Production still # x526
One Sheet
Half Sheet (22 X 28)
The Columbia Posters
Commercial artist Glen Cravath did most of the poster work for the Columbia Jungle Jim series.
Born May 11, 1897. Cravath started as an illustrator for the New York Journal in the 1920's. He worked for King Features Syndicates as a comic illustrator and did Sunday comics for the New York Journal (FRANK BUCK). In 1928 he began to freelance for movie studios like RKO and Columbia. His last published work was The Unforgiven with Burt Lancaster in 1960. He died in January 1964, leaving his house and collection (containing copies of his published work) to his son Douglas (1918-2002). Douglas, in turn, kept his father's collection intact until his own death in August 2002, leaving no heirs. Because almost none of his artwork was ever sold, Cravath is a relatively little known artist today.
Among the films he worked on were Bring 'Em Back Alive (32), King Kong (33), Son of Kong (33), Call of the Wild (35), Clive of India (35), Elephant Boy (37), The Big Broadcast of 1938, Blondie Meets the Boss (39), The Reluctant Dragon (41), Song of India (49), Apache War Smoke (52), The Petty Girl (55), as well as Jungle Jim (48 - 55).
For the most part, Cravath started with a still and worked from there. Occasionally, the still was merely colourized and used directly on the poster, but more often, it was used as a model for his art work.
Compare the samples below.
From The Lost Tribe (49)
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Production still # x526 |
One Sheet |
Half Sheet (22 X 28) |
From Mark of the Gorilla (49)
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Still # 55 |
One Sheet |
The facial expression on the poster is the same, but the stance is different. |
From Captive Girl (50)
|
Stills #s 47, 31 and 52 |
|
Half Sheet (22 X 28) |
|
|
One Sheet |
Early art work for One Sheet |
From Pygmy Island (50)
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Still # 23 |
Early art sketch for One Sheet |
Finished One Sheet |
From Fury of the Congo (51)
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Still #s 36 and 10 |
Composite of still #s 36 and 10 The resultant art work appeared at the base of several of the posters, as demonstrated in the insert to the right. The scene never existed in the film, but undoubtedly Weissmuller's rescue of Sherry Moreland was viewed to be more enticing than his rescue of William Henry, as it actually occurred in the film. |
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From Jungle Manhunt (51)
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Still # 90 The still was turned almost 90 degrees to suggest the upright stance. |
Pressbook Ad |
Still # 29 |
From Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (52)
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An early art sketch |
Six Sheet This is a colourized version of the pressbook image of the six sheet. |
Half Sheet
The same art
work appeared |
From Killer Ape (53)
|
Still # 29 |
Half Sheet |
Still
# 42
