Posted by 
vp19 on 2014.02.18 at 17:55
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“Love Before Breakfast” was the first of two movies Carole Lombard (shown above with Preston Foster) made at Universal, both released in 1936, and while over the years its renown has been eclipsed by the later “My Man Godfrey,” it’s nonetheless a fun film and a fine example of Lombard’s sudden starpower on display.
And that extended to the movie’s publicity. As was the case with her five productions at Columbia between 1932 and 1934, Universal gave this Paramount emigre the royal treatment…something she was only beginning to get back at her home base. And while “Breakfast” was given an official pressbook, a de facto version of one was produced for the Feb. 15, 1936 issue of the studio trade publication, Universal Weekly. Naturally, she graces the cover…
Inside, there was plenty of “Breakfast,” including some showmanship suggestions…
Some cute things there, including a story on replicating the famed Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center for a scene in the film to the “good egg” presentation to Lombard and a pic of her signing a Universal contract on behalf of her Pekingese, Pushface. A few of the showmanship ideas wouldn’t pass muster today, such as giving away a Pekingese. And note the “comedy fight card,” nearly two years before Selznick International did something similar for “Nothing Sacred.”
Of course, many moviehouses ran serials before the feature…and Universal Weekly promoted one of its own — “Flash Gordon” (still popular on kids’ TV some decades later), starring former swim champ Buster Crabbe as the title character, Jean Rogers as his lovely cohort Dale Arden, and Charles Middleton (who acted with Lombard in “White Woman”) as the dastardly Emperor Ming:
The publication, in good condition despite a loose spine, is being sold at eBay for $150. You can buy it or learn more by visiting http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAROLE-LOMBARD-LOVE-BEFORE-BREAKFAST-RARE-1936-UNIVERSAL-WEEKLY-MAG-CLASSIC-/171245834524?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27df0c111c.
Carole & Co. 
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