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. 

Just Like the Saint! - Roger Moore Off Screen

He's six foot two, fair-haired, and fabulously handsome. He's one of the world's best-dressed men and he's tough. He drives a racy, 100 mile-an-hour-plus sports car and travels internationally. He's outside the law, but he always gets his man - and his girl. He's The Saint. The man who plays him on the TV screen is of course Roger Moore. And all the things The Saint is you can say Roger Moore is - well practically all the things. 

Roger, born in London, travels the world. He tends to regard Rome as his home. But once it was California that was home to him. 

In his early days, Roger mainly played French parts and, thorough in everything he does, he went to France to learn the language and customs. He now speaks perfect French, German, and Italian - as does The Saint, who adds Portuguese and Russian to his list of languages! 

The Saint, created by Leslie Charteris 30 years ago, has always been a favourite with Roger Moore. 

"I feel I've known him, admired him, and understood him all my life," he says. Before he landed the role, he was so keen to play the part that he tried to buy the TV rights of The Saint books - all 110 of them! 

Roger began acting when he was 16. His first part after training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art was as a gendarme. He says: "I was stuck under a gendarme's hat and my parents who came to see the show didn't recognize me!"

After that, nearly all his roles were in costume. In repertory it was all tennis shorts and big brass hats. In Hollywood - and films - he wore "long wigs, tin armour, more helmets, tropical gear, long hair and beards, togas, more armour and army rig."

On TV there was the Ivanhoe series with chain mail and lots of lusty sword-play; The Alaskans series which called for parkas and furs; and the Maverick series in which he wore the fancy and elegant suitings of Beau. 

Now the clothes Roger needs for his part as Simon Templar, the Saint, he supplies from his own extensive and expensive wardrobe. "It's nice to know the socks I choose in the morning can stay on all day," he says. 

Roger is the tenth actor to play The Saint, though the first on TV. The other nine were Louis Hayward, George Sanders, Hugh Sinclair, Felix Marten - in French films only, Edgar Varrier - on American radio, Tom Conway, Vincent Price, Brian Aherne and Barry Sullivan. 

Looking back on his career so far, Roger Moore says, "I don't think I've really done anything I can be proud of. The worst part in the world is a hero. In reality, heroes are highly improbable - they always win. I think I would enjoy acting more if I played villains. They are more meaty roles, even if they are often smaller. And they are much nearer life as it really is."

Roger has plans to start a company for independent film productions. "The days of the big studios are numbered," he says. "TV has taken over but there is still scope for good films. I'd like to make some."

As The Saint, Roger tries to show that everyone - including Simon Templar - is human. "I try to be as real and honest as possible," he says. "That is why The Saint TV series has changed from the normal cops-and-robbers style of thing. I am trying to show a man who though almost a superman at times is very much a human being in reality."

However, for the moment, the role of the Saint - the man with all the time in the world on his hands- keeps Roger Moore pretty busy. He doesn't even get much chance for a social life. 

Still, Roger - son of a London policeman - seems to get a mighty big kick out of whatever he's doing, wherever he happens to be. 

Just like The Saint, in fact! 

This article originally appeared in STAR T.V. and Film Annual 1967 published by Odhams Books Ltd. Movie Magazine Articles, another one of our ongoing series, feature articles like this reprinted for our reader's entertainment. Click here to find more posts in this series!

Note: The article neglected to point out that Roger also had a hand in directing many of The Saint episodes. And it is interesting that Roger Moore thought he had not done any roles that he could be proud of, for after The Saint his career really took off and he had some smashing good parts. 

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.