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Based on William B. Seabrock’s travelogue The Magic Island, a book which contained “firsthand accounts of Haitian voodoo and witchcraft rituals,” White Zombie was the first film to bring the now familiar zombies to the screen. Shot on sets from Dracula and Frankenstein at Universal studios, with additional scenes filmed at RKO-Pathe, the low-budget film was a commercial success. Lugosi’s role of zombie master ‘Murder’ Legendre was one of his most memorable. Close-ups of Lugosi’s eyes, recycled from White Zombie, were used in a less-successful 1936 sequel, Revolt of the Zombies. The film was to have starred Lugosi, but his role was eventually taken by Dean Jagger. Lugosi himself announced a second sequel, Return of the White Zombie, in the 1950s, but the film was never made. In 1942 Bela Lugosi was reunited with fellow White Zombie actors Clarence Muse in Invisible Ghost (1941) and Robert Frazer in Black Dragons (1942).
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Production Company: Amusement Securities Co., Ltd.
Distribution: United Artists
Producers: Edward Halperin and Phil Goldstone (uncredited)
Director: Victor Halperin
Assistant Directors: William Cody and Herbert Glazer
Story & Dialogue: Garnett Weston
Based on the book The Magic Island by William B. Seabrock
Cinematography: Artur Martinelli
Editor: Harold MacLernon
Sound Engineer: L.E. Clark
Art Effects: Conrad Tritschler
Settings: Ralph Berger
Make-up: Jack P. Pierce and Carl Axcelle
Technical Director: Herbert Glazer
Camera Operator: Jockey Arthur Feindel
Assistant Camera Operators: Charles Bohny and Enzo Martinelli
Special Effects: Harold Anderson
Production Assistant: Sidney Marcus
Dialogue Director: Herbert Farjeon
Musical Supervisor: Abe Meyer
Original Music: Guy Bevier Williams and Xavier Cugat
Additional Music: Nathaniel Dett, H. Herkan, Gaston Borch, H. Maurice Jacquet, Leo Kempenski and Hugo Riesenfeld
Assistant to the Producer: Sidney Marcus
Running Time: 68 minutes
Copyright Number: LP3357, August 1 1932
Cast:
Bela Lugosi: ‘Murder’ Legendre
Madge Bellamy: Madeline Short Parker
Joseph Cawthorn: Dr Bruner
Robert Frazer: Charles Beaumont
John Harron: Neil Parker
Clarence Muse: Coach driver
Brandon Hurst: Silver
Dan Crimmins: Pierce
Frederick Peters: Chauvin
George Burr Macannan: Von Gelder
John Printz: Ledot
Claude Morgan: Zombie
John Fergusson: Zombie
Annette Stone: Maid
Velma Gresham: Maid
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Trade Advertisement
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San Francisco Chronicle, March 10, 1932
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New York Times, July 29, 1932
Screen
Beyond The Pale
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Trade Advertisement
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Canton Repository, August 7, 1932
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The Film Daily, August 9, 1932
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Reading Eagle, August 10, 1932
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Reading Eagle, August 11, 1932
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Reading Eagle, August 12, 1932
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The Montreal Gazette, August 13, 1932
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Rockford, Richmond Times Dispatch, August 13, 1932
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Unknown newspaper
Reading Eagle, August 14, 1932
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San Francisco Chronicle, August 14, 1932
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Reading Eagle, August 15, 1932
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Reading Eagle, August 16, 1932
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Reading Eagle, August 17 1932
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The Times-Picayune, August 19, 1932
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The Times-Picayune, August 21, 1932
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Rockford, Springfield Republican, August 28, 1932
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Dallas Morning News, September 5, 1932
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Evening Tribune, September 7, 1932
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San Diego Union, September 8, 1932
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Evening Tribune, September 10, 1932
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Spokane Daily Chronicle, September 15, 1932
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Spokane Daily Chronicle, September 16, 1932
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Unknown newspaper
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The Pitsburgh Press, September 19, 1932
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Trenton Evening Times. September 20, 1932
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The Big Spring Texas Daily Herald, September 23, 1932
White Zombie Is Given Pan By Gotham Critics, But Public Wanted It
Within the past decade a play blossomed forth on Broadway and was mercifully “panned” by Gotham’s leading dramatics critics. Notwithstanding critical derogation, the play ran on and on — for four years. The public knew what it wanted, and wanted “Abies’s Irish Rose.”
