Dell Movie Classics: Master of the World (1961)

Dell comics were best known for their TV series tie-ins (click here to read an older post about them) but they gave Gold Key some competition in the 1960s with movie tie-ins as well. This series was known as the Dell Movie Classics and there were quite a few titles in their line-up, all of them featuring juicy painted illustrations or photo covers. 

This one - Master of the World (#1157) - was released in conjunction with the American International adventure film of the same name starring Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, and Henry Hull. The film tried trying to capture the grandeur of Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in 80 Days but since the studio had a smaller budget and the sets were limited, it came off as more of a B+ adventure flick....but an enjoyable one, nonetheless. Since I revisited it a few days ago, it seemed only fitting to feature its comic connection in our Dell series. 

The "madman" referred to on the cover is Robur the Conquerer, a Captain Nemo of the air. Jules Verne liked powerful men who destroyed warships and while Captain Nemo was busy sinking them with his submarine, Robur blasted them from above in his flying airship. 

This entry in the series features a fantastic painted cover by Don Spaulding depicting one of these warships being destroyed by the airship. Inside, the artwork and inking is very nice, too. Of course, the characters don't resemble the actors exactly but I do not think they were permitted to copy their likenesses. 

Today, this comic sells for $10-20 for a decent copy. If you want to read more about this fun flick, check out our review here. 

Our New Website!

Over 12 years ago, my sister and I started Silverbanks Pictures, a hobby business of buying/selling original vintage movie photos that turned into a partnership and a storefront on eBay. For a long time we had hoped to have a website to go with this business and now we finally took the time to build one - and it uses our favorite platform Blogger!  

Our new site: https://www.silverbankspictures.com

eBay's storefront fees have been going up every year so our new website - Silverbanks Pictures (check it out!) - will feature lower prices since we no longer have to sneak those fees into the cost of the photos. We still accept offers on all images and hunt for special requests as well, so if you see something you like or don't see something you like, just send us an email. 

On the right column is a Subscribe button where you can get updates every time new photos are added to the site. 

As a special gift for Silver Scenes readers, type "SILVER-30" in the comment box on the order form and we will take an additional 30% off your order. 

With the holiday season approaching, consider giving the gift of a vintage movie still to the film lover in your life. They not only look great framed but they are investments that increase in value over time!

Gold Key Comic: Walt Disney Presents Bullwhip Griffin (1967)

"On the trail of California gold, a boy and his family butler seek a lost map to the fabulous Mother Lode!"

That's Bullwhip Griffin in a nutshell, but there is much more to the story than that and this comic, from Gold Key publications, shows you just how entertaining the movie is. That's what these comics were for.... a little entertainment and a lot of promotion. The comic books were usually released as movie tie-ins just after the film was released in theatres. 

Gold Key and Dell Movie Classics were the two big comic book houses that issued all of the latest film releases in picture-story format. Gold Key was lucky enough to have a license from Walt Disney Productions, so they issued all of the Disney film adaptations, comic characters (like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse), as well as the Disney television adaptations (Zorro, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, The Hardy Boys, etc)....and they made them quite nicely. In fact, I think Gold Key's illustrations are a slight cut above Dell's quality. 

The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin, starring Roddy McDowall, Suzanne Pleshette, and Karl Malden, hit the theatres in 1967 and, shortly after, this wonderful little comic book arrived on the newsstands. It followed the film scene by scene and most of the characters were drawn to match the actors in the movie...with the exception of "Bullwhip" himself, Roddy McDowall. Bullwhip doesn't resemble Roddy in the least. 

Walt Disney presents Bullwhip Griffin sells for $2-$12 on average but could go up to $30 for a near mint condition comic. If you're a fan of the film, it is a nice collectible to own. 

For a Greater Attendance: 1962 Release Schedule Promotional Book

Last year I came across a great series of annual promotional books called "For a Greater Audience" that were released by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres Inc. in the 1960s. Each catalog contained a section devoted to each studio where the current release schedule for that studio was posted along with movie posters, photos or blurbs describing their upcoming projects. 

These books were most likely distributed to theater chains in America in the hopes that the theater owners would take a greater interest in the various studios' upcoming releases. They are wonderful books to look at but, unfortunately, are quite rare. I managed to snag the 1962 book which has a great selection of films in it and I'll be sharing images from the 1964 and 1966 issues in a future post. 

