| Intl. Notebook | Sep 8 2019 |
Pop culture magazine offers a look at post-Franco Spain.
Ages ago we found a stash of Spanish language magazines and books in a neglected closet in a stairwell in our apartment building. They were caked with dust, so we knew they'd been left to rot. We helped ourselves to a few, but didn't scan much of the collection because it was more contemporary than our usual offerings, and because the magazines were in large formats that needed piecing together in Photoshop. But we had a little time today (plus the Pulp Intl. girlfriends want us to clear out some material) so we have some scans from the Spanish magazine Interviu. This issue hit newsstands today in 1977 and features cover star María Carlos, model Virna Lisa, and Swiss icon Ursula Andress, who's the entire reason we did the scans. There's also a feature on nudism in Spain.
On the whole Interviu is a pop culture magazine, but with the crucial difference that it was published in a Spain recently freed from decades of dictatorship. Therefore the focus on politics and conflict is pretty heavy. We found four of these and all them play the dirty trick of placing photos of nude models on the overleaf of pages showing corpses. You're looking at a beautiful woman, then flip the page to see a dude with his skull smashed open. One issue had a photo of a guy torn to shreds by a bomb. We mean no recognizable body at all, just shoes, mangled flesh, and a few bones. In color. If the idea was to force readers to see the consequences of war, mission accomplished. But don't worry—we didn't include any of those scans, so scroll with confidence.
| Vintage Pulp | Sep 6 2019 |
What was the must-have possession of 1971? Christina Lindberg.
Here you see a couple of French posters for the 1971 Swedish sexploitation movie Possédée, which means “possessed,” but which was originally titled Exponerad, and was known in the U.S. as Exposed and Diary of a Rape. There's no known release date for the movie in France, but it worked its way across Europe in 1972, so figure it opened in France sometime in the middle of the year. The top poster is one you see often online, but the second promo, in black and white and showing star Christina Lindberg clutched by a male hand, is rare.
We've posted a lot a material on Exponerad. Our continual focus on this is not because the movie is especially worthwhile, but because its promotional materials are great. As an example, below is a shot of Lindberg made to publicize the film, and which appeared in the Japanese magazine Young • Idol • Now. More photos from the session appeared in other Japanese magazines, but this rare shot is by far our favorite. Feel free to check out our other posts on this film by clicking keyword “Exponerad” at bottom.
We've posted a lot a material on Exponerad. Our continual focus on this is not because the movie is especially worthwhile, but because its promotional materials are great. As an example, below is a shot of Lindberg made to publicize the film, and which appeared in the Japanese magazine Young • Idol • Now. More photos from the session appeared in other Japanese magazines, but this rare shot is by far our favorite. Feel free to check out our other posts on this film by clicking keyword “Exponerad” at bottom.
FranceSwedenJapanPossédéeExponeradExposedDiary of a RapeYoung • Idol • NowChristina Lindbergposter artcinemasexploitationnudity
| Intl. Notebook | Aug 29 2019 |
Have typewriter, will travel.
This shot shows Jane Dolinger, who began public life as a model but later became an acclaimed travel writer during an era when people who made a living that way were exceedingly rare. Her career began when she took a job as secretary to adventurer Ken Krippene, who nurtured her ambition and helped her get a start in the publishing business. She married Krippene, and between 1955 and 1995 traveled the world and wrote about her exploits, from the Amazon to the Sahara, publishing eight books and hundreds of articles. She wrote mainly for men's magazines, so her stories dwelled on nightlife, sex, and prostitutes. But she also managed to risk life and limb gathering facts on Jivaro headshrinkers and Inca gold.
The nude photos of her below were published in the 1960s but were probably shot in the late 1950s. This was common practice with her. A 1971 article she wrote for Bachelor about Ibiza was accompanied by topless photos of her from 1959. It was shameless pandering, of course, but it would be a mistake to assume this was the practice of some benighted, long passed era. Today female pop stars such as Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, and Azealia Banks routinely publish or leak nudes in order to boost sales. New decade, same game.As pulp people we don't judge. Fame can be a long, hard climb and there are various ways to reach the mountaintop. Dolinger was fine with her nudes, as have been ambitious trailblazers stretching in a line from Hedy Lamarr to Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. The liberated ’70s even saw a few brave males posing nude for publicity, for example Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson. Dolinger's shots were stepping stones to a dream career, literary respect, and a lasting place in the pantheon of daring travelers. She published Gypsies of the Pampa, Behind Harem Walls, The Forbidden World of the Jaguar Princess, and other books, and became the subject of a book herself in 2010 when Larry Abbott published the biography Jane Dolinger: The Adventurous Life of an American Travel Writer. Dolinger died in 1995 at the age of sixty-two, but her legend lives on
| Vintage Pulp | Aug 23 2019 |
Christina Lindberg flick expounds upon reality, fantasy, and a woman's struggle in a sexualized world.
