Elizabeth Taylor nude! Those sneaks at Whisper raised the hopes of millions of readers who bought this March 1965 issue, but inside revealed that the whited-out silhouette on the cover with Richard Burton is in reality a wooden statue of Taylor made to promote her role in The Sandpiper. It was to be unveiled at a party aboard the Queen Mary, but producer Joseph E. Levine connived a way for the sculpture to be stowed below decks so his star Carroll Baker wouldn’t be upstaged. In the end, nobody at the party saw the Taylor statue and Carroll Baker—once again wearing that amazing dress, by the way—ruled the day.

We’re back on schedule with Goodtime Weekly and a page for today in 1963 featuring none other than Jayne Mansfield, who's making her third appearance for the calendar. After being lensed twice by Bernard Wagner, here and here, British photographer David Hurn gets a shot. We love the pose because it looks like she’s signaling a touchdown or a field goal—appropriate this first weekend of playoff football in the U.S. (which is something we can watch live thanks to the wonders of the internet). We doubt Hurn was thinking of sports when he suggested the pose. More likely he simply said, “Um, Jayne, I can’t see your breasts with the fabric bunched up like that. Can you raise your arms? Higher? Perfect.” The result was an image that’s quite famous, which is to say, it’s one of only three from the calendar that we’ve seen before. That doesn’t surprise us. Hurn is a significant photographer who shot everything from political events to the Beatles, and is still kicking around today. He also shot this amazing image of Jane Fonda for the film Barbarella. Okay, we're off. Enjoy the games, everyone.

Somehow, among many casual cinema fans, Barbarella is thought of as Jane Fonda’s starmaking role, if not her debut. It wasn’t. She had debuted eight years earlier and had already earned three Golden Globe nominations and a BAFTA nomination for her acting. The fact that she was so established makes her decision to play Barbarella all the more remarkable. This shot, a centerfold from Photoplay magazine, is from 1968. 

This later period National Police Gazette published this month in 1972 is packed with scandal and intrigue, with stories on Vegas dealers, Washington, D.C. politics, Soviet assassins, and Hollywood activism. The activism story focuses on Jane Fonda and her shunning of Tinseltown trappings to devote herself to various causes. The most cringe-worthy line is when editors express curiosity at her advocating for “redskins.” Readers are reminded that even though Fonda was lately wearing her hair short and dressing in jeans and t-shirts, she was once a babe, and for proof they include a photo of her in costume as Barbarella. The story itself serves as an indication of one thing the women’s lib movement was fighting—the male perception that women could be only one of three things: beautiful ornaments, loyal partners, or royal pains. Fonda’s intellect was inconvenient for fans and studio execs alike, but her status forced people to listen to what she said. The Washington story is a bit more convoluted. Editors claim that the Kennedy clan forced 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern to axe his original vice presidential running mate Tom Eagleton in favor of Sargent Shriver, who happened to be a Kennedy in-law. The story carries no quotes, attributions, or corroborating sources of any sort. It’s written as a narrative and is disdainful in tone. In a sense, it’s similar to the responsibility-free journalism seen on American cable television today. But was the story true? Very possibly. The Kennedys had substantial influence in the Democratic Party at the time. Did their choice matter? No. McGovern lost anyway. Scans below. 

No, you aren’t seeing double. Below is a National Informer Weekly Reader that hit newsstands the same day and year as its older sister publication National Informer, above. We were trying to decide which one to post, but then figured why choose? Older sis is great, but younger sis is irrepressible in her own right. Hopefully, these images and those above will get your weekend pointed in the right direction. Just follow the vibrating funky finger. By the way, did we mention we’ve officially changed our nicknames here at Pulp to Black Bomber and P.S.G. Pumpometer? The old lucha libre nicknames were good, but the new ones are better for the band, though they're both a mouthful. Heh. 

The organizers of the Basque film festival Fantasiazko eta Beldurrezko Zinemaren XXI Astea, aka the Twenty-First Fantasy and Terror Film Festival, have borrowed a couple of iconic characters from the classic erotic space adventure Barbarella for their 2010 program. The two models above don’t look nearly as good as John Phillip Law and Jane Fonda did in 1968, but then again, who does? The festival starts today in Donostia-San Sebastian, Pais Vasco, Spain. 

Assorted covers of the French nudie mag Paris Flash, with Mylène Demongeot, Jane Fonda, Catherine Jourdan and others. 

Two covers and assorted interior images of American actress Jane Fonda from the pages of Triunfo, Spain's most popular counterculture magazine during the dark years of the Franco dictatorship. Triunfo and the University of Salamanca have combined to put most of the magazine's extensive catalog online, and you can check it out here.

Five Screen covers with, top to bottom, the always wonderful Ann-Margret, followed by Jane Fonda, Urusula Weiss, Elke Sommer, and lastly, someone we don't recognize. Concerning Miss Weiss, we found no references to her anywhere online, but we did find two actresses named Ursula—not Urusula—Weiss. One acted in the 1950s, so she’s out as a possibility, and one acted in a film in 2000, which would make her an egg when this 1977 cover came out. We’ll keep looking. Not knowing won’t keep us up nights, but it’s always good to fill in these blanks. If you know anything, feel free to drop us a line.

Promo shot of Jane Fonda in the sexy but practical (or not) space suit from her film Barbarella, 1967, shot by British photographer David Hurn. This is her second appearance as one of our femmes fatales, and what an appearance.