Here’s your headline!

Posted by Richard Harland Smith on November 6, 2007

Dressed to Kill

I love a good newspaper montage. You used to see them all the time in classic crime and horror movies. They were a time-honored device for communicating the gangster's/monster's path of destruction in a cost-effective way. The image above is from the Mike Shayne mystery Dressed to Kill (1941), which starred Lloyd Nolan as a private dick sussing out the killer of a theatrical doyenne. Even though the headline DOUBLE MURDER is meant as an attention grabber, I invariably find myself drawn to the lesser headlines. State Man Held Captive 30 Hours By Three Bandits… now there's a story! And then I'm thinking about that while Dressed to Kill (a very fun movie) unspools.

The Mummy's Tomb

What a great headline! (If only it were true.) I so would have put down a nickel to read about the Mysterious Curse Hinted in Banning Murders but then my attention would drift over to Police Disperse Rioters because I'm interested in that kind of thing. This paper appears in Universal's The Mummy's Tomb (1942), the second sequel to the 1933 original with Boris Karloff. Later in the film, events inspire further headlines…

The Mummy's Tomb

KILLER-FIEND LOOSE AGAIN! There goes another nickel. But as interested as I've become in the supernatural being committing serial murder in Mapleton, I see that Chinese Pirates Kill Two Britons and I'm all over that story.

The Frisco Kid

In Warners' Frisco Kid (1935), James Cagney's merchant seaman Bat Morgan kills the hook-handed Shanghai Duck in a bar fight and winds up a local hero thanks to an essay by Donald Woods' crusading journalist. It's a good story but how they missed out on the headline BAT KILLS DUCK is beyond me. Of course, after scanning this lead, I'm drawn to the more mundane matters of Extra Session of the Legislature because that's how I roll.

Dillinger

Sure, the Manhunt For Public Enemy No. 1 is and should be headline news but check it… Traffic Officials Seek to Abandon Street Car Lines! Shouldn't there be a referendum or something like that!?

The Incredibly Strange Creatures...

Even twenty years on movies were still spreading the bad news the old fashion way… black and white and red all over! But as concerned as I am about The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1964), what about that traffic?

5 Comments |

submit

5 Responses Here’s your headline!

Posted By MDR : November 6, 2007 4:04 pm

What a great topic! I too have found myself looking for the other stories on newspapers during these montages. Whether used to report the progress of a criminal trial, a war, or convey the passage of time in a multi-decade drama, there's always another interesting story or two on the page besides the headline. Sometimes they are really bizarre too, as if the original filmmakers didn't realize that (one day) the technology to stop and actually read the frame would be available to everyone. Another newspaper related (classic film) plot device is the speed at which the early morning edition hits the streets. For example, something that happens in the wee hours at a nightclub is reported and out in the first edition paper within a couple of hours (these days I can't get the results of any sporting event that ends after 10 PM). Also, in some movies, the newspaper's editor actually works with the police (imagine that!) by publishing a phony headline (e.g. to flush out the real bad guy from his hideout). I just saw this in Mad Miss Manton (1938).

Posted By DRM : November 7, 2007 2:06 pm

The one I got a big kick out of was in the low budget horror The Horror of Party Beach. Two different headlines on two different days but the side stories beside the main story were exactly the same. Apparently nothing new happened except for the murders.

Posted By RHS : November 7, 2007 4:43 pm

A sub-headline I feel I used to see all the time in movie newspapers had to do with a circus menagerie getting loose but for the life of me I can't remember the movie(s).

Posted By Brockmeyer’s Girl : November 7, 2007 5:27 pm

Ooh! I love reading the other articles on movie newspapers! Particularly with them on DVD and the ability to pause. I like to check out all paperwork they give closeups on, cuz there's some really funny stuff in them sometimes. Love the images you posted! All good ones!

Posted By cso : November 8, 2007 11:34 am

I was just watching some recent movie (the name escapes me) and I couldn't believe in this day and age of DVD, they couldn't even attempt a proper mock-up. Under the headline, the attached article was a basketball article? If you are going to go to all the trouble to make one, why not go the extra half mile for realism?I have too much time on my hands obviously but viva la power of the still frame. It's also great for insights how they do those amazing stunts (head, head, head . . .Casaba melon)I

MovieMorlocks.com is the official blog for TCM. No topic is too obscure or niche to be excluded from our film discussions. And we welcome your comments on our blogs and bloggers.