The catalog is made of colored cardboard with tabbed fold-out sheets separating each studio's release schedule between August and December of '62. It begins with Paramount Studios which, as you can see, were promoting their two big releases of the year: Elvis in Girls, Girls, Girls and the ( now forgotten ) Charleton Heston comedy The Pigeon That Took Rome. Also on their release schedule were two Jerry Lewis comedies and several re-releases ( including Rear Window ). 

20th Century Fox had two epics in their late 1962 lineup: The Longest Day and Cleopatra, which was slated for an early 1963 release. The Spartans was due out in September, Gigot in October, and The Lion in November. 

The photos and posters are great to look at, but what I found most interesting about these books were all the films that were being promoted that later had their titles changed or their casts changed. For example, The Grand Duke and Mr. Pimm starring Glenn Ford and Hope Lange later became Love is a Ball; Not on Your Life starring Robert Preston and Tony Randall became Island of Love; Jason and the Golden Fleece became Jason and the Argonauts, and Gidget Goes to Paris eventually was changed to Gidget Goes to Rome. One can only guess what film Touch Fire-Catch Flame starring Cary Grant was ( Father Goose? ) or Monsieur Cognac starring Tony Curtis referred to.

Dell Movie Classics: The Lost World ( 1960 )

In the 1950s, Dell Comics launched a fantastic movie tie-in series that featured comic books of current hit films. The majority of the titles they chose for this series were aimed at children, so Walt Disney titles often graced the cover of their comics, but also a good number of action and adventure films ( e.g. Hatari, Dr. Who and the Daleks, Jason and the Argonauts ). One favorite was Irwin Allen's The Lost World ( #1145 ).

This colorful comic cost a mere 10 cents when it was first released in 1960 and featured color photos from the film on the cover as well as black-and-white photos on the inside cover. The comic story follows the film quite closely and boasts some great artwork by Gil Kane. 

David Hedison and Jill St. John don't quite look like their normal selves, but he captured a good likeness of the dinosaur lizards mauling each other. 

Today, this comic sells for $20-$50 which may be a bit steep for the casual film fan, but if you are an Irwin Allen enthusiast, then it is well worth the buy. 

Check it Out! - Tony's Trading Site of TV/Film Annuals & Comics

If you love browsing antique stores and tend to stop and pick up old Dell or Golden Key comics just to admire their cover art ( especially the Movie/TV themed issues ), then you'll have to check out Tony's Trading Site of TV/Film Annuals and Comics. This great site is run by Tony ( natch ) and features a great selection of cover art from British "Annuals" of the 1960s-1980s. 

Film annuals are not something most Americans are familiar with since they are not common stateside. The closest thing to them is the Movie/TV-themed "collector issue" magazines you may see at a supermarket checkout line. You know, those glossy-covered-chock-full-of-pictures beauties that cost $10+. But even those aren't quite annuals because they feature articles on the entire run of a classic series ( e.g. I Love Lucy ) whereas annuals were released....well, annually. Since they were published while the series was still airing, the articles usually focused on the previous season's episodes and the cast. They also had newly-written stories based on the show and comic strips for the young fans to enjoy. 

Tony's Trading collection has a nice selection of TV-themed annuals of both American and British television series. The covers are real winners....the only disappointment is that the images were not scanned larger to properly enjoy them. Nevertheless, it's fun to find a resource like this. 

Click here to check out Tony's TV Annuals - and while you are there, head to his homepage to check out his other non-TV-themed annuals and his great collection of Doctor Who and Walt Disney books and VHS covers. 

The Boys and Girls Film Book ( 1952 )

For the latest post in our new series covering movie memorabilia, we are putting the spotlight on a wonderful issue of the Boys' and Girls' Film Book from 1952. 

Unlike most American magazines that released issues monthly, Great Britain had a number of publishing companies that issued "annuals". The Boys' and Girls' Film Book was one such publication. It was published by the Heirloom Library of London and features some really good articles on both American and British films and the stars of 1952. 

Since this was a book aimed for juvenile audiences most of the films are suitable for boys and girls of all ages. These include Where's Charley? ( Ray Bolger ), Ivanhoe ( Robert Taylor ), The Sound Barrier ( Nigel Patrick ), The Crimson Pirate ( Burt Lancaster ), Worm's Eye View ( Robert Shiner ), Scaramouche ( Stewart Granger ) and Twice Upon a Time ( an early UK version of The Parent Trap ). 

