Newspaper headlines in movies. Ever read the text?

[Douglas Meltzer]

I've added audio to a number of Super 8mm cutdowns that were only released in silent versions. My most recent project involves Universal 8's Best of Horror Part 2, a collection of Castle Films silent headline editions. I was scrubbing through an mp4 of The Mummy's Ghost and came across a scene where a newspaper fills the screen.



The main headline warns the Mapleton Daily News reader about being set upon by Kharis. Now that we've been warned, let's take a look at the other stories. Some very smart passengers made a hasty exit from a blazing street car. The street car may have been on fire because of the recent quakes that are terrifying the town.

This one is from The Deadly Mantis:



Notice that "Court Seeks Adjournment"? If you were reading the Huntington Park News, you'd come across the same article. Except it's from a different movie.




This is from I Was a Teenage Frankenstein.


Also in The Deadly Mantis, The Maine Herald reports that same court is still seeking adjournment, however this edition comes out later in the film.




Of course, these props are only on screen for a few seconds. I'm sure the makers of these films never thought anyone would be doing screen grabs.

[Steve Klare]

I always think of Airplane!

“Boy Trapped in Refrigerator Eats Own Foot“

-and Wallace and Gromit: the Wrong Trousers (I think)

“Dog Reads Newspaper“

[Joerg Polzfusz]

There’s a company that is producing these newspaper-props for decades. It’s mentioned in this article:
https://reelrundown.com/film-industr...fferent-movies

[Joerg Polzfusz]

The company’s website:
https://www.theearlhayspress.com/

[Joerg Polzfusz]

A BBC article about the company:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39045705

Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Hays_Press

[Ed Gordon]

From: https://tvovermind.com/collection-ne...dlines-movies/

[Osi Osgood]

Sometimes it can be really funny the extra articles, especially in old cartoons that do the same thing, but really interesting that there is a company that specializes in this! Great topic!

[Douglas Meltzer]

These are from Godzilla vs. the Thing. No filler articles on the front page of these papers, as befits the arrival of a mammoth egg.

[Douglas Meltzer]

This headline is from the 1967 movie It! with Roddy McDowall.



A murderous creature can't be stopped by the military, but equally important stories such as "Brewers face monopoly probe over pubs" and "Non-union busman loses job after 20 years" are also prominently featured. To be fair, I'm sure the busman's family believes they should be the lead story.

[Brian Fretwell]

Yes, all the other stories get more than just a headline on the front page - strange the main one doesn't.

[Douglas Meltzer]

For the US version of the 1965 Japanese monster film Gamera, scenes with American actors were added which included a number of newspaper headlines. The interesting thing to me is that this time well known newspapers were used!

New York's Daily News asks the question on everyone's minds.





The famed German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine has doubts about the titanic testudine.







Corriere della Sera, one of Italy's oldest newspapers, uses the American term "baloney" instead of bologna or even mortadella...

France's Le Monde turtle article shares the page with a story about the timid recovery of the pound sterling.

Very nice of these papers to all have english headlines.

[Steve Klare]

Adam Savage visited Earl Hayes press:

How Fake Newspapers in Movies Get Made!

They are also the major producer of screen currency. It's dicey business because if they get too close to Legal Tender it edges closer and closer to being considered counterfeiting:

How Fake Movie Money Gets Made!

(They get visits from the United States Secret Service fairly often!)

[Brian Fretwell]

I've just bought a DVD of a 1968 children's series set in WWII "Tom Gratton's War2 where the newspaper headling has obviouly just been printed and pasted on an old newspaper as the font is completely different to all other headlines on it!