Starts Thursday! began in 2010 as a blog tasked with the mission of celebrating "The Art and History of Motion Picture Coming Attraction Slides." The site was actively updated through 2012 and remained online until it was replaced in 2022. The blog featured articles and research related to cinema slides and their history, as well as unique and valuable contributions from a variety of guest authors. This archive presents the most timeless of those contributions.
Guest contributor Michelle Vogel introduces her latest book, "Lupe Velez: The Life and Career of Hollywood’s “Mexican Spitfire.”
Starts Thursday! celebrates Clara Bow's 107th birthday with the coming attraction slide from her first screen appearance.
Netherlands first major film star, Annie Bos.
EYE Filmmuseum opens their (new) doors unveils the new restoration of "Spanish Dancer" (1925)
There's nothing new about movie stars shilling for advertisers. The practice is as old as the movies themselves.
The enduring mystery of the woman in this slide. Who could she be?
Announcing the 25 new inductees to the National Film Registry.
The documentary "These Amazing Shadows" and the National Film Preservation Act."
Charlie Chaplin's "The Gold Rush."
Dancing with the stars! Can you identify these six actors?
It's Doraldina, "The World's Dancing Sensation!"
Eva Novak's seaside image repurposed for multiple film advertisements.
More than you ever wanted to know about "King of the Zombies."
Celebrating Diana Serra Cary's 93rd birthday.
A tribute to actress Barbara Kent.
Venue-produced slides from Oakland, California for Gloria Swanson in "My American Wife."
Regarding the restoration of Ernst Lubitsch's 1922 "The Loves of Pharoh."
Is there anything uglier than the mass-produced American slides of the 1950s? Probably not.
Looking at the negative of an amateur-produced slide for William Wyler's "A House Divided."
Guest contributor Ned Thanhouser on the history and legacy of the pioneering Thanhouser Company.
Investigating the faux Chaplin film, "Charlies' Stormy Romance."
A birthday tribute to Clara Bow.
Guest contributor Nancy Kauffman shares her insight from the George Eastman Museum.
Tracking down the scoop on "Mother I Need You!" (1918).
Celebrating Mother's Day.
Guest contributor Krystina Benson on WWI propaganda slides used in American cinemas.
Charles Lindbergh lends his name (presumably) to promote Mobile Oil.
Two action-packed pre-war slides and the trailers that go with them.
Vitagraph slides that promote a paired film program, not just a single title.
The magic of stencil-coloring in early film.
Chaplin at Keystone. An original advertising slide has yet to surface but there is no shortage of later re-issues, often with new titles.
A bit about Louise Pratt and the proto-noir "Forgotton Girls." In support of the Film Noir Foundation blogathon.
Supporting the Film Noir Foundation's drive to preserve "The Sounds of Fury."
All about isinglass, an occasional alternative to glass.
Lillian Gish is transcendent in King Vidor's "La Boheme."
Charlie Chaplin and his timeless Mutual short comedies.
Dutch (or perhaps Belgian) advertising slides for "American" cigarettes.
Guest contributor Thomas Gladysz on Howard Hawks' "A Girl in Every Port."
Celebrating the new year with a tribute to Gloria Swanson.
Merry Christmas from STARTS THURSDAY!
Guest contributor Donna Hill on Dorothy Gish, the other Gish sister.
Lon Chaney in the 1924 classic "He Who Gets Slapped.""
Film stars rally to sell Liberty Bonds and in support of U.S. war effort.
Wartime slides, patriotism and propaganda.
Ernst Lubitsch's 1919 German film "Madam DuBarry" released as "Passion." Pola Negri called it the most important film of her career.
A tribute to William S. Hart.
Theater management creates a slide to assure audience that no immoral actors appear in their films.
Guest contributor Galen Wilkes with silent film actress Carla Laemmle recalling her times on the set with Lon Chaney.
Bison's 1912 feature "Big Rock's Last Stand," an early coming attraction example.
Guest contributor Susann Gilbert talks about her cousin, silent film star, Alice Calhoun.
Guest contributor Charles Morrow on Mary Pickford's first, and possibly worst, motion picture.
Abel Gance's 1919 masterpiece, "J'Accuse."
Guest contributor Diana Serra Cary recalls filming "The Darling of New York."
Kinodia: German coming attraction transparencies.
Celebrating Diana Serra Cary's 92nd birthday.
In slide advertising, the names of some director outshine the stars.
TELOPs, early television's version of coming attraction slides.
"The Lost Battalion" a semi-authentic re-creation staring them men who were there.
"The Last Raid" may be "stupendous, thrilling, realistic," though not necessarily authentic.
"The Unborn" too sensational for a mixed gender audience.
Charles Hutchinson in the action-packed serial, "Speed."
Is the woman in slide a familiar actress? The quest for her name continues.
Scratching the surface of Bollywood slides from India.
British coming attraction slides from the silent era.
Reporting back from the classic festival, Cinecon 46.
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle stars in this set of song slides with a film tie-in.
Douglas Fairbanks' "Headin' South" represented by studio sanctioned slides as well a custom production.
For every positive there must be a negative. The photographic process for creating lantern slides.
Though lighter than air, Zeppelins have great visual appeal.
Arnold Fanck and his German mountain epics.
"Three Weekends" starring Clara Bow. Promotional materials, like this slide, are all that remain.
Hand-made slides for promoting film programs or local services.
"Passport to Destiny," that's an awful lot of information squeezed into a single slide.
Advertising "St. George and the Dragon" (1912), but much later than you might expect.
Coming attraction slides in Australia.
Guest contributor Shelley Stamp discusses Lois Weber and "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle."
Coming attraction slides in England in the 1940s and 50s.
Guest contributor Thomas Gladsz discusses "The American Venus."
Slide designs as related to other promotional materials.
A couple of venue-produced Dutch slides. Where else in Europe were slides used to advertise coming attractions?
A couple of favorites for Slide of the Week.
More (much more) about cardboard-frame slides.
Advertising slides in the Middle East. Are there coming attractions as well?
Personality slides, generic coming attractions starring your favorite actor.
Origins of the "Star System" and using slides to promote film personalities.
Wartime slides from the Charles Potter company.
Variations in hand-coloring can make every slide unique.
A brief overview of slide shapes and formats.
Film trailers and the first use of commercially-produced lantern slides to advertise motion pictures.
Howard Hughes' Hells Angels (1930) is today's Slide of the Day.
When were lantern slides last used to advertise coming attractions?
With STARTS THURSDAY! I hope not only to share my passion for these images, but more importantly to provide a forum for sharing and encouraging others to contribute.