Pressbooks

Pressbooks were publications issued by film studios for the purposes of marketing their films. Pressbooks vary greatly in content and length. Low budget or B movies typically had small brochures while larger film productions may have included detailed script, cast, and crew information as well as multiple types of advertising. Pressbooks may contain synopses of the film, cast and crew listings, illustrations of posters or advertisements, film reviews, and promotional plans or exploitation campaigns. Frequently, information about ordering souvenirs and product tie-ins was included.

Prior to the 1980s and national mass marketing, the pressbook was an essential marketing tool. In that era, most film marketing was done by local newspapers and theatre owners who may have needed inspiration for their efforts. Pressbooks were one of the mediums by which film studios communicated with theatres in order to market their productions. Because theatre owners typically cut out the ads and other materials from the pressbooks in order to publicize the movie, most pressbooks were cut, used, and thrown away. Pressbooks are scarce in general and rare in uncut condition. The Black Film Center/Archive's pressbooks are uncut, with the exception of Burn! (1970), One More Time (1970), and Scream Blacula Scream (1973).

No material may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder and BFC/A director.

General Collection

Title	Year	Box	Folder
…tick…tick…tick…	1970	1	1
Across 110th Street	1972	1	2
Amazing Grace	1974	1	3
Angel Levine, The	1970	1	4
Black Eye	1974	1	31
Black Girl	1972	2	1
Black Klansman, The	1966	1	5
Black Moses of Soul, The: Isaac Hayes	1973	1	6
Brothers	1977	2	18
Car Wash	1977	2	19
Charley-One-Eye	1973	1	7
Cleopatra Jones	1973	1	34
Cool Breeze	1972	2	16
Cornbread, Earl and Me	1975	2	2
Five on the Blackhand Side	1973	1	8
For Love of Ivy	1975	2	3
Free, White and 21	1963	1	32
Friday Foster	1975	2	20
Gordon's War	1973	2	21
Great White Hope, The	1970	2	4
Hammer	1972	1	9
Hit!	1973	1	10
Hit Man	1972	2	5
I Crossed the Color Line	1966	1	11
J.D.'s Revenge	1976	2	15
Leadbelly	1976	1	12
Learning Tree, The	1969	1	13
Lost Man, The	1969	2	6
Malcolm X	1972	1	14
Man, The	1972	1	30
Man Called Adam, A	1966	1	15
Man Friday	1975	1	16
Maurie	1973	1	33
Melinda	1972	2	7
Monkey Hu$tle	1976	2	8
Norman…Is That You?	1976	1	17
One Potato, Two Potato	1965	1	18
Poder Negro, El	1975	2	24
Raisin in the Sun, A	1961	3	1
Sergeant Rutledge	1960	1	20
Shaft's Big Score	1974	2	14
Slams, The	1973	2	9
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off	1973	2	22
Slaves	1969	1	21
Slender Thread, The	1965	1	22
Song of the South	1972	1	23
Soul Soldier	1970	1	24
Sounder Part 2	1976	1	25
Sugar Hill	1974	2	10
Sweet Jesus Preacher Man	1973	2	11
They Call Me Mister Tibbs!	1970	1	26
Three Tough Guys	1973	1	19
Together Brothers	1973	2	23
Top of the Heap	1972	1	27
Toy, The	1982	2	17
Trick Baby	1972	2	12
Warm December, A	1973	1	28
Wilby Conspiracy, The	1975	1	29
Willie Dynamite	1973	2	13

African Americans Contribution to Film Collection

Title	Year	Box	Folder
Ace High	1968	6	5
Apocalypse Now	1979	6	6
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me	1971	6	7
Carmen Jones	1954	11	1
Convicts 4	1962	6	8
Death of a Gunfighter	1969	6	9
Jackie Robinson Story, The	1950	6	10
Make Believe Ballroom	1949	6	11
Miracle in Harlem	1948	6	12
Mister Buddwing	1966	6	13
Pawnbroker, The	1964	6	14
Soul to Soul	1971	6	15
Take a Hard Ride	1975	6	16
This Rebel Breed	1960	6	17
Truck Turner	1974	6	18
Zou Zou	1934	11	2

Hatch-Billops Collection

Title	Year	Box
Born to Win (ad mat only)	1971	1
Brothers (just lists cast and crew)	1977	2
Burn!	1970	1
Cotton Comes to Harlem	1970	1
Defiant Ones, The (ad mat only)	1958	1
Home of the Brave	1949	1
Kenner	1969	1
Liberation of L.B. Jones, The	1970	1
Maurie	1973	1
One More Time	1970	1
Spook Who Sat by the Door, The	1973	1
Super Fly	1972	1
Super Fly T.N.T.	1973	1

Williams Collection

Title	Year	Box	Folder
Legend of Nigger Charley, The	1972
Scream Blacula Scream	1973