Pre-Internet, movie fans had to rely on reference books or fan publications to find out more information. Here is a one-shot fanzine, published in 1971 by Charles R. Herndon, edited by Joe Bob Williams and Larry Herndon, chronicling the career of former Olympic swimmer Larry “Buster” Crabbe, who came to Hollywood and lent his physique and charisma to a long career in films.
In his book, Cult Movie Stars, Danny Peary called Buster Crabbe the greatest action-adventure star of them all, and it’s easy to see why! He played Flash Gordon (in three serials), Buck Rogers (in one), Tarzan, Jungle Jim, Billy The Kid, and the list goes on. This fanzine features some nice lobby cards of Crabbe’s movies and serials, plus an exhaustive filmography of his credits, from the 30s serials, to 40s PRC cheapies and beyond! After this was published, Buster Crabbe still appeared sporadically in films. Before his death in 1983, he had a comeback on the interview circuit. There was a renewed interest in his career, after then-recent feature-film versions of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.
Enjoy the gallery below! Click on any image to view it as big as your screen will allow; use your arrow keys to navigate back and forth.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.