Above are the cover and several interior pages from Spain’s Triunfo, with Swiss actress Ursula Andress, who according to the magazine was the most beautiful woman in the world. Andress was starring opposite Jean-Paul Belmondo in the French action adventure Les tribulations d’une Chinois in Chine, based on Jules Verne’s Tribulations of a Chinaman in China, and released in the U.S. as Up to His Ears. The article discusses among other things how Andress injured herself during the first week of the physically demanding shoot, and you can see a scab on her knee and calf, as well as a bandage on her thigh. While she perhaps didn’t have a gazelle’s grace, she did seem to possess a siren’s allure—her rumored affair with Belmondo supposedly ruined her marriage to John Derek, and this may not have been her first affair. However, it seems possible that the marriage failed for reasons other than fidelity, since John Derek did not seem to be a possessive husband (if his willingness to share his fourth wife Bo is any indication). Anyway, not be overlooked is Pamela Tiffin, who appears in the centerfold. We’ll have more on Tiffin later. 

You’ve probably heard that the encierro is dangerous, but the truth of that depends on your idea of danger. Deaths average two per decade, including one last year. That isn't going to get most people quaking in their espadrilles, but injuries are common—this morning there were four minor horn wounds, one broken ankle and, we’d guess, several dozen bruises and scrapes. So the question is, how do you like those odds? The odds for the bulls are not so good—six will be killed in the plaza de toros this evening. We won’t bother with any polemics about the tradition of bullfighting, or animal murder, depending on your view. We’re not from Spain, thus we don’t feel we have the right to comment. How’s that for a refreshing attitude? 

Below, we’ve expropriated photos of some of San Fermin’s finest cornadas, which we’ll have to take down in a day or two to avoid any copyright issues. In panel 13 you see last year’s fatal goring (a horn through the top of the left shoulder, severing the brachial artery and shredding a lung), and in panel 14 you see a horn piercing the underside of an unfortunate mozo’s chin, though non-fatally. These are both atypical injuries—a bull rakes upward with its horns and usually hooks a human in the groin region (or the ass if you happen to be running away like a sensible person). In the final shot, panel 15, you see how the men of Pamplona separate themselves from the boys—in the plaza de toros they crouch en masse in the bull’s path and force it to leap over them. You want to show you’ve got true cojones? Try that.     

Spanish promo poster for Silvio Narizzano’s Italian heist flick Senza ragione, 1973. The title would translate to something like “without reason”, which sounds okay to us, but it was instead released in the U.S. as Alias Redneck, a change that makes sense only when you see Telly Savalas chewing the scenery as a psycho named Memphis. If the film were as good as the poster we’d really have something, but no such luck. It’s probably worth a look for avid fans of poliziesco flicks, but proceed at your own risk. 

The philosopher Bertrand Russell said, “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Clever fellow. Below are ten posters from the Spanish Civil War, which pitted brother against brother on the Iberian peninsula during the late 1930s. You can see more here. 

Publicity photo of American movie vamp Fay Spain catching some rays, circa 1965. 

We've been on the road this week, and right now we're in Sitges, Spain, which is a Mediterranean resort town not far south of Barcelona. To us, it was famous for being the location of the very first Pacha nightclub, but this morning we discovered this awesome photo of Robert Mitchum from 1950, standing on a spot we've walked on probably ten times a day since being here. We don't know who shot it, where it originally appeared, or whether we're risking a cease and desist order, but we just had to post it.

Spanish model and actress Natividad Abascal, aka Nati Abascal, seen here in a United Artists publicity photo, 1971.

Two covers and assorted interior images of American actress Jane Fonda from the pages of Triunfo, Spain's most popular counterculture magazine during the dark years of the Franco dictatorship. Triunfo and the University of Salamanca have combined to put most of the magazine's extensive catalog online, and you can check it out here.

Yes, it’s that time again—we’re going to take some days off and go traveling. As always, part of the agenda will be finding more material to post, but there will also be some earthly pleasures mixed in. At least we hope so. Not sure when we’ll be back, but wherever we are we’ll start posting again regardless on Monday. If we don’t, call the authorities. Oh, and pop by and water the ficus. Thanks.