RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES
In our never-ending quest to locate obscure/bizarre film mementos, we came across a true rarity. While researching our recent articles on Fox's The Sand Pebbles, we were able to obtain this unusual studio promotional item that was given to members of the cast and crew of the film when they were filming in Taiwan in 1965. This is a gold-plated pencil case with the film logo on it, along with the notation that it was "Filmed in Free China", a smug reference the on-going Cold War tensions with Red China which at that time was not allowing western film productions to film on their soil. By the way, if web site traffic is any indication, it would appear that Fox's forthcoming restored roadshow version of the film will be a major hit. Cinema Retro has logged a tremendous number of hits for our coverage of the Steve McQueen-starrer. Now if only we can locate those gold-plated lemons given to the cast and crew of Ishtar!