June, 1932. In the week leading up to the June 10 opening of
Frankenstein, the management of
Brisbane’s Tivoli theater ramps up the promotion. On Wednesday, June 8, a
private screening is held for the press, and this fever-pitch preview ad
appears in The Brisbane Courier. Click the image to see it large.
The Chilling Horror… The Icy Mystery Of A Hundred
Thrilling Tales Frozen Into An EPIC OF TERROR
reads the copy, against an intriguing, featureless outline drawing of The
Monster.
Conceived in Madness! He wrecked coffins and stole bodies to make a creature with blotchy face and blackened lips… He packed the brain of a criminal into its misshapen head…
Conceived in Madness! He wrecked coffins and stole bodies to make a creature with blotchy face and blackened lips… He packed the brain of a criminal into its misshapen head…
Ballyhoo was the art of exaggeration, over the top was the
only way to go, and a film as exciting and unusual as Frankenstein invited extravagant hype, but few ads we’ve seen
were as delirious as this one. Witness this existential description of the
film’s extraordinary Monster…
Out of the void of the Infinite it came, a snarling
monster that sweated death and madness.
And the Tivoli’s PR people weren’t done yet! Next up in the series: The Monster, in Person!
Related:
Frankenstein in Brisbane, Part 1: Free Insurance!
A wonderful find! This blog always impresses!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these rare bits of Aussie ballyhoo!
Can you say, "Purple"?
ReplyDelete(I knew that you could!)
-Craig