From Tony Rivers' collection comes this 11 x 17 inches, 1948, Jungle Woman Realart Pressbook. Tony says: "Unfortunately the previous owner put punch holes in it to keep it in a binder. Aside from the fact it was folded, it's the only defect in it. I like that they show all 8 lobby cards on the poster page even though in B&W. Still hoping someday to get the other two Ape Woman press books, either Universal originals or realart releases."
A binder!?
Beginning a new series on Zombos Closet…Travel back in time with me…To yesterday’s tomorrows: Real Scenery for Popeye, Popular Science, November, 1936…
“Fleischer cartoons differed highly from their counterparts at Walt Disney Productions and Warner Bros. Cartoons. The Popeye series, like other cartoons produced by the Fleischers, was noted for its urban feel (the Fleischers operated in New York City, specifically in Broadway), its manageable variations on a simple theme (Popeye loses Olive to bully Bluto and must eat his spinach and defeat him), and the characters’ “under-the-breath” mutterings. The voices for Fleischer cartoons produced during the early and mid-1930s were recorded after the animation was completed. The actors, Mercer in particular, would therefore improvise lines that were not on the storyboards or prepared for the lip-sync (generally word-play and clever puns). Even after the Fleischers began pre-recording dialog for lip-sync shortly after moving to Miami, Mercer and the other voice actors would record ad-libbed lines while watching a finished copy of the cartoon. Popeye lives in a dilapidated apartment building in A Dream Walking (1934), reflecting the urban feel and Depression-era hardships.” (from Wikipedia)
The artwork on this lobby card is unique. I’m not sure of the significance of the human and monkee heads positioned in a similar fashion, but the snake versus leopard tableau is striking against the darker foliage.
Okay, I'm a big fan of jungle movies and gorillas. Note the dinosaur and crazy monster in the bottom left. This is some jungle. And it stars Phyllis (Lois Lane) Coates, too!
In this second half of the Two on a Guillotine pressbook, you will find the ad mats, publicity articles, radio spot blurbs, and this cool Dell Comics tie-in. I rotated a few ad mat pages for a better view. Keep in mind both front cover (shown in Part 1) and back cover (last page shown here) form a wraparound.
You can see the effect television had on the 1960s movie industry in this 27 page, 11 x 17 inches, Warner Brothers pressbook for Two on a Guillotine. There’s a wealth of promotional material for the theater to sell this movie: a horror kit, “heady” television spot, Internation Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) tie-ins, giveaway herald, fright insurance, and exploitation stunts galore.
This crude, paste-up hodgepodge has its charms: the glaring vampire and skull faces, the positions of the masked wrestlers looking toward those faces, the repetition of the flying bat between them, and the skeleton holding onto a cross and rosary. Hammer Horror used Eastman Color for its vivid reds, so while I’ve not seen this movie, I wonder if the production team here was thinking the same thing?
Ritos Malditos (Macumba Love) presents a striking illustration of terror and danger. The use of the inset scenes, done in cartoon format, indicate the artwork is taken from the American poster art. However, the American posters differ in their use of a skull face for the voodoo woman, instead of this alluring face of evil seen here (see American poster below).
La Invasion De Los Muertos screams 1970s by the look of this lobby card. Zovek looks like he's channeling Billy Jack. Here's the lowdown from The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia by Peter Dendle:
There's no real explanation for the unhappy catastrophe afflicting the Mexican countryside–just a lot of talk of the mysteries of the cosmos and shots of a starry sky. Whatever's to blame, the dead return from their moldy coffins with blank stares and a thirst for murder. Congregating in large groups, they choke and maul their victims and then tip over the furniture for good measure…Most interestingly, these zombies have an unprecedented fetish for vehicles: they hover around a bulldozer, and make off with any car or truck the keys have been left in.
Another Mexican lobby card for an American movie, The Watcher in the Woods, that uses the American poster art directly. Effectively atmospheric movie, by the way, that starts out as horror but switches gears to science fantasy. I recommend you see it.
This photo op theater standee entices you to journey down the yellow brick road to see Oz the Great and Powerful. It makes thematic sense, but just doesn't "feel" exciting. Maybe a few more flying monkeys would have helped. (Note: now having seen the movie, it wasn't very exciting, either.)