Movie Action Magazine was a short-lived pulp magazine published by Street and Smith Publications, Inc., the New York publisher whose roster of pulp fiction, dime novels and comic books included The Shadow, Doc Savage and Astounding Stories. Running for just six issues between November 1935 – June 1936, Movie Action Magazine featured adaptations of film scripts. Editor John L. Nanovic, who had previously edited The Shadow, is best remembered as co-creator with publisher Henry W. Ralston of Doc Savage. The February 1936 issue of Movie Action Magazine featured Masters of Horror, an article which revealed how the leading horror actors achieved their most famous characterisations. Included in the article were Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Henry Hull, Lon Chaney, Frederic March, John Barrymore and Peter Lorre. The final issue in June 1936 contained an adaptation of Boris Karloff’s 1936 Warner Bros. film The Walking Dead.
Released on January 20, 1936, The Invisible Ray was the fourth Universal film in which both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi appeared and the studio’s third specially scripted co-staring vehicle for their horror superstars. Their previous joint-outings at the studio were 1934’s The Black Cat and Gift of Gab (in which they shared no scenes) and The Raven in 1935. They would appear in three more films together – Son of Frankenstein (Universal 1939), You’ll Find Out (RKO 1940) and The Body Snatcher (RKO 1945).
Related pages
Movie Action Magazine February 1936: Masters of Horror
Movie Comics 1939 Adaptations of Son of Frankenstein and The Phantom Creeps
A collection of editions of Dracula and Bela Lugosi-related books.
The Bela Lugosi Blog 