| Femmes Fatales | Mar 13 2020 |
She surfed a wave that lasted four decades.
The wonderful surfing themed photo you see here shows Japanese actress, model, and singer Maria Anzai, who debuted in show business in 1973, and that year won the Japan Record Grand Prize Newcomer Award. As an actress she appeared in a handful of television shows and two movies, one of which was Rupan Sansei: Nenriki chin sakusen, which in English had the amazing title Lupin the Third: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy.
Obviously with such a slight filmography, the wave we suggest she caught isn't her film career. Nor are we referencing her music work, though she was quite popular for awhile. That leaves only her modeling. Anzai, like luminaries such as Rita Moreno and Helen Mirren, looked amazing until a very late age. The photo above appeared in 1975, when she was twenty-two, but below you see her aged fifty-plus, in two shots published in a photo book devoted entirely to her called Dear M.
The cover text says something like, “The legendary diva also had a legendary body.” We should say so. Even if you factor in a little photo retouching she looks great. She even outlasted Japan's 1970s-era censorship of pubic hair and was able to go full frontal in the new millennium. But where her beauty genes were excellent, other genes may not have been—she died only two years after Dear M. was released, victim of a heart attack. You can see another image of her next-to-last in this group of magazine covers we posted several years back.
JapanRupan Sansei: Nenriki chin sakusenLupin the Third: Strange Psychokinetic StrategyDear M.Maria Anzai安西マリアtelevisionnudity
| Femmes Fatales | Musiquarium | Feb 28 2020 |
Sugar and spice and everything nice.
Above is shot of cinematic girl-next-door Jane Powell, who rose to fame in Hollywood musicals such as Holiday in Mexico, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Royal Wedding. While Powell is fondly remembered for those and similar roles, she found it ridiculous that she played teenagers into her mid-twenties even though she had children of her own by that point. Under the studio system she had little choice, but later she did manage to expand her repertoire, co-starring in the Hedy Lamarr melodrama The Female Animal. Afterward she turned her attentions mainly to television, with guest slots on everything from Goodyear Theatre to Fantasy Island. She also had stage and singing careers, and scored a top 20 hit with 1956's “True Love.” The photo you see here was made to promote her 1957 musical The Girl Most Likely, and a shot from the same session appeared on the cover of the soundtrack album, which you see below. We don't generally do musicals here, but we will certainly check out her dramatic turn in The Female Animal. Meanwhile you may want to check out this rare photo we shared a couple of years ago.
Holiday in MexicoSeven Brides for Seven BrothersRoyal WeddingThe Girl Most LikelyThe Female AnimalGoodyear TheatreFantasy IslandJane PowellHedy Lamarrtelevision
| Femmes Fatales | Feb 7 2020 |
There are no small parts. Only small casting agents.
Above is a lovely shot of British actress Zoe Hendry, who we last saw in 1975's erotic epic Butterfly, and whose other credits read like a cautionary tale of cinematic ambition smashed on the rocks of rent paying reality. She's played, in no particular order, “naked college girl,” in 1974's Confessions of a Window Cleaner, “native dancer,” in 1976's Queen Kong, “topless patient,” in 1978's What's Up Nurse!, and, “other girl,” in 1974's The Man Who Couldn't Get Enough. And who can forget 1976's infamous Nastassja Kinski vehicle To the Devil a Daughter, in which Hendry played “first girl”?
Yes, it's quite a résumé Hendry accumulated, but since she originally got her break on The Benny Hill Show—which made an industry of scantily clad women—her stalwart appearances in sexploitation films are no surprise. But she eventually outflanked one-track-minded movie casting agents by shifting back to television during the 1980s, where she got a chance to act more seriously. Probably got paid better too. Still, we're irresistibly drawn to titles like Queen Kong. Maybe we have one-track minds too, but we have to watch that, right? Right. We'll do the heavy lifting so you don't have to, then report back.
Yes, it's quite a résumé Hendry accumulated, but since she originally got her break on The Benny Hill Show—which made an industry of scantily clad women—her stalwart appearances in sexploitation films are no surprise. But she eventually outflanked one-track-minded movie casting agents by shifting back to television during the 1980s, where she got a chance to act more seriously. Probably got paid better too. Still, we're irresistibly drawn to titles like Queen Kong. Maybe we have one-track minds too, but we have to watch that, right? Right. We'll do the heavy lifting so you don't have to, then report back.
BritainWhat's Up Nurse!The Man Who Couldn't Get EnoughThe Benny Hill ShowQueen KongConfessions of a Window CleanerTo the Devil a DaughterZoe HendryNastassja Kinskitelevisionnudity
| Femmes Fatales | Jan 14 2020 |
Oh what a wonderful Day.
