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I guess most CHFB members are aware of the historical significance of the 1938 FRANKENSTEIN/DRACULA double feature
that re-ignited the horror movie cycle and led not only to SON OF FRANKENSTEIN but also the second wave of horror films
that soon followed. Until I started looking through newspaper archives from the fall and winter of 1938 I had no idea just how
BIG a phenomenon the FRANKENSTEIN/DRACULA double feature truly was. The double bill seemingly played everywhere
with much ballyhoo with theater exhibitors spending lots of money on publicity.

This is a typical ad that ran in 1938 (Albuquerque Journal 12-10-38):



Of course, with DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN pulling in record crowds and exhibitors making money hand over
fist, exploitation would soon follow. In Madison, Wisconsin an ad war was sparked when the Parkway Theater opted
to cash in on the monstermania and launch a preemptive strike on the Capitol Theater one week before the Capitol was
set to begin a five-day run of the Drac & Frank double bill starting with a midnight show on Halloween night.

On October 19, 1938, the Parkway ran this ad in The Wisconsin State Journal:


Notice that "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" are set in larger type than the actual titles of the films to be shown. Obviously
the purpose is to sew confusion and skim as much monster money as possible before the real DRACULA and
FRANKENSTEIN double shows up. The Capitol noticed, too because they ran this ad:



(The November first showing actually began on Halloween at midnight.) The Parkway wasn't about to cease or
desist; on October 20, they dropped a bolder and bigger bomb:




The Capitol began adding this blurb atop their ads for THE ARKANSAS TRAVELER, showing at the time:



The Parkway kept up the pressure with this ad on October 21:



And on the same day the Capitol tried to keep up -- feebly:



On October 22, the Parkway confused things even more with an ad that depicted the Frankenstein monster
and Lugosi's Dracula:




The Capitol went (again) with:




Not exactly discouraged by the Capitol's attempts to clue in the public, the Parkway ran the same ad
on the 23rd:



But this time the Capitol responded with a big ad right below it -- even touching it -- using the same
graphics (!) and misspelling "Bela":



On October 24, the Parkway was about to end its run of THE WALKING DEAD and WHITE ZOMBIE but
still got in one last jab (and they misspell Bela's name, too -- poor Bela):



That this double bill ran as long as it did suggests Parkway's ad campaign was successful, though perhaps
some of its business was due to the Halloween spirit and excitement and anticipation for the Drac & Frank
main event about to hit Madison.

On the 24th, The Capitol countered with this ad:



END PART 1