Spanish title: Jose Vendido en Egipto (Joseph Sold in Egypt)
Stars: Geoffrey Horne, Belinda Lee, Robert Morley, Carlo Giustini, Arturo Dominici, Finlay Currie, Mario Girotti
Directed by: Irving Rapper, Luciano Ricci
Distributor: Colorama Features (US)

"Extraordinary! Spectacular! Grandiose!" 

The tagline doesn’t quite describe the film correctly, but we can let that slide for now; this was one of the ongoing swords and sandals flicks that poured out of Italy like fine wine in the 50’s and 60’s, few of which were anything more than an excuse to flex muscles and shake hips around cardboard sets.

This particular flick was shot partly in Yugoslavia, where making movies was cheap as hell, with the Italian scenes taking place at Titanus Studios. The story followed the biblical tale of Joseph, and was quickly followed by another about Pontius Pilate, which was a tactic often used by producers who wanted to make stories that they didn’t need to pay any rights fees for.

The artwork in the lobby card design looks to have been acrylic paint, diluted to give a washed appearance, and if one looks really closely, they can spot the occasional pencil mark left in after the paint went down. What’s interesting, from a purely trivial point of view, is the long black stripe along the bottom of the card; that would indicate that, rather than being original Mexican art, this was likely the art taken from the Italian release, retitled, with the distributor’s name blacked out on the bottom.

Now, in order to put a new title on the lobby card, an artist would need to paint over the old title, make it blend with the background, and then cut’n'paste in the new title. They’d also likely have to get rid of the old taglines… which in this case wouldn’t be too hard, because two of the three tagline words are the same in Spanish as they are in Italian.

In fact, upon further investigation, we found the word ‘Eastmancolor’ painted over right above where the ‘Totalscope’ logo has been added – very sneaky!

Anyway, there you have it – a perfect example of a reworked lobby card.

Spanish title: Dos Seductores (Two Seducers)
Stars: Marlon Brando, David Niven, Shirley Jones
Directed by: Ralph Levy
Distributor: Universal Pictures

"The Blue Coast shines with the gallant adventures of two gigolos."

Better known these days by the name of its remake, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, this bedrooms and hallways Euro-comedy pit two most definitely unlikely actors together in Marlon Brando and David Niven.

Both play European gigolos who, upon discovering they’re working the same turf, decide to challenge each other to a contest to see who is ‘king of the mountain’ (which was the working title of the film). Their plans meet a hurdle, however, when the innocent woman they choose as a target turns out to be anything but.

The highlight of the Spanish lobby card release for this film would have to be Marlon Brando professing his love in black shoes and socks, and red boxer shorts. Hilarious.

Spanish title: La Mujer Murcielago (The Bat Woman)
Stars: Maura Monti, Roberto Cañedo, Héctor Godoy, David Silva, Crox Alvarado
Directed by: René Cardona
Distributor: Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.

"Invincible! Valiant! Audacious! Powerful! Daring! Seductive!"

Cinematografica Calderon made films in Mexico from 1943 all the way through to the early 90’s before disappearing from the film business altogether, but in the 50’s and 60’s and 70’s, if it was crap, cheap, and out of control, chances are it was created by the folks from CC.

Frankenstein films, El Tigre thrillers, westerns, exploitation films -  they had the matinee audience eating out of their hands, but in the 70’s they’d discover the lure of El Santo films, and before, they were pumping them out whenever they could get their hands on a little film stock.

The jury is out as to whether this was an ‘approved’ Batman film or just a rip-off produced and distributed so far under the radar that the folks at DC Comics never got around to suing them, but when it comes right down to it… we don’t care.

It’s Batwoman. In a Bat-kini. Represent!

Spanish title: El Zorro y Los Tres Mosqueteros
Stars: Gordon Scott, Jose Greci, Maria Grazia Spina, Gianni Rizzo, Giacomo Rossi
Directed by: Luigi Capuano
Distributor: United Producers de Mexico

"Thousands of emotions in this great adventure film! Athos, Portos,
Aramis, D’Artagnan, and Zorro fighting for their honor – and a lady!"

Luigi Capuano wasn’t exactly the king of serious drama; a look at his career filmography shows a veritable smorgasbord of classic B-list Saturday morning matinee franchises, with Sandokan, Zorro and Hercules being the three most prominent.

Like Capuano, Gordon Scott made his name in B-grade character films, having been discovered working as a Las Vegas lifeguard on his way to an acting career that took him across Europe as Goliath, Buffalo Bill, Julius Caesar and Tarzan, before donning the mask here as Zorro.

While "Zorro e i Tres Moschietteri" (as it as originally known in Italy) will never be offered as the pinnacle of the genre, nor of Capuano’s or Scott’s career, the lobby card for its Mexican release is nothing short of a thing of beauty. In fact, it looks so good framed, hanging on a wall, that we’ve been offered money for this card more times than just about any other three cards in the collection combined.

This particular film was released in Mexico by United Producers de Mexico, a company that doesn’t show up anywhere in Google searches, but then, if they were relying on low budget Italian films featuring Spanish and French characters for release in Mexico to make a living, chances are they wouldn’t have lasted long.

Spanish title: Flama de Traicion (Flame of Treason)
Stars: Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, Louis Calhern
Directed by: Gottfried Reinhardt
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"Is he the betrayed one?"

Lana Turner plays
Carla Van Oven, who, despite being suspected of working with the Nazis, turns into an allied spy during World War II.

Another war movie in which American stars play folks on the non-allied side of the fence, Betrayed features an all-star cast… and one heck of a vivid lobby card.

You’ve got to love the way the still image has Clark Gable (who looks disturbingly like my grandfather) and Turner in a passionate embrace, while Victor Mature (playing ‘The Scarf’) looks on like the ultimate third wheel.

A fantastic combo of original art, still imagery, and blends of the two make this a keeper.

Spanish title: El Barco mas Loco del Ejercito
Stars: Jack Lemmon, Ricky Nelson, John Lund, Chips Rafferty, Tom Tully, Joby Baker, Warren Berlinger, Patricia Driscoll
Directed by: Richard Muprhy
Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Another of the 1960’s Columbia Mexico lobby cards, which are notable due to their slightly smaller size, slightly thicker cardboard, and lack of original art (see Requiem for a Heavyweight), this version of El Barco Mas Loco del Ejercito features a still of a big gun and several cast members, but none of them are particularly distinct – certainly not enough to add value to the card, anyway. But Ricky Nelson and Jack Lemmon fans will be happy with a set of close-ups of the actors, and a pair of caricatures below them.

This particular card has a set of four corner pinholes, as most cards of the era do, but otherwise it’s in spectacular condition.

Spanish title: Vuelve… i Amor Mio!
Stars: Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, Edia Adams, Jack Oakie, Jack Kruschen
Directed by: Delbert Mann
Distributor: Universal Mexico

"They see my little nest… me a turtle dove, him a sparrowhawk…"

Lord knows what the slugline means, but this is a great kitschy lobby card if you can ignore the hokey text written on it.

As with so many of the 1960’s card designs, this one is short on original art and long on cut’n'paste images, but the way it’s all brought together makes it compelling wall art regardless, especially when you spot the Universal International ‘50th Anniversario’ logo (1912-1962) and mention of Jack Oakie in his final movie apearance.

The film was released in Mexico by the Universal office that was located at Ignacio Mariscal 59, Mexico 1, D. F., and this particular lobby card has a little browning around the edges, and what looks like one very old coffee drop stain. No pinholes, however, so that’s a bonus.