Kroger Babb
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Howard W. "Kroger" Babb (December 30 1906–January 28 1980) was an American film and television producer. His marketing techniques were similar to a travelling salesman's, with roots in the medicine-show tradition. Self-described as "America's Fearless Young Showman," he is best known for his presentation of the 1945 exploitation film Mom and Dad, which was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2005.
Babb was involved in the production and marketing of many films and television shows, promoting each according to his favorite marketing motto: "You gotta tell 'em to sell 'em." His films ranged from sex education–style dramas to "documentaries" on foreign cultures, intended to titillate audiences rather than to educate them, maximizing profits via marketing gimmicks.
Ingmar Bergman re-edit
Kroger Babb's acquisition of the American theatrical rights for Ingmar Bergman's Sommaren med Monika (Summer with Monika) is a good example of film re-editing or film remixing. About one third of the film was cut, and the remaining sixty-two minutes emphasized nudity by retaining a skinny-dipping scene; the result was titled Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl. Suggestive advertising art, including promotional postcards, portrayed the nude rear of Harriet Andersson.
