| Vintage Pulp | Dec 29 2018 |
Maximum security, maximum thrills.
Japanese manga artist Toru Shinohara painted two posters for Meiko Kaji's classic Female Convict series. We shared the first, for Joshuu sasori: Dai-41 zakkyo-bô, aka Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41, back in 2014. Here's the second, for Joshû sasori: 701-gô urami-bushi, aka Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song. It premiered in Japan today in 1973. We'll get back to Shinohara a bit later.
JapanToei CompanyJoshû sasori: 701-gô urami-bushiFemale Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge SongMeiko KajiToru Shinoharawomen in prisonposter artcinemapinkupinky violence
| Femmes Fatales | Dec 29 2018 |
Crime doesn't pay. Wink, wink. Just kidding. It paid for me.
This promo photo stars U.S. actress Ann Dvorak. Despite its mischievous nature, it was made for the crime drama Scarface. The dress she's wearing is one you'll see her in if you watch the film. She had been performing since age four in uncredited roles and shorts but the gritty Scarface made her a star. She appeared in numerous movies after that, many of them enjoyable, but what we like most about her is her stage name. Generally Hollywood performers wanted names that sounded less foreign, but she actually chose Dvorak over her real last name McKim. She had great talent, so it wouldn't have mattered what name she acted under. See Three On a Match or G Men for good examples. The above is from 1932.
| Intl. Notebook | Dec 27 2018 |
Man to Man offers readers some Christmas cheer.
What gift do you get the man who has everything? Consider a shrunken head. This 1949 issue of Man To Man goes into detail about them. Wanna make your own, maybe use it as a Christmas ornament? We published a recipe a while back. Forty-plus scans below, with heads and more.
Man To ManGloria GaleCleo MooreAbbe MarshallMara LynnNancy LewisMichael NeilVincent FosterTony PelloneCharley Fusarimagazine artliteratureboxing
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 26 2018 |
In my experience the ones who think I'm sinful are always the ones I won't let join the fun.
Above is a brilliant cover for James M. Cain's Sinful Woman painted by Barye Phillips, early work from him, and among his best. This was published by Avon in 1947, and though it isn't hard to find it's dear to purchase. The story involves a famous actress who goes to Reno for a quickie divorce from her movie producer husband. When she runs into problems she charms the local sheriff—a big fan of her work—into helping out, but must deal with increasing complications. Most agree Sinful Woman isn't Cain's best, but from a purely literary perspective he's a better writer than most, even in lesser efforts. It's well worth a read.
| Hollywoodland | Dec 26 2018 |
Good weather, excellent visibility, with a 100% chance of Santa.
What says Christmas more than 72 degrees and mostly clear? These photos were made at the 1950 Santa Claus Lane Parade, a decades long Los Angeles tradition, which we bet was never cancelled due to weather. Actually, it was cancelled several times—during World War II due to blackout restrictions. Otherwise, smooth sailing. At some point the name of the event was changed to the Hollywood Christmas Parade, but it still takes place today. The extravaganza's route begins on Hollywood Boulevard and turns onto Sunset. The above shots feature, from top to bottom, show business luminaries Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, Peggy Lee, Leo Carrillo, Phil Harris, Alice Faye, Red Skelton, and William Bendix.
Los AngelesSunset BoulevardHollywood BoulevardEddie CantorJack BennyJimmy DurantePeggy LeeLeo CarrilloPhil HarrisAlice FayeRed SkeltonWilliam Bendix
| Hollywoodland | Dec 25 2018 |
Kenneth Anger explores Hollywood's darkest recesses in his landmark tell-all.
Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon is the grandaddy of all Tinseltown exposés. It was published in 1965, banned ten days later, and shelved until 1975. It's exactly as advertised, outing everybody that was anybody for everything. Entire chunks are devoted to Charlie Chaplain, Lana Turner, Errol Flynn, Fatty Arbuckle and other cinematic luminaries. Some of its claims have been proved false—for instance the assertion that Lupe Velez died with her head in a toilet, and that Clara Bow screwed the USC football team (we doubt anyone really believed that one, even back then). But other tales are basically true, including accounts of various legal run-ins and feuds.
Anger's writing is uneven, but at its most effective mirrors the type of pure tabloid style that influenced the likes of James Ellroy and others. Besides the salacious gossip the book has a ton of rare celeb photos, and those are of real worth. We've uploaded a bunch below. They came from a digital edition because our little paperback was too fragile to get on a scanner. By the way, don't feel as if we're working overtime on our website this Christmas morning—we uploaded everything in advance and are actually nowhere near a computer today. We're glad you took a minute to drop by. Copious vintage Hollywood below.