The sexploitation flick Exponerad, which premiered in Sweden today in 1971 and is known in English as Exposed and Diary of a Rape, is an exceedingly serious movie considering its genre. That would normally be a sin in our book, but this stars Christina Lindberg, so we figured okay, it's worth a gander. Lindberg, in one of her earliest roles, plays Lena, a high school girl torn between her twerp of a boyfriend Jan and an older, depraved sociopath named Helge. She prefers Jan, but Helge has taken nude photos of her and is using them to blackmail her into servicing guests at his wild parties.
When Jan learns that Lena has been sharing her fuzzy favors, his caveman side comes out and he slaps her. Lena promptly runs away to the country. Here we learn that the wall between reality and fantasy is a thin one for her, and she crosses between it multiple times. She's raped by a stranger, tries to seduce a man who picks her up hitchhiking, dies in a fiery automobile crash, and has other imaginings the audience only knows are in her head once the movie leaps back to the point where those scenes began.
If we consider these fantasies closely it's possible Lena is coming to grips with her sexuality and her place in a sexualized world. A particularly insightful review we read suggested that all of these waking dreams represent the male gaze, which is why they're creepy and violent. It's a theory we like, but we aren't sure if it actually holds up—unless daydreams can leave physical artifacts behind. We know we're being vague. This is when that no spoilers promise we made a while back is inconvenient.
In any case, what the filmmakers wanted to do here was make thought-provoking erotica, and they definitely accomplished that. We picture the producer shaking hands with director Gustav Wiklund and saying, “Well done, lad. Despite all the nudity there's no possibility anyone will get a boner.” Whether the film makes any sense is a different issue. We recommend that if you watch Exponerad, you watch with full attention or you'll get lost long before the double twist ending that'll make you say either, “Aha!” or “Huh?” Fans of ambitious sexploitation, this movie is your jam. We have some promo images beow, and you can see more here and here.
In any case, what the filmmakers wanted to do here was make thought-provoking erotica, and they definitely accomplished that. We picture the producer shaking hands with director Gustav Wiklund and saying, “Well done, lad. Despite all the nudity there's no possibility anyone will get a boner.” Whether the film makes any sense is a different issue. We recommend that if you watch Exponerad, you watch with full attention or you'll get lost long before the double twist ending that'll make you say either, “Aha!” or “Huh?” Fans of ambitious sexploitation, this movie is your jam. We have some promo images beow, and you can see more here and here.
SwedenExponeradExposedDiary of a RapeChristina LindbergHeinz HopfGustav Wiklundposter artcinemasexploitationnuditymovie review
| Femmes Fatales | Aug 18 2019 |
Finally a constellation you don't have to use your imagination to see.
We'll never look at the night sky quite the same way again, thanks to this otherworldy photo of U.S. actress and model Marisa Berenson. This is the second time we've featured her. The first time was equally striking. See here. This shot appeared in the French magazine Photo-Revue in 1977.
| Vintage Pulp | Aug 3 2019 |
Closer... closer... come just a leeetle closer, my unsuspecting little morsel.
This interesting Technicolor lithograph from Colortone Line published in 1957 stars an unknown red-haired model and is titled “Inviting Eyes.” But we think “uninviting eyes” might be more descriptive. Is it just us, or does the model look like a cat about to rip apart a helpless little bird? She's less intense in other lithos, and there are many, which indicates that she was probably a famous model. But we can't place her. We know—you count on us for this stuff, but even Joe DiMaggio struck out once in a while. As a consolation for our general ineptitude, we have two more of her lithos below. Notice the third one is actually from the same session as above. That satiny bed in the background confirms it. Know who this model is? Drop us a line.
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 31 2019 |
The movie is n° 2 but its star is second to none.
There sure are lots of Emmanuelle/Emanuelle movies out there. Sylvia Kristel, Laura Gemser, Monique Gabrielle, Olinka Hardiman, Krista Allen, Natasja Vermeer, and many others inhabited characters with that name. But we'd never heard of Shulamith Lasri, aka Julie Margo, nor her contribution to the pantheon Emanuelle nera n° 2, aka The New Black Emanuelle. Pulp Intl. abhors a vacuum so we figured what the hell and decided to check the movie out. Plotwise Lasri is a famous model who's had some sort of break with reality and is in a mental institution trying, with the help of doctors, to restore memories that might be the key to her trauma
Sounds deadly serious, doesn't it? But like many serious low budget movies, unintentional humor rears its clumsy head. At one point Lasri disrobes and Danielle Ellison gapes at her and says, “Your body. You're like a queen of the night. Or a panther.” At which point Lasri forms a claw with her hand and goes, “Grrrrr...” Frickin' hilarious. The two then dance naked, as women often do when they hang out together. Does Lasri ever get her head straight? Maybe. But even if her mind is cured, her body will remain bonkers, and that's what these movies are all about. Emanuelle nera n° 2 premiered in Italy today in 1976.
