Monster Laffs: The Monkey Talks (1927)
So I says to the barkeep, "What do ya take me for, a dummy!"
The Roaring West (1935) Movie Pressbook
Fifteen exciting chapters of Wild West action with Buck Jones. No cussing allowed.
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The Brides of Dracula (1960) Movie Pressbook
Still a good movie, even if Christopher Lee wasn't in it. This is something of a double bill pressbook, although The Leech Woman is somewhat off to the side as a suggestion more than a big selling point.
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Bomba on Panther Island (1949)
Pressbook
I would watch the Bomba and Tarzan movies every Sunday on local television, along with Abbott and Costello. The movies aren’t great, but always entertaining, and they give you an interesting perspective on how Hollywood (and America) viewed the Dark Continent (Sub-Saharan Africa according to Wikipedia), and its inhabitants through cinema. And boy, I wish I looked that good in a loincloth. I know the term “dark continent” has fallen out of favor, but it best encompasses the artistic leanings and dramatic on-film mindsets of the 1930s through 1950s: mysterious, unknown, and sinister.
Master of the World (1961)
Movie Pressbook
This large 15 by 22 inches pressbook for Jules Verne's Master of the World, starring Vincent Price, has stiff covers, lots of promotional material, and a polished page layout. All of this presents quite a "selling" package to movie theaters, and indicative of American International's use of quality pressbooks for movies where Vincent Price is involved. (See The Tomb of Ligeia and The Haunted Palace.)
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Macabre (1958) Movie Pressbook
The promotions for William Castle's movies were always lively. Here's the one thousand dollars death by fright pressbook for Macabre.
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Gunn (1967) Movie Herald
Private eye Peter Gunn was one of my favorite characters on television in the 1960s. Even as young as I was I loved that opening theme music. It's a wonder I didn't become a PI. And I shouldn't forget Honey West. She was a favorite, too, though I think I was in love with the AC Cobra she drove and all the high tech gadgets she used more than anything else. Here's the movie herald from 1967's color caper, Gunn.
Monster Laffs: Dinoland Nudists
I hear the only major expense in a prehistoric wedding is the mastodon catering.
Nightmare Theatre TV Ad
Posted in the Universal Monsters and More Facebook group, this print advertisement for Nightmare Theatre reminds us of how much fun it was staying up late to catch a monster movie on local television. Growing up, I slept around 3 hours each night. Now I can't get enough sleep. For me, it was either reading all my monster magazines in the wee hours of the morning or watching TV until the stations went off the air.
The Gorilla (1939)
Movie Herald
With Lionel Atwill and Bela Lugosi, even the Ritz Brothers couldn't make The Gorilla too unwatchable. I spotted this movie herald listed on eBay.
Official World’s Fair Balloon
I vaguely recall the 1964-65 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens. But I do sorely miss my mold-a-rama Make Your Own Sinclair Dinosaurs. It was quite magical watching your 25 cent dinosaur being created as you watched. I couldn't get enough of the Futurama exhibit sponsored by General Motors, either. I came across this mailer for the Official World's Fair Balloon. Being a nostalgic type I couldn't pass it up.
Norfolk and Western Railway:
Coal Advertisement 1954
Those were the days, weren't they? Now we're all kind of being burnt at the stake because of our use of coal, oil, and all that burning stuff that did make us 'handier' and 'happier' for a long time. 'Healthier' is debatable, though, at least now. Of course, hindsight is always perfect. What's intriguing in this advertisement for the bituminous coal industry are the use of the stereotypical 1950s housewife taking some serious umbrage from the Puritans, and the small-print patriotic blurb that reads "The contributions of the Bituminous Coal Industry are typical of the many ways in which the people benefit when business enterprise is allowed to operate freely as it is in the U.S.A." My impression is said industry was getting some flack even then for their practices, and we all know how unregulated enterprise doesn't always benefit the people. But the 1950s was a great time to be naive, so we may find amusement in this kind of advertising now, but don't kid yourself: we're all still pretty naive.