There are articles about stuntmen, animal actors, comedy teams, and stars' pets as well as features on Tarzan, Roy Rogers, Rex Allen, Janette Scott and Norman Wisdom. Also snuck in between the pages are full-color photos to pin on a wall and trivia pages. All in all, a great book for children ( and adults! ). 

The Boys' and Girls' Film Book is a hardcover book, clothbound with heavy boards. Issues like this sell at antique stores and auction sites for $6-20 each, depending on their condition. 

Movie Magazines & Memorabilia: TV Radio Mirror

Today we are launching a new series featuring short reviews of vintage movie magazines, books, and other memorabilia. My sister and I have been dealers in the movie memorabilia industry for nearly ten years now and we have discovered a lot of great magazines and other periodicals that are chock full of great articles, photos, film reviews, and interesting tidbits so we'd like to share these with our readers in the hopes that you will hunt for some of these periodicals yourself. We'll post some photos ( captured from eBay or our own collection ), a little background info about the magazine, and a summarization of its regular contents. 

Let's start off now with one of our favorites - TV-Radio Mirror magazine. This was a great magazine! It was an American magazine that was released monthly and every issue features wonderful articles about the radio and television stars that were popular at the time. Like most movie magazines, the pages were packed with on-the-set photos, "at home" snapshots, interviews, gossip, and a few full-color spreads. 

TV-Radio Mirror featured some great covers with Burns & Allen, Ozzie and Harriet, or the Lennon Sisters and other members of the Lawrence Welk Show often garnering the most coverage. The magazine was originally titled Radio Mirror, then Radio-TV Mirror, and later in the 1950s as television became more popular, it was changed to TV-Radio Mirror. It was launched in 1933 and ran all the way to 1977. 

We like this magazine the best because the quality of the articles is better than most and much more entertaining. Many of the articles were supposedly written by the stars themselves. For example, Barbara Eden told her fans how she fell in love with Michael Ansara, Ed Byrnes revealed the type of woman he was looking for in a wife, and Shirley Boone told the story of how she and Pat arrived in Hollywood. Whether these stories were true or not doesn't matter much, they are fun to read!

Regular features included interviews, reviews of the latest films, a station guide to radio programs and television shows, and a listing of great "old" movies playing on television. Like most magazines of the time, TV-Radio Mirror also issued an Annual that summed up the year in radio and television. If you come across one of these at a flea market/antique fair, grab it...they are worth it!

If you want to read full issues of TV Radio Mirror, check out the World Radio History website. This site has all issues of Radio Mirror from November 1933-December 1958. To see more reviews of movie magazines and other memorabilia in the future, simply click on the banner on the right-side column. 

Promoting Poppins : The Merchandise of Mary Poppins

The Walt Disney Company today are pros when it comes to knowing how to promote their latest films but, back in the day, they had the marketing game pretty well in hand, too. 

In 1964, without the aid of the internet or a bombardment of television commercials, they promoted Mary Poppins to countries all over the world. And once the film became the success that it was ( critical acclaim, $31 million in box office receipts, 13 Academy Award nominations ) companies clamored to Disney to obtain permission to place Poppins on their products

Judging from the number of different products that were released over the next 10 years, Disney was pretty liberal in granting this permission. Below we have assembled a little gallery of some of the most popular Mary Poppins products of the 1960s and 1970s for you to peruse. If we are missing any, let us know and we will add it to the gallery. 

Enjoy! 

Coloring Books & Other Activity Books

This Whitman coloring book features some really spot-on illustrations of Julie Andrews and the Poppins children. 

Since Mary Poppins always had a bit of magic up her sleeves ( or hiding in her carpet-bag ), this set features a bit of magic, too....magic wipe-off crayons. 

Another magical book.....paintless and dot-to-dot coloring. What could be easier? Just brush the paper with water and watch the pictures appear, pictures as lovely as Bert could draw himself.

A Golden Funtime Coloring Book. Not sure what the "cut out" means. Tear sheets?

Most coloring book covers liked to feature Mary Poppins in her customary flying pose, complete with umbrella open. 

On this cover, she sports some fancy yellow boots and is flying over a freeway. If Mary Poppins supports Shell Oil then that is the gas to use! 

