| Intl. Notebook | Sep 15 2020 |
Photographer blinded. Says pearly gates opened and heavenly light struck him in the eyes.
Marilyn Monroe was possibly the most photographed person of her era, but we bet most of you have never seen this shot. The divine Miss M. accidentally flashed a photographer while socializing at a May 1962 Democratic Party fundraiser in New York City. It was a semi-formal affair, but formality only applies to one's outer layer, clearly. To make matters even more interesting, this was the night she famously sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy.
The Pulp Intl. girlfriends love this shot, but when we pointed out that it might not be distinct enough, they got the implication right away and begged us not to do a zoom. Well, we can add that vain hope to the many others they've expressed over the years. Look below. The really interesting part is pondering whether Monroe's sugar cookie was out of the oven from the get-go, or if it happened during the fundraiser. Hmm... Were Monroe and Kennedy ever simultaneously absent that night? There's nothing quite like eating an extra dessert.
| Modern Pulp | Sep 12 2020 |
Tetsuji Takechi comes out swinging hard in round two.
This poster was made for Hakujitsumu, aka Daydream, which premiered in Japan today in 1981. The movie is loosely based on a 1926 novel by Junichir Tanizaki, which director Tetsuji Takechi made into one of the first pinku films in 1964. The same director felt inspired to put together a porno remake and, blazing a trail once again, it was the first hardcore movie to be shown in Japanese cinemas. We wanted to see what Takechi did with his revision so we watched it, and it sets up pretty much the same way as the first movie, with Kyōko Aizome at her dentist's office, the dentist and his assistant administering gas, then both taking liberties once Aizome is helpless. The action is witnessed by another patient, who follows Aizome around town as she has a series of erotic interludes that spiral off into quasi reality designed to sow doubt concerning whether any of it really happened.
We can't say the hardcore action here is highly erotic, but certain non-sex sequences get there, including Aizome's nude hotel escape, and her naked lathering and rinse inside a car wash. Not that we're down on hardcore. It's just that we insist everything be made to look beautiful. In the sex scenes Takechi, seeking to prove that the action was indeed real, went anatomical. It's an understandable choice—if you can finally show it, why not show it, nutsacks, assholes, milky fluids and all? But even though we're from the generation that is supposed to reflexively love explicit hardcore, we're old souls, and particularly appreciate porn where we know it's real but don't see everything (maybe Aizome felt the same way—she directed her own remake in 2009). Regardless of the success or failure of Hakujitsumu, anytime we see the phrase “the first film that...” we're fully on board. Now we can say we saw the first Japanese film that went hardcore. That's something, at least. Below, Aizome inspires daydreams, and you can see more from her here.
| Vintage Pulp | Sep 8 2020 |
Internal medicine has never been quite like this.
More pinku today, with a beautiful Nikkatsu Studios promo for the roman porno flick Kangofu nikki: Itazurana yubi, known in English as Nurse Diary: Wicked Finger. Etsuko Hara stars as a nurse who works at Murata Hospital and is having an affair with her boss, who hopes to inherit the chief of staff position from his wife's father. Side note for our female readers: never trust a guy who'll cheat on his wife. He'll certainly cheat on you too.
And that's exactly what happens to Etsuko, as her doctor boyfriend takes his internal medicine position literally, with any willing patient that comes along. In order to facilitate her affair with the doctor, Etsuko has moved out of the apartment she was sharing with family members, but now that looks like a mistake, as little sister Emi is left behind to suffer the tender mercies of a sexual predator—oldest sister Keiko.
Yeah, these roman porno movies go anywhere and everywhere, including places they really shouldn't, and that's before we even get to the wicked finger part. And since it wouldn't be roman porno without a totally leftfield subplot, Etsuko in her new apartment has drawn the attentions of a peeping tom, who is so driven to lust by Etsuko's yoga routine that he fantasizes about her while fucking a vacuum cleaner hose, and gets stuck.
And that's all the info we're going to give you. If you want to know where else the movie goes—and who wouldn't?—you'll have to watch it yourself. But first a test. Does the shot of Etsuko at bottom make you want to fuck a vacuum? Then take precautions and lock yours up before watching the movie. Your dick will thank you. Kangofu nikki: Itazurana yubi premiered in Japan today in 1979.
