JAMES DEAN GIANT ROCK MOVIE POSTER 28 x 22 1/2 WINDOW CARD Benton Card Co
JAMES DEAN & ROCK HUDSON, GIANT - ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK - TALL MAN RIDING - MEADOWBROOK DRIVE-IN - MOVIE POSTER 28 x 22 1/2 WINDOW CARD Benton Card Company. Based on the release dates of the movies, the poster dates 1956-57. In 1933, the Benton Card Company looked to move more into the movie material. The bulk printing was right down their alley.
They wanted to make available a less expensive line by using limited colors on a cheaper card stock or paper for the smaller theaters that couldn't afford bulk in the full color window cards and heralds that were supplied by the studios and then National Screen Service ("NSS"). They grew to producing regular weekly material for over 400 theaters. In 1955, American International Pictures approached them to design and print window cards and heralds for their movie releases. AIP targeted low budget films for the younger market and Benton material was perfect. Benton Card Company, Benton, North Carolina. The first major difference in the window cards and heralds produced by Benton Card Company and those produced by the National Screen Service is the number of colors used. Most Benton window cards and heralds were printed using one color (monotone), two colors (duotone) or in some cases three colors (tritone). The National Screen Service, as well as the other major movie material printers, utilized full color presses, making their materials much more vivid (and more expensive). Benton Card Company originals were printed on thick heavy card stock, and the backside is shaded gray. An original will carry the tag "Benton Card Company" usually centered across the bottom of the window card. These were made available to theater managers through the press kits just like the NSS counterpart. Over the years Benton Card Company would reissue some of their window cards. These reissues were printed on the same heavy card stock as the originals, utilizing the same printing plates. The "Older" reprints are distinguished from their original counterparts by a handwritten notation somewhere on the bottom of the card. This notation contains a year, a slash (I) and a stock number i. The Meadowbrook Drive-In was on Mumford Road in Greenville, North Carolina. It opened about 1954 and closed in 1979.