What
is a Photoplay Edition/Movie Tie-In?
In its simplest sense, a Photoplay
Edition or Movie Tie-In
(MTI) refers to a link between a book and a movie. For purposes
of this publication, the link is further defined as photos, artwork or
written credit relating the movie title / movie production company and
/or movie cast to the text of the book. For ease in reading the
following remarks, all varieties of these books will be referred to as
Movie Tie-Ins (MTI).
All MTIs fit into one of three categories (listed in order of
predominance):
1) special reprint of an already existing novel, play, poem,
short story or non-fiction work;
2) a novelization or adaptation from the screenplay;
3) a screenplay.
Occasionally there is some confusion when the actual MTI is an adapted
or revised version of the original novel. Most MTIs were
published at the time of movie release but some appeared years later,
a few precede the film. In looking at the whole “picture”, one
should conclude that previously existing novels or other published
literary works will outnumber the novelizations / screenplays.
Some recent books have examined the “novelization” authors and “novels
into films” concepts (see Reference Bibliography). It’s fair to
say, that many writers have earned a living novelizing movies and
current book publishing reinforces this notion. This text
is not intended to examine authors or publishers in particular but to
simply share the many tie-in connections for movie / book collectors.
Keep in mind that the connection between book and movie is seen in one
or more of the following:
1) photo stills scattered throughout the text, on the dustjacket
or the book covers;
2) artwork of cast members or movie scene on the dustjacket,
book covers or interior pages;
3) written mention of the movie title, production company or
cast members on the dust jacket, book covers or within the text
All examples of Movie Tie-Ins may be evident within a particular MTI
or the jacket may simply mention "A MGM Film" or the foreword may only
give some written mention of the film. Titles that have a vague
or minute "tie-in" to movies are relatively few in number, as are the
MTIs that are screenplays. MTIs were marketed to promote better book
sales / movie attendance and were often a visual treat, i.e., large
tinted stills or striking artwork on jacket.
One of the intriguing aspects of collecting MTIs is the considerable
variety. In the teens the variant that first apparent was
novelized “serials”, often by established first rate publishing
firms. The early standard became the cheaply produced, hardback
book with interior stills, a movie related dust jacket and commonly
called "photoplay editions". Some were deluxe versions,
oversized with high-quality paper stock and bindings, but the majority
were mass-produced for quick sales to the general public. With
many MTIs, the movie link is evident only on the dust jacket and are
often referred to as "dust jacket tie-ins". In a few instances,
one can find a non-movie dust jacket (often from the book’s First
Edition) and a movie tie-in between the book covers. The famous
gangster film "Little Caesar"
(1930) is an example of a non-movie dust jacket.
MTIs appeared in formats similar to the "pulps" and soft cover
editions. The appearance of movie Big Little Books
and their kin added another variety in both hard / soft covers.
There is a small subsection of MTIs provided by school book
publishers, complete with study questions and commentary. A
final derivative is the paperback MTI most common today, which was
rarely accompanied by a movie dust jacket.
In keeping with the concept of defining the MTI, it is fitting to
mention limitations and exceptions, that are not included in this
publication. Attempting to be as comprehensive as possible with
the previously described formats, has necessitated the limitation to
MTIs published through 1969. A few 1970 publications are
included for films released in 1969 or earlier. Stopping at this
date, one can survey the developing and "Golden Age" of the motion
picture industry. MTI publishing of the last thirty years has
increased overall, including numerous re-issues of “classic”
films.
Other variant MTIs not included are movie comics, which are adequately
noted in Robert Overstreet's "Comic Book Price Guide",
souvenir programs that were sold in theater lobbies (some are noted
when known to contain a reasonable novelization), movie press books
(which usually contained the movie plot), movie fan magazines that
featured movie novelizations and MTIs published in languages other
than English.
One movie magazine that deserves special mention is Screen
Book - Love Stories From the Movies, which
premiered in July 1928 and featured full length novels with many
stills. Starting with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in Street Angel, the series presented
this format for some forty issues before changing to the more
stereotypical "fan" magazine. Notable movie titles represented
included The Iron Mask (May
1929) with a Douglas Fairbanks cover, The
Rogue Song (May 1930) and The
Dawn Patrol (September 1930). Collectors of MTIs should
consider Screen Book, circa 1928-1931, as an
interesting variant. Some issues were complete reproductions of
the hardback photoplay edition but containing many more stills.
Other magazines that featured several short novelizations are Screen
Romances later Screen Stories, Romantic
Movie Stories later Movie Story and as
recently as the 60s Movies Illustrated. Watch for
issues of the short lived ‘pulp” Movie Action (mid
30s), including some great adventure and horror titles. There
are other magazines that appeared weekly and featured short
novelizations, in runs of over 15 years but that's another book.
Foreign language MTIs do deserve more than a passing disclaimer.
There are many truly beautiful editions out there. One publisher
worthy of special mention is Jules Tallandier of Paris, who produced
slightly larger than digest size paperback editions (from the mid
1920s well into the 1930s). These editions had photo inserts and
averaged 20 or more stills. There were over 200 of these which
include the classic Universal horror titles Phantom
of the Opera (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2), London
After Midnight and Dracula.
There were many softcover editions from Spain as well. Foreign
editions often focused on film productions from their respective
countries, in addition to U.S. and U.K. movies.
The author apologizes to collectors of any of the excluded
varieties. Ignorance and the acknowledgment that further
research would have been both time consuming and anxiety provoking are
offered as excuses.