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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: Note that this issue of Motion Picture Herald was so large that it was printed in two sections, and this is the first of two sections (the second section is not present). 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! In the case of this magazine, it contains the entire RKO Radio Pictures 1931-32 campaign book, which was sent to theater owners to encourage them to show RKO movies. The book includes 54 pages with one and two-page spreads on RKO's upcoming movies and their best stars. Some of the movies and stars promoted include "Glamour", "Miracle City", "Exposed", "Frontier", "The Dove" (Dolores Del Rio), "The Slander Girl" (Rex Beach), Irene Dunne, Lily Damita, Wheeler & Woolsey, and much more! Note that many of the pages have signed artwork, by many different (quite talented) artists, including Armand Seguso, Fredric C. Madan, Frank Bensing, Patterson, Rico, and most of these artists have several different pieces in the book. Note that, because RKO at this time did not have the biggest name stars, they relied on movies with very lurid and sensational material, and they created images for this campaign book that are both extremely colorful and often downright sexy! We have included images of the front cover of the book and many of the two-page spreads (but we wish we could have photographed the entire book, because there are so many great images!). THIS IS REALLY ONE OF THE ABSOLUTE NICEST CAMPAIGN BOOKS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN TERMS OF ART! We have only pictured a small portion of the book, but many of the ones that are not pictured are just as nice as the ones that ARE pictured! 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!).

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