Remember those glorious old comic books that were based on the latest major movie releases? We sure do. It seems like every week the newstands boasted another exciting comic adaptation of a film we couldn't wait to see. Most were published by either Gold Key or Dell comics. Here's one we remember fondly: the tie-in comic for Disney's film of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. James MacArthur, a Disney favorite, starred. Did you know MacArthur is the son of the late legendary actress Helen Hayes?

This news item was reported in the July 10, 1963 edition of Film Daily:

CAPRA GOING BIBLE INSTEAD OF 'CIRCUS'

"Dear and Glorious Physician, the Biblical story of St. Luke, will be given to Frank Capra to direct in place of Circus.since Capra and Samuel Bronston agreed that the version of Circus that Capra wanted to direct was not what the company wanted. Announcement is do on who will direct Circus, although Henry Hathaway is considered first choice."

John Wayne in "Circus World"

In fact, Frank Capra did bow out of the film and Henry Hathaway replaced him. The movie was retitled Circus World and was released in 1964 starring John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth. The big budget epic was not a pleasant experience for all involved. Capra quit the project when Wayne insisted that his favorite screenwriter, James Edward Grant be brought in to rewrite Capra's script. Grant had a simplistic outlook on the story and told Capra that all a Wayne movie needed was "some hoyty-toyty dame with big tits" that Duke could end up spanking at the end. Capra viewed this as a serious production and when Wayne refused to back him up, he quit the project. The Biblical epic never materialized and he never directed another film. Circus World was a rare flop for Wayne, who almost perished during the production when a fire in a circus tent raged out of control. The following year he teamed with Hathaay again for The Sons of Katie Elder which restored his box-office clout.

Here's another entry in the seemingly endless list of major film projects that were announced but never came to fruition.

This announcement was made in the trade magazine Film Daily on May 27, 1964:

Chuck Connors to Film Walter Hagen Story

Chuck Connors' Ranch Productions has bought the rights to the story of golf champ Walter Hagen in association with writer Ben Wahrman. Connors will play Hagen in the film. He and Wahrman are working on the script.

Chuck Connors in his hit TV series "The Rifleman". His big screen golf bio pic never made it out of development hell.

Readers enjoyed our recent blurb about the 1966 reissue of the 1940s Batman serials. We heard from Cinema Retro subscriber John McElwee who alerted us to the fact that he has a super cool tribute to the caped crusader's big screen adventures on his own web site, Greenbriar Picture Show. In reviewing the site, we were immediately smitten by the unique subejct matter: the glory days of movie exhibition gimmicks. Thus, the site is packed with rare movie marquee photos, bizarre publicity stunts and publicity stills from a wealth of vintage movies. Warning: the site is damned addictive and we advise you not to visit it until you have a good hour to spare wallowing in these rarities. To visit the site, click here

Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn on location in San Francisco for Bullitt in March, 1968.

The San Franisco Chronicle has just raided its archives and come up with a brief but fun report from March 1968 that involves a reporter's visit to the set of Bullitt and a memorable bike ride with Steve McQueen. Click here to read

Cinema Retro writer Steve Mori presents his own exclusive interview with Steve McQueen, who he met as a teenage on the set of Bullitt. When he was in high school, Mori was assigned to do an interview with anyone of prominence. While most students opted for the local fire chief or dog catcher, Mori boasted he would get an interview with his favorite actor Steve McQueen - despite the fact he had never met him, had no connection to the movie business and that his idoll rarely granted interviews. For Mori's full report and the interview McQueen ended up granting him on the set of The Reivers, see Cinema Retro issue #1.

Gone are the glory days of movie promotion, when roadshow engagements at prestigious theaters would often play for many months - and in some cases over a year. Case in point, the following article we came across in the November 5, 1964 issue of Film Daily. It relates the success of Stanley Kramer's $9 million blockbuster comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and its long-running engagement at the Pacific Cinerama Theatre in Hollywood:

"(The film) celebrates its first anniversary today at the Pacific Cinerama Theatre where it had it's world premiere. Chamagne party, with four stars of the picture, Edie Adams, Milton Berle, Dorothy Provine and Phil Silvers in attendance, will be one of the highlights of the birthday celebration as will a press conference at the theater attended by producer-director Stanley Kramer, representatives of the Los Angeles City Concil, the Chamber of Commerce, William R. Forman, president of Pacific Theatres and others. Film, which will continue its run at the Pacific Cinerama, opens its 50th hard ticket engagement at the Cooper Cinerama in Minneapolis November 20."

Drive-ins are now the Rodney Dangerfields of movie theaters: they don't get no respect. Those of us who are city slickers really miss them, however, and search them out whenever our travels take us through small town America. They are one of those simple pleasures of life that you took for granted but miss once they're gone. In days of old, little kids used to love them because they would cavort in the playgrounds that were inevitably on the premises. Teenagers loved drive-ins because they would go there to play inside the car. (The mind reels at how many people came of age in the back of an old Chevy - an experience immortalized in Bob Seger's Night Moves) Yet, there was a time when the film industry held drive-ins in high regard as a major source of box-office revenue. Take a look at this trade industry ad we came across in our archives...Drive-ins were actually supplied with 70mm roadshow prints of Lawrence of Arabia! The idea of seeing David Lean's masterpiece on a drive-in theater screen may seem bizarre, but where else could you experience the film while passing around a six-pack and cigars? I also used to love the mismatched double and triple features that rural drive-ins would offer. Once in upstate New York, we went to see Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier in Khartoum double-billed with Ferlin Husky in Forty Acre Feud. Only in America....- Lee Pfeiffer

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