Louis Larry Goldklang was born on May 23, 1907 in New York, New York. The birth information is from the Social Security Death Index. Goldklang’s full name was on his World War II draft card which had April as the birth month.
In the 1910 United States Census, Goldklang was the youngest of six sons born to Aaron, a tailor, and Yetta, both Austrian emigrants. The family resided in Manhattan at 87 ? 114th Street.
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The 1915 New York state census said the Goldklangs were Bronx residents at 858 East 16? Street.
According to the 1920 census, the Goldklangs’ address 1101 Prospect Avenue in the Bronx.
The 1925 New York state census recorded Goldklang’s occupation as “Letter” which should have been letterer. He lived with his parents and three brothers at 905 Beck Street in the Bronx.
In the 1930 census, Goldklang’s occupation was mixed up with his brother, Meyer (known later as Myron). Goldklang was the sign painter and Meyer the jewelry setter. They lived their parents in the Bronx at 1102 Simpson Street.
The 1940 census counted Goldklang and his parents in Brooklyn at 2504 85th Street. Goldklang’s highest level of education was the second year of high school. In 1939 he earned $1044 as a letterer for a screen service.
The National Screen Service Corporation (see sidebar) was Goldklang’s employer on his World War II draft card which he signed on October 16, 1940. Goldklang’s address was unchanged. He was described as five feet seven inches, 160 pounds, with blue eyes and black hair. The 1950 census said he did not serve during the war.
The 1950 census said Goldklang was a “Cartoonist Letterer” for a “Comic Book Concern”. He continued to live with his parents at the same place in Brooklyn. Coincidentally, Goldklang was on the same career path as Ira Schnapp.
Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 said Goldklang worked at the Iger Studio. Some of his credits are at the Grand Comics Database. Goldklang lettered Classic Comics and Classics Illustrated numbers 23, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens; 24, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain; 25, Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.; 26. Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley; 27, The Adventures of Marco Polo; and 31, The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Apparently Goldklang did not marry and remained a Brooklyn resident. Goldklang passed away on January 30, 1986. The Social Security Death Index said his last residence was Brooklyn. He was laid to rest at Mount Hebron Cemetery.
SIDEBAR: National Screen Service
The Literary Digest, August 1, 1936, described the operation of the National Screen Service.
Film Trailers: How the Screen Gives Advance Publicity to Coming AttractionsIn a recent court action the film title, “Revolt of the Zombies,” the rarely publicized motion-picture trailer was introduced as evidence because of its advertising value. Not to be confused with the increasingly popular automobile trailer, the cinema type is that short film cropping up to proclaim the thrills, chills, fast action, love interest and stars of coming attractions.During the infant days of the “flickers” announcements were flashed on the screen during the “One Minute to Change Reels.” In this period highly colored slides were shown among advertisements for Granny’s Corn Fritters, Uncle Joe’s Liver Pills, bicycles at half price and sundry merchandise with emphatic remarks such as: “Just a minute while the operator has a fit,” or “Please remove your hat, the lady in back might want to see, too.” These slides were the direct forerunners of the modern film trailer.As the cinema matured, advertisements of coming attractions were introduced. These were on slides at first but eventually were made on film. At this point they became known as trailers; “trailer” because they were attached to a reel on a feature or longer piece of film and trailed. In 1920, actual scenes were introduced and from that time the “trailer” business has increased in importance until it is now one of the important branches of the motion picture industry.Stars and Stars—The average trailer announcing the GLAMOUROUS star of stars, Mary Jones in that THRILLING—NERVE TINGLING—HEART-TEARING—SOUL±REVEALING—THUNDERBOLT-LIKE—SAGA OF TRUE LOVE—“Cousin Elizabeth”—runs about a minute and a half and is 200 feet long. More than 10,000 theaters are supplied from one to three times a week with these short reels by the National Screen Service. The only production companies not using this service are Warner Brothers and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, both of which prefer to make their own.Three to eight scenes are cut into the trailer from the picture it announces. The companies supply this scene material and as compensation in addition to the advertising values, they are paid royalties based on the amount of film footage actually used and the number of prints. National Screen Service has scouts who watch the shooting of pictures to select most expressive scenes of the entire story.Occasionally stars are changed, stories altered, theme songs dropped, or whole scenes deleted. This causes confusion for the trailer makers, especially when title changing runs rampant on the Hollywood lots. Mae West’s last picture started as “Klondike Lou,” was changed to “Hallelujah, I’m a Saint,” and finally released as “Klondike Annie.”National Screen Service has produced up to 2,700 different sorts of these short reels in one year with more than 30,000 prints being issued. The usual feature picture may open in fifty cities simultaneously, but the company has to be prepared for emergencies such as in the case of Shirley Temple's “Curly Top,” which opened in four hundred theaters the same week.Depending on length, wordage and production, the cost of trailers range from from $300 to $1,500 apiece. Some theaters, such as the Radio City Music Hall in New York, allot an annual budget of $5,000 for exclusive trailers. Most theaters, however, are supplied on yearly contracts at from ten to twenty dollars a week.Careful Distribution—Peculiarly enough in the problem of trailer distribution, there is a question of censorship. National Screen Service has its own censor, but occasionally eliminations are necessary in some prints and these are marked “For Mass. only,” or “O.K. for Pennsylvania,” depending on local requirements.Western films, with action stressed, have to be watched carefully. Censors allow a chair or some weapon to be raised in a fight scene, but the actual striking may not be shown. A man may jump over a cliff but he may not ride a horse in so doing. That constitutes cruelty to animals and is tabu.Only an instant of machine-guns may be seen. There can be sounds of firing, but the machine-gun must not be shown in action. Two people may clinch and kiss, but they must always be vertical, never horizontal. And kisses are measured actually by footage; thus, three feet of a kiss would represent about two and a half seconds of time, as film is projected ninety feet a second, or approximately twelve minutes for a full reel.There are three common types of trailers: “talkers” with film scenes, “text” with titles, stills of actors and animation effects and short fifty-foot reels, all titles and with or without music.Upon the suggestion of the production company, these films are assembled by an editorial and cutting staff. Letterers and artists produce background cards, build small sets for trick photography, do animation and letter advertising matter which is then photographed by the camera crew with an eye toward all kinds of trick work.The editors work with every available dictionary and word collection in their quest for adjectival fireworks. In the sound library are some 5,000 pieces of music. Sound effects are likewise held available, such as a lion’s roar being accomplished by drawing a rosin-covered string through the covered end of an open-end drum; a whale’s blowing by forcing air through a short section of hose; a bit more hose achieving an alligator effect. Nails dropping into a keg gave the impression that a rock slide has hit the roof of a house and for a big cave-in, match-boxes held in the hand and crushed before the “mike” produced the desired result.Recently, with the use of a powerful baby microphone, sound engineers are being sent all over the world. One crew recorded the sounds in the fiords of Norway.
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