Kroger Babb is probably the second most infamous Babb of all time (behind Phillip Babb of the Isles of Shoals). But one thing is for sure, he made a lot more money along the way.
In a time of tight censorship he was able to make some of the most provocative movies of his time. His flair for stirring up excitement and controversy show he is a true member of our family.
His genre has come to be known as Sexploitation. He would disguise suggestive content under the heading of an educational/hygiene movie. This was something that the Censors would allow a much greater amount of latitude because it was “educational.” Of course, by today’s standards, these films could be on network television during the family hour and not even raise an eyebrow. They are not commonly circulated, because they are simply terrible movies. I’ve not had the opportunity to locate this movie, but I’ve seen a good number of his films and they are unremarkable. But his advertising was top notch!
Kroger is known as the King of the Roadshow! He would produce a movie and take it from town to town renting out movie houses to sell out show after show. Mom and Dad is his greatest example of this. He is alleged to have sold more tickets than the original Star Wars movie over the course of a dozen years that he toured this movie. I’ve yet to see the movie itself, but it tells a cautionary tale of a Married couple that engage in unsafe sex and end up having a baby. It shows the live birth of twins.
Kroger would have separate screenings for men and women and bring in Sex Experts to discuss intimate issues in a question and answer session. Then he would sell pamphlets to the audience. I have some of those, but they are lengthy and scanning them will take some extra effort. So, those are for a future day.
In today’s example, we have an item that he would circulate around town in advance of his theater opening. It is designed to look like a newspaper, but is purely an advertisement for the film.
Note: Full size images are available by clicking on the pictures below.