JapanKangofu nikki: Itazurana yubiNurse Diary: Wicked FingerNikkatsuEtsuko HaraAsami Ogawaposter artcinemapinkuroman pornonuditysexploitationmovie review
| Femmes Fatales | Aug 29 2020 |
Suddenly petroleum products don't seem so bad.
Above, a beautiful photo of model Inga Vasa, who was touted as a soon-to-be-star for a hot minute back during the late 1960s. This shot was made by photographer Rico May, and came from a 1968 issue of the Dutch magazine De Lach. Was Vasa Dutch? We can't say. More likely Swedish. But she's so obscure we can't be sure either way. Nice shot, though.
| Sex Files | Aug 7 2020 |
It's nice and warm inside.
This is obviously Marilyn Chambers fronting a poster for her x-rated extravaganza Behind the Green Door, which opened in the U.S. this month in 1972. We shared a Japanese poster for this a long while ago, as well as a another Japanese promo advertising this as a double bill with The Resurrection of Eve. Today we figured we might as well show you the original American promo too.
Why do we coming back to Chambers? Probably her connection to horror films via the David Cronenberg classic Rabid has something to do with it. Not many actors have straddled porn and maintream cinema. Chambers is top of the heap on that score. And she died young at age fifty-six, so that always brings about examinations of a star's legacy. And finally, it's always interesting to see what path porn stars take when they move on. Chambers' path took her to Southern California, where she died in a mobile home in Santa Clarita, a long way from the bright lights of New York City where she first became a star.
We had never watched Behind the Green Door, but we remedied that a few days ago, and for those who don't already know we can tell you the movie is a sexual awakening story, with Chambers the star of a live sex show about “the ravishment of a woman who has been abducted,
a woman whose initial fear and anxiety has mellowed into curious expectation.” She appears in two vignettes of escalating explicitness, as masked onlookers observe à la Eyes Wide Shut. That's the entire plot.
a woman whose initial fear and anxiety has mellowed into curious expectation.” She appears in two vignettes of escalating explicitness, as masked onlookers observe à la Eyes Wide Shut. That's the entire plot.Chambers looks very good in this movie. We can imagine what it must have been like for cinemagoers to see a woman in this raunchy role who was fully beautiful enough to be a Hollywood star. The party lifestyle she lived began to make almost immediate physical changes, but for a moment, here in the summer of 1972, she was really a goddess. We have a nice image of her below as evidence of that assertion.
| Vintage Pulp | Aug 4 2020 |
They have a certain je sais exactement quoi.
Yes, we have yet another issue of Cancans de Paris, this time from August 1967, with Teffie Winters on the cover and inside. There are plenty of fun French burlesque and glamour magazines, but Cancans is a particularly convivial one. Generally, these focus strictly on women, but this issue has a horoscope, which we've included for those of you out there who read French. But you don't need astrology to predict the future. Just keep coming back to Pulp Intl. and the future will be filled with fun, films, fiction, and femmes fatales. We have five other issues of Cancans de Paris in the website. They're available various places online, so if you want them for yourself, they're out there for the getting. To see the issues we've shared, click the keywords below and enjoy a leisurely scroll.
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 28 2020 |
Laura Gemser is a nun that likes to have fun.
Laura Gemser made more than fifty films, most of them of the erotic variety, which means we'll probably never run out of material on her to share. Above you see a Spanish poster for the her nunsploitation flick Sor Emanuelle, which was originally released in Italy as Suor Emaunelle. We already talked about the movie, but we wanted to share this unusual promo. We've never gotten the nun thing, we suppose because we aren't Catholic, or even religious for that matter, but for some reason these movies represent a full sub-genre of ’70s cinema. That being the case, it was only a matter of time before Gemser got into the habit.
She starred in this with Swiss actress Mónica Zanchi, who's billed as Mónika Zanchi. The two would pair up again a year later in Emanuelle e gli ultimi cannibali, aka Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, another spectacularly bad sexploitation epic. In addition to the poster, we also—just because we can—wanted to share a couple of magazine images of Gemser and Zanchi, and those are just below. They're super naked. You've been warned. But these are beautiful shots. After its Italian opening in 1977 Sor Emanuelle premiered in Spain today in 1978. Check out our original write-up on the film here.
SpainItalySwitzerlandSor EmanuelleSuro EmanuelleSister EmanuelleLaura GemserMónica ZanchiMónika Zanchinudityposter artcinemasexploitationnunsnudity
| Femmes Fatales | Jul 15 2020 |
In a field full of wildflowers she's the wildest of all.
