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film | History's Newsstand Blog

Summer Blockbuster Movie Ads at Their Best – “Top Gun: Maverick” Edition…

July 15, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

It’s okay, but as usual, it’s not as good as the original, is a commonly heard phrase among movie goers.  Sequels are rarely as good as their predecessors, and most certainly never better … or so we thought.  On May 9, 1986, the Los Angeles Times had a full-page ad for the soon to be released movie, Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise.  One can only guess if the paper realized what an iconic movie they were promoting the week before it’s premier.  Flash forward approximately a quarter of a century to the summer of 2022 when Tom Cruise reprised his roll as Maverik and once again rocked theater box offices for weeks.  Perhaps, “not as good as the original” has finally been put to rest.

Snapshot 1927 – An unexpected, dystopian gem…

February 3, 2022 by · Leave a Comment 

What are the top ten most influential movies of all time? Depending upon the criteria used to define “most influential”, the lists could look quite different, but my guess is 1927’s Metropolis would fly under the radar of most people’s thinking. Yet, Wikipedia has the following to say about this (hidden?) gem: “Metropolis is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, ranking 35th in Sight & Sound’s 2012 critics’ poll. In 2001, the film was inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, the first film thus distinguished.” Not bad.

We recently discovered an advertisement and review of this masterpiece in a New York Times dated March 6, 1927. At the time of this post it was listed on eBay, however, if it is no longer available for viewing through its eBay listing, you can read more about it on Wikipedia or our website.

Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock, ticktock…

August 14, 2017 by · Leave a Comment 

What do Grace Kelly, Gene Kelly, Lillian Gish, Ruby Keeler, Gergory Peck, Henry Fonda, Stanley Kubrick, Madeline Kahn, DeForest Kelley, Fay Wray, Michael Landon, Dalton Trumbo, Sal Mineo, Robert Mitchum, Anne Baxter, Rock Hudson, Orson Welles, Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo, John Candy, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Perkins, Audrey Hepburn, Liberace, Cab Calloway, John Candy, Marlene Dietrich, Dean Martin, Orson Wells, Anne Baxter, Ava Gardner, William Holden, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Gilda Radner, Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Cary Grant, Mary Pickford, Bette Davis, Natalie Wood, Robert Shaw, Alfred Hitchcock, Andy Kaufman, Jackie Gleason, Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, John Belushi, Jimmy Stewart, and Steve McQueen all have in common? Answer: There was a time when they were each on top of the world – adored by millions, and thanks to the silver screen’s ability to capture them in their prime, they seemed as if they would live forever. However, truth be told, the clock strikes midnight for everyone – regardless of their fame.

Over the past few months this reality was brought home to the staff at Rare & Early Newspapers as we discovered the death reports of some of the most famous Hollywood celebrities of all time – nearly all within Los Angeles newspapers. As Mark Twain not-so-subtly revealed through Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, and Frank Capra reinforced through the eyes of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart – shown above) in It’s A Wonderful Life, sometimes a glimpse at the brevity of life can be a healing, re-purposing salve for the soul. With this in mind, please enjoy(?): Death Reports of the Hollywood Famous

Movie prop newspaper #2… Help needed…

August 18, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Blog-8-18-2016-Movie-Prop-ProhibitionMovie prop newspapers are exactly that – newspapers which have been created for the purpose of being used within a specific movie. e wrote on this in detail at: http://blog.rarenewspapers.com/?p=8860. Over the next few weeks we’ll roll out a series of such issues for which we cannot determine the movie from which it came. Can anyone help? If so, please let us know.

Today’s issue is The New York Chronicle, undated, with the featured headline: “PROHIBITION REPEALED” (see image).

All issues we’ve listed to-date can be found at: Unidentified Movie Prop Newspapers

Remember these names from the “golden era”?

June 23, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

One of our more recent purchases was a sizable collection of  newspapers from the West Coast which included many 20th century issues covering the deaths of famous movie stars or Jean Harlow Death Reportentertainers. Not surprisingly, Los Angeles newspaper gave much coverage to the passing of some of the more iconic names of stardom from the “golden era”. Those of a certain age well remember many of famous names of the 1930’s-1950’s (totally unknown to the millennial generation) and I count myself among them, so it was with a certain amount of nostalgia that I read the reports as I was writing up the newspapers for future catalogs.

If I had any common reaction to the reports I read it was to the age of many when they died. When I think of such stars I always presumed they were in their late 60’s or late 70’s when they were still acting & much older when they died. But that was when I was in my teens and 20’s, and anyone who had been “around for awhile” seemed like they were much older than they actually were. I was struck by the ages of many when they died, and perhaps you might be as well. Here is a sampling:

Clark Gable Death ReportTyrone Power 45

Humphrey Bogart 57

Rudolph Valentino 31

George Gershwin 38

Nat “King” Cole 45

Clark Gable 59

Jean Harlow 26

Cary Cooper 60

Mario Lanza 38

Jayne Mansfield 34

Steve McQueen 50

Judy Garland 47

A new experience proves frighteningly realistic…

July 8, 2013 by · Leave a Comment 

In today’s world, being so accustomed to action events on television, movie theaters, and even our computers, it can be difficult to realize that those who first experienced wide screen action in the early years of movie-making might react as these children did in London. This report is found in the “New York Tribune” issue of May 24, 1923. Is there a comparable experience awaiting us?