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Motion Picture Herald, the leading trade magazine sent to movie theater owners in the 1930s to the 1960s (we don't know exactly when it started publication, but we think it was in 1931, and we know it continued until at least 1967). Each magazine measures approximately 9" x 12", and each contained around 70-100 pages. Each weekly issue would be filled with illustrated articles about upcoming movies, statistics about box office grosses of current releases, and sometimes articles about coming developments in motion picture technology, and sometimes sections illustrating how theaters advertised current movies. Of greatest interest to collectors are the advertisements (some full-page) from all of the major studios! A few of these ads were full-color. Note that these exhibitor magazines were ONLY sent to theater owners, and the general public never had a chance to buy them. But most theater owners treated them like old newspapers, throwing them away after the movies had played. Consequently, they are extremely rare, especially those from the 1920s and 1930s! Note that we do not have the time to list the contents of each magazine we are selling (this magazine does not have a "table of contents", and of course, the most interesting part of the magazine is the great illustrated ads), but we have pictured the cover, and one or more interior 2-page spreads. We tried to pick out some of the more interesting interior pages, but we did not spend much time doing so! Each of these magazines, which were NOT printed on newsprint, and were printed on quality paper, is packed with very interesting visual and written material, almost all of which has not been seen since the date the magazine was published. We doubt anyone who buys these magazines will be disappointed by the content! Note that this magazine continued to be published into the 1970s, but it slowly lost page count and quality over the years. The issues in the 1950s-1970s were generally around 30-50 pages, and at some point during those years, the magazine became first bi-weekly, and finally, monthly.

Important Added Info: This magazine contains the 56-page Fox 1931-32 campaign book (see below). In addition, it has cool ads from other studios, and the best of these is a 2-page ad for "The Public Enemy"!

IMPORTANT! The studios would send copies of campaign books to many theater owners, and it appears that very few examples have survived. IN ADDITION TO SENDING THEM TO THEATER OWNERS, THEY WOULD SOMETIMES HAVE AN EXTRA PRINT RUN OF THE INTERIOR PAGES RUN OFF, WHICH WOULD BE THEN SENT TO AN EXHIBITOR MAGAZINE AND INCLUDED AS AN ADDITION TO A REGULAR ISSUE OF THAT MAGAZINE! I have seen many examples where people carefully removed ALL of the portions of the magazine (the front and back cover plus the non-campaign book interior pages), and they have then sold the remaining material as a "campaign book", which it basically is (and could be done with this magazine!), but realize that it is from the over-run that was created so that it could be included in the magazine. Please do not bid on this item unless you have read the above very carefully, and realize you are getting a magazine containing a campaign book, and not the bound campaign book that was created in a separate print run (and of course, you are receiving more material than just the campaign book!). In the case of this magazine, it contains the Fox 1931-32, the 1931 Fox campaign book sent to theater owners to encourage them to show their new movies. The book includes 56 pages with one and two-page spreads on Fox's upcoming movies, ALL with sensational art! Some of the movies and stars advertised include Bad Girl, Delicious, The Yellow Ticket, Sob Sister, Will Rogers, Transatlantic, two Charlie Chans, Spencer, and much, much more! There is a section in the back with images of their many stars. We have included images of the covers of the book and some of the two-page spreads (and we did not make a big effort to find the best ones!). Note that even though this campaign book was sent to many theater owners, it appears that very few examples have survived. I have been a collector of campaign books and related material for many years, and I know for certain that this campaign book is extremely rare! Also note that, as was often the case with these campaign books, some of the movies advertised were either never made, had their titles changed before they were released, or were made with different casts than those announced in the campaign book! Note that studios almost always spent far more money preparing campaign books than they did preparing movie posters (often hiring very talented and well-known illustration artists), because campaign books directly benefited the studio in getting theaters to book the movies, whereas posters more benefited the theaters, rather than the studios (although of course, what was good for the theaters was ultimately good for the studios as well). Finally, note that campaign books in general are extremely rare, and the best of them have often sold for hundreds of dollars, and in the case of the very finest, thousands of dollars! Please do not bid on this item unless you have read the above very carefully, and realize you are getting a magazine containing a campaign book, and not the bound campaign book that was created in a separate print run (and of course, you are receiving more material than just the campaign book!).

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