Within the past month a picture opened at the Rivoli on Broadway and was panned as “Abie’s Irish Rose” had been panned. But the public flocked, regardless. And kept on flocking until New York in particular and the county in general realized that the screen had a new sensation. That sensation is “White Zombie.” Clan analysis reveals that there is nothing strange about the public clamor for “White Zombie.” It is the first picture in ages with a theme never before used for the screen, and its plot is motivated by superstition and manifestations of the supernatural.
“White Zombie” is coming to this city to be exhibited at Ritz Theatre. Said to be more spooky and fantastic than “Dracula” and “Frankenstein,” it promises the ultimate in thrills. Bela Lugosi (the “Dracula” of screen and stage) plays the leading role.
“In order to get the fullest measure of thrills in ‘White Zombie,'” says Manager J. Y. Robb, “one should attend a midnight performance of the picture; and in order to accommodate those who want their thrills at their thrillingest, we will hold a midnight show Saturday, starting at 11:30 o’clock. Regular performances will be held Sunday and Monday.” Mr. Robb states further that persons not in tip-top physical condition should refrain from attending exhibitions of this weird picture.
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Lexington Herald, September 25, 1932
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Unknown newspaper
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Daily Herald, September 26, 1932
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Lexington Herald, September 27, 1932
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State Times Advocate, September 28, 1932
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Unknown newspaper
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Daily Herald, September 29, 1932
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State Times Advocate, September 29, 1932
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State Times Advocate, September 30, 1932
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Omaha World Herald, October 14, 1932
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Morning Olympian, October 26, 1933
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Sydney Morning Herald, October 31, 1932
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Rockford, Register-Republic, November 1, 1932
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The Sidney Mail, November 2, 1932
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Seattle Daily Times, November 7, 1932
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Daily Mirror (London). November 7, 1932
Sander Feinberg Collection
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Los Angeles Examiner, Nov 16, 1932
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San Francisco Daily Chronicle, November 25, 1932
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San Francisco Daily Chronicle, November 30, 1932
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San Francisco Daily Chronicle, December 5, 1932
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San Francisco Daily Chronicle, December 11, 1932
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San Jose Evening News, December 14, 1932
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San Jose Evening News, December 15, 1932
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San Jose Evening News, December 16, 1932
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Unknown newspaper
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Seattle Daily Times, January 17, 1933
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Manchester United v Oldham Athletic Match Programme, 1932/33 Season
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Seattle Daily Times, January 22, 1933
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Unknown newspaper
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Photoplay Magazine, February, 1933
WHITE ZOMBIE – United Artists. – An utterly fantastic tale about the half dead, known as zombies, who rise from their graves. Madge Bellamy and Bela Lugosi. And you don’t need to bother seeing it.
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The Spokane Daily Chronicle, February 1, 1933
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Spokesman-Review, March 24, 1933
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Yale Daily News no. 146, April 13, 1933
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Breeze Theater, Philadelphia, PA, programme for week of July 14, 1936
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Herald-Journal, July 30, 1933
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Lawrence Journal-World, October 24, 1936
Madison State Journal, Wisconsin, October 20, 1938
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San Diego Union, November 2, 1938
San Diego Union, November 10, 1938
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Red Bank Register, February 9, 1939
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The Times-Picayune, September 1, 1939
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The Times-Picayune, September 4, 1939
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Herald-Journal, September 16, 1939
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Seattle Daily Times, March 1, 1941
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Philadelphia Public Ledger August 12, 1942
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Philadelphia Public Ledger August 13, 1942
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Philadelphia Public Ledger August 14, 1942
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Reading Eagle, May 9, 1943
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Unknown Newspaper
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The Hinton News, January 17, 1952
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Posters
Half Sheet
Half Sheet
1938 Re-Release One Sheet
1938 Re-Release Window Card
Spanish One Sheet
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Glass Slide
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Heralds
Original Herald
Re-Release Herald
Spanish Heralds
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Promotional Item
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Lobby Cards
1938 Re-Release Lobby Cards
1930s Spanish Lobby Cards
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Advertising Block
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Pressbook
1938 Re-Release Pressbook
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Cinema Promotion
The Regina Theater in Los Angeles, 1932
The Ben Ali Theter (Courtesy Lafayette Studios Collection)
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Stills
Bela Lugosi
Bela Lugosi
Madge Bellamy
Brandon Hurst, Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy and Robert Frazer
Frederick Peters, Madge Bellamy and John Harron
Madge Bellamy, Bela Lugosi and Robert Frazer
Bela Lugosi and cast
Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Frazer, Madge Bellamy and John Harron
The Zombies