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I’ve found a new way to spend money on classic film!

The image above is of two books, both published in 1947, intended to spread the love of classic film and actors of the era. The paperback on the left is a novelization of the George Cukor noir A Double Life which earned an Academy Award for its star, Ronald Colman, and other nominations as well. As you might suspect, its pulp from paper to content, with a badly written dumbed-down version of the film and includes photos of actors and scenes:

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Ronald Colman about to go full Othello.
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Shelley Winters in one of her first film roles.

The back cover is also a delight:

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I found this delight on eBay and couldn’t resist it.

Even cheaper, I found the second book yesterday at a small antique store in town. It’s an original (and badly written) mystery novel featuring Gregory Peck as a main character. I didn’t know they made things like this back in the day, but it’s a hardback with lovely yellowed pulp pages, and features the photo on the cover plus hand-drawn images of the action (featuring Peck) on the inside:

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Never fear: Gregory Peck and his trusty flashlight will certainly save the damsel in distress!
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Oh Gregory, everything matters.

What fun, eh?

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