This nice floral themed photo features the beautiful U.S. model and actress Mary Weston—aka Venetia Day, Venecia Day, and Vinicia Day. The shot came from a Dutch magazine called Blacky. Yes, you just read that correctly. We just work here. Those old supersaturated Dutch nudie mags often didn't bother with copyright info, but we're guessing the image appeared around 1975. Weston/Day had several notable acting roles, including in the film Can I Keep It Up for a Week? and the television shows Smiley's People and The Chinese Detective. All good, but we particularly dig the fact that she had an uncredited appearance in the cheeseball sci-fi show Space: 1999, which we've been watching of late and really love, in that guilty pleasure sort of way. You may be wondering if Weston/Day ever got out from behind those flowers, and in fact she did. We'll show you one of those photos later. Meantime, you can see more of her inside a tabloid we uploaded several years ago. Look here.
NetherlandsKeep It Up for a Week?Smiley's PeopleThe Chinese DetectiveSpace: 1999Venecia DayVinicia DayVenetia DayMary Westonnudie magstelevision
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 30 2019 |
Let's split up here! And in case I get killed, nice ass! Forgive the objectification, but I couldn't leave it unsaid!
Above are thirty-five scans from a December 1976 issue of Adam magazine, with a cover illustrating Mike Rader's story “Die As the Romans Do.” We made contact with Rader a while back, and he updated us on his career, and told us some fun stories about working with Adam editors back in the day. The tale he weaves in this issue concerns an Australian tourist in Rome who helps a damsel in distress, and for his kindness gets ensnared in a murder plot. The scene in the painting occurs when he and the damsel, named Claudia, flee the Roman catacombs during a Mafia-on-Mafia shootout—but only after Claudia has had her dress ripped off by the villains.
Rader's fiction is always interesting, but the highlight of this issue is a photo feature of Daisy Duke herself—Catherine Bach, three years before she became world famous on The Dukes of Hazzard—who you see just above. Since she isn't identified in the shots, it isn't like Adam knew who they had on their hands. To them, they simply had some nice handout photos of a minor actress. But that stroke of luck gives this issue extra value, at least as far as we're concerned. Believe it or not, after posting sixty-two issues of Adam we still have forty more we haven't scanned yet. Will we get to them all? We'll certainly try.
AustraliaRomeAdam MagazineThe Dukes of HazzardCatherine BachMike Radermagazine artliteraturetelevision
| Femmes Fatales | Dec 23 2019 |
Being a badass is tiring. I've earned this little break.
Canadian actress Linda Thorson had a career almost exclusively dedicated to television. Of her scores of tube roles she's probably most beloved for her first—as the hard punching, high kicking secret agent Tara King on the British action serial The Avengers. She debuted on the show in March 1968, taking the place of the iconic Diana Rigg, and appeared in thirty-three episodes. The above photo of her relaxing in a rocking chair is from 1969.
| Femmes Fatales | Oct 15 2019 |
Saying U.N.C.L.E. is not going to appease her.
This shot of U.S. actress Stephanie Powers was made as a promo for the television series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., in which she played the wonderfully named spy April Dancer, aka Agent 0022. The show was a spin-off from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but lasted only one season during 1966-67, which gives us the date range on this photo.
| Femmes Fatales | Oct 3 2019 |
She captures your attention from the first sentence of the first paragraph.
She was born Donna Mae Tjaden, but launched her show business career as Janis Paige, and under that name appeared in films like Of Human Bondage and Fugitive Lady, before transitioning almost exclusively to television around 1953. The above photo is credited as being from the “1950s,” which seems a bit broad to us. We can do better. The back tells us it's a Warner Brothers promo, and as we mentioned, Paige moved into television in 1953. We think the photo is most likely from 1950. Paige starred in the Warner crime drama This Side of the Law that year.
| Femmes Fatales | Aug 21 2019 |
Get out of my astrological house or I'll blow your brains out.
This photo shows Latvian actress Ilse Taurins rocking what looks like a Russian ushanka hat, accessorized with a pistol. She's actually a Virgo, not a Taurus. Apart from a single motion picture, she acted exclusively on television, appearing on shows like Wild Wild West, Perry Mason, and Bonanza, between 1963 and 1972. This shot was made as a promo for The John Forsythe Show in 1965.
| Femmes Fatales | Jul 25 2019 |
The woman from U.N.C.L.E.
This nice shot of U.S. actress Barbara Moore was made as a promo for the television show The Man from U.N.C.L.E., on which she made a series of guest appearances as the character Lisa Rogers, Agent 46. And that was pretty much it for Moore. She had bit parts in a couple of movies and appeared on one other network show, before fading from public view. This photo, though, we hope will stay in view for a while, because it's great. It was made in 1967.
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