Hollywood BabylonKenneth AngerJayne MansfieldCharlie ChaplainGloria SwansonMarion DaviesClara BowFrances FarmerOlive ThomasPaul BernDavid MdvaniMae MurrayPrincess MdvaniFatty ArbuckleJean HarlowLana TurnerJohnny StompanatoGinger RogersLewis StoneRobert MitchumBugsy SiegelBenjamin SiegelBarbara La MarrErrol FlynnMae WestSalvador DaliRudolph ValentinoElsa MaxwellLinda DarnellGwili AndreJohn GilbertLupe VelezJanet GaynorMarlene DietrichRory Calhounsuicidemurder
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 24 2018 |
Baby, I don’t mind you calling my chest an A-cup, but can you stop calling my penis an A-cup too?
"You actually make a pretty hot chick,” she says, smiling.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I’m not smiling,” she says, laughing.
“You’re laughing at me.”
“I’m not laughing,” she says, hyperventilating.
“Okay, screw this! I didn’t want to do this anyway!”
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 23 2018 |
Bogart and Bacall arrive in Italy in Grande style.
Above, a beautiful poster for Il grande sonno, better known as The Big Sleep, with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Was Bacall a redhead? Well, she was in Italy. At the top of the poster you see that this played at the Politeama cinema. Rome? Naples? Palermo? Genoa? Cinemas with that name abounded, so we have no way of knowing exactly where the poster was displayed. You'll see the art attributed to Luigi Martinati on various websites, but we don't think so. It doesn't look like his work, and it's actually signed “Nico” near Bacall's right thigh. Martinati did paint a couple of posters for this movie, though, which we may upload later. We've talked about The Big Sleep—as has every other film noir related site on the internet. We don't have any special insights, but if you're curious what we said anyway, check here. After opening in the U.S. in 1946, The Big Sleep arrived in Italy today in 1947, which the poster tells us was martedì—a Tuesday.
| Femmes Fatales | Dec 23 2018 |
In this instance it's fine to Strain your eyes.
This rather awesome photo shows U.S. actress, singer, and dancer Drucilla Strain, a Ziegfeld Girl and Broadway performer whose career ran from 1929 to the mid-1940s. The date given on this everywhere online is 1920 but that's wrong. She was a child then. The image is probably from 1930 or 1931, which was right around the time her show business career was getting off the ground. The photo—again, rather awesome—was made by famed lensman Alfred Cheney Johnston, part of a trove of unseen studio nudes unearthed after his death in 1971.
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 22 2018 |
Biggers isn't always better but he tried.
What's an agony column? Basically it's a newspaper feature in which readers writes messages to other readers. For example: “Regular at Main Street Cafe who takes her coffee every weekday morning just before 9:00. Would you be amenable to meeting a certain gentleman who has admired you from afar?” You get the idea. The “agony” in the terminology derives from the fact that people who write in generally are suffering from some sort of heartache or other.
The Agony Column is basically an epistolary mystery, in which a man writes letters to the crush he contacted through a London newspaper's agony column, and details his involvement in a puzzling murder case. It's a very esoteric set-up for a novel, and besides mystery there's a dose of cute romance. Nearly the entire book takes the form of the main character's letters, though some sections are conventionally written.
The nature of the novel requires more suspension of disbelief than usual, simply because nobody really writes letters with detailed, multi-character dialogue, but once you get over that hurdle it works pretty well. There are other hurdles. About London's Chinatown the main character writes, “Not only the heathen Chinee so peculiar shuffle through its dim-lit alleys, but the scum of the earth of many colors and of many climes. The Arab and the Hindu, the Malayan and the Jap, black men from the Congo and fair men from Scandinavia.”
Ouch. That brought the cuteness to a screeching halt. But readers should note that Biggers evolved, and would later create the Chinese American detective Charlie Chan partly as a counter to racist portrayals of Asians. The books were popular, but as the decades progressed people soured on them because Chan too is a racial stereotype. It's difficult for authors to write characters—especially outside their own ethnic group—that stand up over time as social mores change. But they keep trying, and should, in our opinion. What would fiction be like if they didn't?
The Agony Column has plenty of positives. Being set on the eve of World War I in a London gripped by tension over the looming global hostilities lends it atmosphere, and the mystery itself contains a few surprises we doubt most readers will foresee. It's also a short tale, which keeps the epistolary gimmick from wearing thin. We think it's worth a read. The Agony Column originally appeared in 1916, with this Avon edition, illegibly signed by the cover artist and unattributed inside, coming in 1943.
The Agony Column has plenty of positives. Being set on the eve of World War I in a London gripped by tension over the looming global hostilities lends it atmosphere, and the mystery itself contains a few surprises we doubt most readers will foresee. It's also a short tale, which keeps the epistolary gimmick from wearing thin. We think it's worth a read. The Agony Column originally appeared in 1916, with this Avon edition, illegibly signed by the cover artist and unattributed inside, coming in 1943.
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