IsraelItalyEmanuelle nera n° 2The New Black EmanuelleShulamith LasriJulie MargoDanielle Ellisonposter artcinemasexploitationnuditymovie review
| Modern Pulp | Jul 26 2019 |
She's an Angel but she knows all the tricks devils know.
This poster comes from our rather large collection of Japanese promos for x-rated U.S. movies, and was made to publicize The Pleasures of Innocence, starring all-time beauty Angel, aka Jennifer James. Porn copied successful mainstream films as a matter of course, and this is Flashdance influenced, with workout montages, sweat, and 100% earnest, specially made for the film, bass-popping, electro-drumming mid-’80s dance music. Angel plays a smalltown girl who ditches Des Moines and heads to NYC to catch a break. Other performers include Sharon Kane, Honey Wilder, real life former ballerina Terri Hall, and porn legend John Leslie as a slimy agent determined to gain entry to Angel's holy place.
Best line: “She always falls for those writer types. She was seeing a lawyer pretty regular back home.”
Second best line, as the writer is having sex with Angel: “You're a writer's dream.”
Well, Angel is anyone's dream. We won't get into the plot much more except to say that if you took all the sex out of the film the script would be more like a treatment you could read in nine minutes. We're mainly about the poster anyway, and as usual with Japanese promos, this one features a shot of the star that doesn't exist in any other form. That's no surprise—the photo that would have supplied Angel's likeness doubtless was either lost through carelessness, irreparably damaged through neglect, or was appropriated and will turn up on Ebay when the assistant graphic designer who swiped it dies and his kids find it in a box under his bed.
Obviously, we can't recommend this movie. It's dumb, despite professional film stock, good lighting, location work, split screen trickery, and serious performances. In its favor, the dancing is interesting to watch, a bit like revisiting MTV new wave videos, Kim Wilde maybe, or Pat Benatar. We know—that isn't great enticement, but there's also Angel, don't forget. She's an adult film industry legend for a reason. There's no known Japanese release date for The Pleasures of Innocence, but it premiered in the U.S. today in 1986. Bonus material: Angel dances below, and fronts three more posters here.
| Femmes Fatales | Jul 21 2019 |
Good interior design is about finding the perfect accessories.
Reiko Ike, always a favorite here at Pulp Intl., relaxes on a cool modern sofa and tries to decide if she'll get fully dressed at any point during the day. This image, which we've cleaned a little to get rid of an inset box that was obstructing the view, came from a 1974 photo magazine called Young • Idol • Now. However, a similar shot was used on the rear of her collectible LP The World of Ecstasy, so it turns out the photo actually dates from that session, which was three years earlier. See below.
| Musiquarium | Jul 21 2019 |
Reiko Ike gives fans a dose of ecstasy.
Like many 1970s Japanese actresses Reiko Ike took advantage of her cinema stardom by releasing music. In 1971 she and Teichiku Records got together put out the album Kôkotsu No Sekai, which as we mentioned above was called in English The World of Ecstasy. Here you see the front cover with its famed topless photo of Reiko, and the rear and inside covers are below. The rear cover is almost identical to the photo in the above post, with the difference being in the direction of her gaze.
The album was basically a novelty release. Only a thousand copies were ever pressed. At least initially. It's since been released as a remastered CD. The original vinyl 
can be expensive. In the U.S. people try to sell it at anywhere from $100 to $1,000, but in Japan it usually goes for less. The cost differs depending on whether it's a first or later pressing, and whether the gatefold poster is inside, which you see at right.
For the kind of cash people ask for this platter, Reiko can obviously sing like a lark, right? That came across as flip, we know, but actually she's better than you probably suspect. Her voice is low, mellifluous, and quite confident, and interestingly, a lot of the vocals are orgasmic moans and sighs.
can be expensive. In the U.S. people try to sell it at anywhere from $100 to $1,000, but in Japan it usually goes for less. The cost differs depending on whether it's a first or later pressing, and whether the gatefold poster is inside, which you see at right.For the kind of cash people ask for this platter, Reiko can obviously sing like a lark, right? That came across as flip, we know, but actually she's better than you probably suspect. Her voice is low, mellifluous, and quite confident, and interestingly, a lot of the vocals are orgasmic moans and sighs.
She does all this backed by Masami Kawahara & The Exotic Sounds, who had released a 1970 album with orgasmic vocals, so apparently this was a trend. It's weird at first, but after a while it's pretty effective. That may be a good way to describe Reiko's movies too. You can listen to a couple of songs from the disc here and here.
