| Intl. Notebook | Apr 9 2020 |
After weeks trapped indoors we'd definitely consider trading coronavirus isolation for a 10x10 island.
The ongoing quarantine got us thinking about the psychology of being stuck in one place for weeks or months, which made us realize we'd seen numerous cartoons over the years touching upon that very theme. Desert island cartoons were—and still are—a standard gag for cartoonists. Guys on ledges, prisoners hanging in dungeons, and explorers in cannibals' cauldrons are other common motifs, and we may explore those later, but desert island cartoons are the grandaddy of recylable concepts. Their details vary, but usually there's ocean, a sand hump, a palm tree, a prop (like the sales kiosk in the above example), and one to several castaways.
Many cartoonists tried their hand at these, and the challenge was to be fresh and funny. We had a choice when putting this collection together—we could use confirmed funny examples others had posted online, or use cartoons that had been previously unseen. For the most part we chose the latter course. We did borrow a few to round out the collection, but forty-five of the fifty are from our own magazines. Frequently sexist, while infrequently funny, they prove that it's hard to get a laugh out of a cliché. But several managed it, at least for us, and we give all the cartoonists—Erich Sokol, Irv Hagglund, Cliff Roberts, et al—credit for trying.
| Vintage Pulp | May 12 2019 |
Falling into the gutter is easy. Getting out? Not so much.
When does a movie get too cute for its own good? Possibly when the femme fatale is named Cuddles. Despite that laugh inducing bit of characterization, Underworld U.S.A. is the deadly serious tale of a kid who becomes a career criminal in order to exact revenge upon the hoods who killed his father. Cliff Robertson stars and Dolores Dorn plays the aforementioned Cuddles in this cautionary tale about the inexorable gravity of organized crime, which can suck everybody into a place from which there's no redemption or escape. Samuel Fuller steers the production with a sure hand, Robertson broods, Dorn suffers, gangsters plot and scheme, and the final result is tough and wrenching.
Best line: “I know. I'm drunk. But my brain's okay!”
It's interesting that on many websites Underworld U.S.A. isn't classified as a film noir. But it has most of the elements—overriding sense of doom, moral ambiguity, police corruption, scenes in bars, copious shadows, rain slick streets, extreme close-ups, et al. And Fuller had previously helmed the excellent 1953 film noir Pickup on South Street. But often you'll see Underworld U.S.A. slotted as a drama or melodrama. Well, it's definitely those. Viewers will see that Fuller, who was influenced by pulp novels and tabloids, had a unique vision. While Underworld U.S.A. doesn't stand up against the best film noir has to offer, it's successful on its own terms. It premiered in New York City today in 1961.
It's interesting that on many websites Underworld U.S.A. isn't classified as a film noir. But it has most of the elements—overriding sense of doom, moral ambiguity, police corruption, scenes in bars, copious shadows, rain slick streets, extreme close-ups, et al. And Fuller had previously helmed the excellent 1953 film noir Pickup on South Street. But often you'll see Underworld U.S.A. slotted as a drama or melodrama. Well, it's definitely those. Viewers will see that Fuller, who was influenced by pulp novels and tabloids, had a unique vision. While Underworld U.S.A. doesn't stand up against the best film noir has to offer, it's successful on its own terms. It premiered in New York City today in 1961.
| Vintage Pulp | Apr 27 2015 |
Being rich and without responsibility can be so dreadfully boring.
Above is a colorful Japanese poster for the American drama Love Has Many Faces, which starred Lana Turner and Cliff Robertson. In Japan it was called Akapuruko no dekigoto, which means something like “Acapulco Happening,” and indeed the film takes place on and around the beaches of Acapulco and follows a troubled marriage after the body of one of the husband’s friends washes ashore. Turner did much better during her career than this sun-splashed, gigolo-laden, jet-set melodrama, but it’s still worth a gander for her fans (or fans of expensive resort wear), and has a good bullfighting scene near the end. It played in Japan for the first time today in 1965.
JapanMexicoAcapulcoAkapuruko no dekigotoLove Has Many FacesLana TurnerCliff Robertsonposter artcinemamovie review