Exotic Tina Aumont, whose father was French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont and mother was Dominican actress Maria Montez, built an appropriately international film career mainly in Italy and France. But surprisingly she was American. In fact, she was born in Hollywood. Some of her films include Salon Kitty, La principessa nuda, aka The Nude Princess, and Satyricon—the Gian Luigi Polidoro one, not the Fellini one. Though she did later star in Fellini's Casanova in 1976. The photo above is from 1975 and first appeared in Italian Playboy.
ItalyFranceDominican RepublicHollywoodSatyriconFellini's CasanovaIl Casanova di Federico FelliniSalon KittyLa principessa nudaThe Nude PrincessPlayboyTina AumontJean-Pierre AumontMaria MontezGian Luigi Polidoronudity
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 10 2020 |
The queen of sexual torture takes her talents to the Middle East.
Today is the day we finally complete the trifecta of Ilsa movies with Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks, for which you see two Japanese posters above. The movie premiered in the U.S. in March 1976, and opened in Japan today that same year. The Japanese titles of Western movies are sometimes like lists of ingredients. The translation of アラブ女地獄 悪魔のハーレム is “Arab hell devil harem.” Even with that clear warning, Japanese audiences—who aren't fazed by much—must have said, “These Yank filmmakers are fucking crazy.” Which is to say that the Ilsa trilogy is among the most irredeemable sexploitation cinema ever produced, the type of stuff that will never, ever be made again, at least not in the U.S., where every instance of cinematic nudity is a political event. Generally, we decry that, but only when it keeps realistic and healthy sexual interactions from being shown onscreen. Harem Keeper is not healthy. Not on any level.
But we digress. This was the second installment of the Ilsa trio, and all starred Dyanne Thorne. She reprises her role as the cruel dominatrix Ilsa, and this time she's in charge of a sheik's harem. She rules this desert roost with utter cruelty, indulging in random acts of corporal punishment, and assisting her boss as he derives both income and pleasure from auctioning kidnapped women to wealthy pervs. Ilsa and the sheik discover that their little set-up has been infiltrated when they catch a spy sent by the granite-jawed Max Thayer, who later himself arrives on the scene and is quickly a prized guest in Ilsa's bed. We could get into the major subplot involving war with a rival sheik, but suffice it to say that the entire plot is just an excuse to string together set pieces featuring vile faux-violence and silly faux-sex. How low does the movie sink? At one point Ilsa uses her incomparable creativity to implant a harem girl with an explosive diaphragm that will detonate during intercourse. It's no electrified dildo (see installment one), but it's close.
Yes, Ilsa is cruel as hell, but it's nothing excellent sex won't cure. That's right up Thayer the Layer's alley. He works his way to Ilsa's creamy center, at which point she decides to switch allegiances and betray her sheik. Will she get away with this outrage? Well, we've already mentioned there were three Ilsa movies and this was the second, so theoretically, she gets away with it. On the other hand, she died at the end of the first movie, so you never know. Regardless, without putting too fine a point on it, this is a terrible movie. But the participation of porn actress Colleen Brennan, nudie model Uschi Digard, and blaxploitation beauties Tanya Boyd and Marilyn Joi as Ilsa's usually-topless enforcers, make this worth a guilty watch. Just don't let anyone know you did it, or you might lose your job, your friends, your family, and even your cat—and cats generally don't give a fuck. But that's how bad this flick is. We have a ton of promo images below. Some came from an interesting French-Canadian website called Cinepix. You can check it out here.
JapanIlsa Harem Keeper of the Oil SheiksDyanne ThorneMax ThayerTanya BoydMarilyn JoiUschi DigardUschi DigartColleen BrennanSharon KellyJerry Delonyposter artcinemasexploitationmovie reviewnudity
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 2 2020 |
This hat looks great. Now with water, fertilizer, and a lot of patience I'll be able to make a dress to go with it.
Above, a return engagement on Pulp Intl. for American model Joanne Arnold, who in this nice Technicolor lithograph is wearing nothing but a bonnet garlanded with daisies. Arnold was a 1954 Playboy centerfold and sometime model for famed photographer Peter Gowland, who made her the centerpiece of a famous series of underwater nudes, one of which we showed you way back in 2012. She also popped up on another Technicolor litho with four other models. You can see that here. The date on the above item is 1950. Arnold will return, we promise, at which point we'll see if she ever got the rest of her outfit together.
