Beyond Ballyhoo: Motion Picture Promotion and Gimmicks - Hardcover

McGee, Mark Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0899504353 ISBN 13: 9780899504353

Publisher: McFarland Publishing, 1989

Synopsis

William Castle, for instance, was a master promoter. In one scheme involving The Tingler, Vincent Price warns in the movie that "the only way to stop the monster is to scream. That's the signal to the projectionist to throw the switch. Under ten or twelve seats were some electric motors, war surplus things that Castle got a bargain on. The motors vibrated the seat, in the hope of scaring a scream out of someone. Just in case it didn't Castle planted someone in the audience to get the screams rolling." This book is about flamboyant promotion, the con artist side of the movie world-everything the ballyhoo boys did to separate the customer from the price of a movie ticket-Emergo, HypnoVista, 3-D, Wide Screen, Cinemagic, Duo-Vision, Dynamation, Smell-O-Vision, plenty more. Supporting the text are 107 photos and illustrations, some never-before-published, and a filmography.

About this title

About the Author:

Mark Thomas McGee is retired and lives in Palm Desert, California. He has also written several books about the unstable world of low-budget filmmaking.

Review:

"a book to be brought out whenever we begin to think of the 20th century as one of good taste" -- Book Report

"excellent" -- Big Reel

About this edition

• Publisher: McFarland Publishing
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0899504353
• ISBN 13: 9780899504353
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 253