| Vintage Pulp | Mar 25 2022 |
This is no lie—Gasparri was a unique talent.
This poster for Catherine Spaak's 1965 comedy La bugiarda—which would translate as “the liar” but which was known in English as Six Days a Week—is the excellent work of Italian illustrator Rodolfo Gasparri, who we've featured before. We have to stop there for a second and confess that, though Gasparri is a great talent, we can't help laughing whenever we see his name because it reminds us of the 1990 comedy The Freshman with Matthew Broderick, where's he's greatly dismayed to have the fake identity Rodolfo Lasparri forced upon him. Minor difference in the name, but still. Anyway, we weren't able to track down La bugiarda to watch, but we thought Gasparri's brilliant version of Spaak as a sort of elongated pin-up was worth a share. We liked it so much, in fact, that we wiped off a little text and made a clean zoom below. You can see more from Gasparri here and here. You can also see Spaak in one of the greatest outfits ever at this link.
| Vintage Pulp | Nov 7 2019 |
Somewhere between Hollywood and Rome lay the wild frontier.
Above, numerous Italian posters for 1960s and 1970s westerns. Some of these movies were true spaghetti westerns (produced in Italy and shot in Europe, often Spain), while others are U.S. productions. All the imagery is beautiful. The artists responsible include Renato Casaro, Rodolfo Gasparri, Averardo Ciriello, Aller, aka Carlo Alessandrini, et al.
ItalyJessi's GunIl prezzo del potereLa banda delle donne maldetteIo non Perdono...uccidoPreparati la bara!!L'uomo che doveva uccidere il suo assassinoPassa sartana... é l'omba della tua morteSpara Joe... e così sia!Soldato bluSoldier BlueL'ultimo ApacheApacheShango la pistola infallibileLa texana e i fratelli PenitenzaHannie CaulderIIl grido di guerra dei SiouxRed TomahawkDjuradoRenato CasaroRodolfo GasparriAverardo CirielloAllerCarlo Alessandrinimovie postercinemaspaghetti western
| Vintage Pulp | Mar 11 2017 |
Been through the desert on a horse with no name.
It isn't the horse that has no name in the spaghetti western Ciakmull—L'uomo della vendetta, but the man. Probably that's true in the song too, though we've never given it serious thought. In any case, above you see a beautiful Rodolfo Gasparri promotional poster for the movie, which premiered in Italy today in 1970. The title means “Ciakmull—Man of Revenge,” but it was changed to The Unholy Four for the movie's English language release.
And what's unholy about the four characters referenced by the title? They're all lunatics to one degree or another, freed from a mental asylum when it was burned down by robbers as a diversion during a gold heist. The four nutjobs band together and what follows is formless Cormac McCarthyesque wandering until Ciakmull, who's amnesiac hence nameless, collides with his former life.
He learns he's actually Chuck Mool, a real bad hombre, and he has some scores to settle. You're thinking, Mool? Like from the Reno Mools? The Abilene Mools? What the hell kind of last name is that? Well, it isn't his last name. But he has one of those, and when it's revealed everything finally becomes clear. Or at least it's clear only if he's been told the truth. But what if somebody has lied to him about his identity? Well then all bets are off.
On the whole Ciakmull—L'uomo della vendetta is a pretty good spaghetti western, but maybe not a good movie. That's okay, though. Spaghetti westerns aren't supposed to be good. If they were, they'd have called them strangozzi al tartufo nero westerns. The movie slots into the genre perfectly—which is to say it's filled with gunplay, dust, horses, hard sun, five o'clock shadows, and lots of steely eyed glares. Give it a watch with cheesiness foremost in your mind and you may like it.
Does anyone here know my name? I'm hoping it's something insanely cool, like Beardy McMustache.
Ciakmull? That's horrendous. My hair is way too good for me to have a name like that.
I ain't fuckin' around here, buddy. Stop calling me that.
Wait. What? You're my sister? Holy shitballs, girl—you fine!
I know you haven't touched a woman in years, so I'm just gonna rub up on you a little. There. Isn't that nice?
This amnesia thing has its advantages, because I feel totally fine about what's happening in my Wranglers right now.
Did you see that? That was not a brother-sister type greeting. You saw that, right?
Yeah, we all saw it. Hey, Ciakmull? Buddy? Those chaps ain't doing a good job hiding that pup tent you got going.
ItalyCiakmull—L'uomo della vendettaThe Unholy FourRodolfo GasparriLeonard Mannposter artcinemaspaghetti westernmovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Nov 15 2015 |
In the land of the blind the painter is king.
Above, two more posters for the spaghetti western Blindman, starring Tony Anthony and Ringo Starr. We talked about the movie last month on the day of its 1972 Japanese premiere. Its Italian premiere was a year earlier, today in 1971. These two great pieces were painted by Rodolfo Gasparri, yet another top notch Italian poster artist, whose work you've seen before on his nice promo for Klute. We'll have more from him later.
| Vintage Pulp | Sep 29 2015 |
Fonda and Sutherland’s understated murder mystery remains a top film of the era.
This Italian poster was painted by Rodolfo Gasparri to promote the mystery/thriller Una squillo per l’ispettore Klute, which means “A call girl for Inspector Klute,” but was of course originally released in the U.S. as merely Klute. Jane Fonda won a best actress Oscar for her portrayal of the big city call girl Bree Daniel, Donald Sutherland received acclaim for his role as a soft-spoken rural detective, and the movie remains quite good, a game changer when it was released, and an enduring time capsule of 1960s culture turning the page to something different. If you haven’t seen it add it to the queue. Klute premiered in Italy today in 1971.
ItalyAcademy AwardUna squillo per l’ispettore KluteKluteJane FondaDonald SutherlandRodolfo Gasparriposter artcinema
