Some of the promises made by ads in the backs of old comics were small, like claims a pair of X-Ray Specs would let us see the bones in our hands and through the clothes of our friends. Other promises were larger, such as the one I told you about made in 1932 that a clipped coupon could turn someone into a professional writer.

But the inside back cover of Four Favorites #22 (March 1946) promised the most life-changing reward of all—a movie contract!

Send in a buck and you’d receive the book How to Get Into the Movies, and if you had, why, you might now be as famous as Roger Batton.

Who?

Batton, who provided the testimonial above, claims to have gotten a part in the 1944 film Song of the Open Road thanks to that book. One problem—the IMDb entry for that film includes no one by that name. In fact, there’s no entry for Roger Batton on IMDb at all!

As for Judith Allen, who wrote How to Get Into the Movies, she did seem to have had a legit acting career, though IMDb lists her with a total of 37 credits through 1952, rather than the 52 claimed through 1946 by the ad.

Did her book ever get anyone into the movies other than Batton, who (without having seen the film) I suspect only appeared, if at all, uncredited as one of the “Hollywood Canteen Kids”? There’s no way of knowing, I guess, but if I cared enough, I could check out her advice myself, because there’s a copy of her book available at AbeBooks for only $10.00.

I suspect, however, that her advice, whether the price is one dollar or ten, is still overpriced, and unlikely to get me or anyone else a movie contract. If you’re desperate, though, feel free to give it a shot.