Story Books & Comic Books

A beautiful cover from Gold Key comics emphasizing how Poppins is "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" ( you won't see this word typed twice in one post! )

A Golden Look-inside Book. Five little books hidden inside this one. If they all feature interior art as cute as this cover, I'm buying it. 

This is an interesting Spanish language storybook. Note how much Mary Poppins looks like a female bullfighter here. 

The classic Little Golden Book cover, probably one of the best-selling Mary Poppins pieces of merchandise. 

And look how cute the drawings are inside! 

A Golden Press souvenir book featuring photographs and behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the film.

Colorforms

Colorforms were cut pieces of vinyl that stuck "like magic" to the background cling surface. In this case, that surface image is Mary Poppins in her undergarments. 

The original Colorforms box art. Mary Poppins hair color is more of a reddish tint and her clothing is of a solid color. 

Paper Dolls

Paper dolls with no scissors needed, just a bit of punching will get them right out of their pockets. 

This set, from Whitman, gave you plastic stands to display them on. 

A Golden Funtime book offered a whole bunch of activities in one: 4 paper dolls, story to read, pictures to color, and a carousel to build. 

Good looking doll clothing, too. 

Record Albums & 45s

The 33rpm and its reissue with the cassette tape of the read-along storybook featuring the same cover artwork. 

Another "story and songs" book, this time with Marni Nixon doing the voice of Mary Poppins and Richard M. Sherman reading, too. Richard is one half of the Sherman Brothers, the songwriting duo who composed the music to Mary Poppins. 

A cover variation of the same record. 

Disneyland Records was a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company so not only did they collect from other companies' merchandise but they marketed their own, too!

This 45 record featured "One Man Band" as a bonus song, which was the tune that Bert sang in the opening of the film ( to the melody of "Chim-Chim-Cheree" )

A blurry image of one of the original album covers. 

This was the most famous release and it is quite common to see it at rummage sales and second-hand stores. The sheet music featured the same painted artwork.

And, of course, there were covers released.....the big band maestro Lawrence Welk was one of the first to release a Poppins album. 

Then Duke Ellington toyed with the music.....

....and even Ray Walston "spoke" the lines in rhythm. 

This British release featured a rather dark looking design on its cover. 

Whereas the illustrator who painted the cover to this later ( 1968-1975 ) release decided to redesign Mary Poppins and the children altogether. They look like Edith Nesbit characters here. 

This cute cover was from another British release. Note the Indian and the gent with the top hat. 

This is the funniest looking cover from the New York Theatre Orchestra LP release. Mary Poppins looks like a dressed mannequin here ( a male one at that! ).

Another unusual cover, this one clearly inspired by the art of Peter Maxx. Mary Poppins looks "high" in this drawing, and not because she is flying in the air!

A British release album, featuring the Mike Sammes Singers. This fine group ( sort of the British version of the Ray Conniff Singers ) often did Disney cover albums to coincide with the release of their new films.

And speaking of Ray Conniff.....this chorus would never pass up a chance to do those great Poppins tunes. 

Sticker Books

A lovely cover to a sticker fun book, featuring some smug looking horses. 

Another sticker book, this one from a later release. 

Advertisements

Advertisments were a bit more difficult to find. Hefty featured some great artwork of Mary Poppins toting her carpetbag ( not garbage bags? ) in the air. 

And Kraft Chocolates offered a fantastic prize for this giveaway advertisement: a carpetbag filled with $10,000 in cash! I wonder who the lucky winner of that contest was. 

Dolls and Dollcraft

McCall's issued a stuffed doll sewing pattern and then followed it up with some more patterns featuring costume variations. These patterns can be found on Etsy. 

A series of dolls released by E.I. Horsman as early as 1963. Tonner released a series of dolls more recently that feature a stunning array of wardrobe changes. 

Lunchboxes

This lunchbox from Aladdin came in two options, tin or vinyl. 

Puzzles

And who can forget puzzles! This is a simple frame-tray puzzle from Whitman....

...and then there is this unusual block puzzle with picture scenes. 

I would have liked to own this one....Bert conducting the animal choir.

And lastly, a Jaymar interlocking Mary Poppins Picture Puzzle featuring the final scene in the movie, Let's Go Fly a Kite.