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Perhaps a little known fact about movie trailers - they were originally shown after the movie! Not sure when they started showing them ahead of the main picture but my whole life it has always been that way,
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I didn't know that, actually. I like collecting my favorites. Especially if they are from much loved films as, often, they'll have snippets from scenes not included in the feature. -
Very true, the trailer for The Magnificent Seven, the one that goes seven, seven seven! Shows a scene from the film just after Brad Dexter has been shot off his horse and rescued by Yul Brynner, where Steve McQueen is providing covering fire from the side instead of the back. And naturally, The Adventures of Robin Hood shows Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland riding off together embracing on a horse, the original ending for the picture.Comment
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That's neat! I have the Red Fox printing of it, truly gorgeous color, but do you happen to know if anyone put out a low fade super 8 print of the trailer.Comment
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Yes I believe they were called trailers because they trailed along after the feature. Of course in the days of continuous programs it would depend on when you arrived if you saw them before or after the main feature. I believe "The Big Boss" also has a scene in the trailer that was not in the film.Comment
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Source: Why Are Movie Trailers Called “Trailers”?The First “Trailers”
Built in the early 1900s, the United States’ first permanent movie theaters featured only one screen. Things worked a bit differently back then: you’d pay your nickel, take a seat, and watch a continuous loop of a feature (mixed with cartoon interludes) for as long as your heart desired.
In 1912, Broadway producer Nils Granlund was hired as the advertising manager for a chain of East Coast movie theaters owned by entrepreneur Marcus Loew. Here, Granlund produced the first-ever trailer — a one-minute spot for the upcoming Broadway show, The Pleasure Seekers — which featured mainly cut up clips from the production’s rehearsals. The advertisement was shown to audiences after the feature film, rather than before it.
That same year, in Chicago, an early film visionary by the name of William Selig decided to apply 19th century society’s interest in print serials (stories published in installments) to films. What resulted was a 13-episode film serial called “The Adventures of Kathlyn.” As with print serials, it was important for Selig to end each segment on a suspenseful note, so as to encourage people to come see the next one. To do this, he decided to include a brief teaser of “next week’s” installment at the end of each one...
In 1919, an enterprising New Yorker named Herman Robbins realized the potential for a dedicated trailer market. So, without so much as attaining the movie studios’ permission, he began taking stills from films, splicing them with text and titles, and selling them to movie theaters himself. He called his company the National Screen Service.
Instead of suing Robbins, the overburdened studios eagerly sent their films to the NSS for him to convert into trailers. The situation was ideal for both parties: the NSS inked deals with hundreds of content-thirsty movie theaters, then paid the studios a “small royalty” for their compliance.
For the next 40 years, with very few exceptions, the NSS dominated the trailer market with its distinctive, formulaic advertisements — usually involving “screen swipes,” “fly-in titles,” and other set film techniques.
Most film historians contend that at some point in the late 1930s, theaters began showing movie trailers before the feature film rather than afterward — most likely because serial-style films were on their way out, and patrons often left the theater immediately following the film. Showing the trailers before, while the audience was obviously captive, proved more effective.
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