in a movie theatre" page should be colored and framed. And you thought Roger Corman and William Castle were the only ones with a barker-bone in their bodies, didn't you?
Comic reader version: Download Rear Window Pressbook
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Here's a nice dry and dusty Western for you on a cold snowy day. Tension at Table Rock sports an eye-grabbing illustration in the poster art, daring you to blink twice. Not only is there a song tie-in to go along with the movie's action, there's also Hollywood Bread; no casting call needed, just butter.
View in comic reader: Download Tension at Table Rock Pressbook
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I have yet to see this film. Some movies just need the right moment to enjoy fully. Here's the comic reader version: Download The Wild Bunch Pressbook.
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The poster art is pretty eye-grabbing in that pulp paperback sort of way; but don't expect that level of sleaze in the movie. It's just a tease for trash-loving movie buffs. Comic reader version: Download Hustler Squad Pressbook
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Here’s one for Mario Bava fans, from the Italian comic series Diabolik.
Comic book reader version: Download Danger Diabolik Pressbook (and see more pressbooks)
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Once you get past the stereotypes these actors were locked into by the script writers, they're still damn good actors. Here's the pressbook for Charlie Chan and the Feathered Serpent. Mantan Moreland expertly provided the comic relief for many movies, including King of the Zombies. Playing the servant role at a time when Hollywood accepted such limitations for audience consumption, he transcended his chauffeur and butler characters to make otherwise lacklustre movies worth seeing just for him alone. He became a key draw for the Charlie Chan series from Monogram. At one point, Moe and Shemp Howard seriously considered him for a role as one of the Three Stooges. He was that good.
Comic Book Reader Version: Download Charlie Chan Feathered Serpent Pressbook
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Charlie Chan
and the Feathered Serpent (1948)
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A powerful book, a powerful movie. (Comic book reader version: Download To Kill a Mockingbird Pressbook)
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Here's the tabloid herald for Shock Corridor. Lots of exploitation-sell, such as "shocking world of psychos and sex-maddened women exposed!" and "the snake-pit world revealed in all its outrages!" Now, of course, it sounds like just another day in politics. Back then, though, it meant something!
I'll list Shock Corridor under non-horror but it terrified me when I first saw it on television in cathode ray tube black and white. So, yes, I was too young for it. But it still scares me. A journalist fakes insanity to go after a story. The story starts to go after him instead. Here's the pressbook to serve as a warning to you. But definitely see it. It just may scare and unsettle you as much as it did me.
Comic book reader version: Download Shock Corridor Pressbook
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Naming a giant elephant Bimbo just doesn't seem right. What's with the use of names beginning with "B" in circus vernacular anyway?
The Wikipedia article on the movie Mondo Cane states: "is a horror-documentary film written and directed by Italian filmmakers Paolo Cavara, Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti. The film consists of a series of travelogue vignettes that provide glimpses into cultural practices around the world with the intention to shock or surprise Western film audiences."
I don't understand the horror-documentary label–it may be shocking, but horror? I recall seeing the trailer for this movie while sitting in the theater waiting for the main attraction to start. I was maybe 7 or so. Boy, was I shocked. To this day I still see the bug-eating scene in my head. Of course, now you can go to YouTube and other points Internet to be shocked. But hey, this was back in the 1960s, baby. We had better values then. We kept all the shocking stuff in the movie theaters.
Comic book reader version: Download Mondo Cane Pressbook
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