| Hollywoodland | Mar 21 2024 |
Strange ideas from the minds and lenses of mid-century promo photographers.
A while back we shared a promo photo of Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame from 1953's The Big Heat that was meant to imply oral sex (it absolutely was, and you can see for yourself here). We commented on its weirdness, and noted that an actress would probably not be asked or made to pose that way today. The shot got us thinking about whether there were other kneeling promo shots from the mid-century era, and above you see two others from The Big Heat.
Below we have more such shots, and while none are as jarring as that previous promo, they're all interesting. We assumed there would be few if any featuring kneeling males, but we found a couple. Even so, there are probably scores more kneeling actresses that we missed. While many of shots took the form they did to highlight the criminal/victim themes in their parent films, you still have to wonder what else—consciously or not—was in the various photograhers' minds. Anyway, just some food for thought this lovely Thursday. Ready, set discuss!
Rod Taylor and Luciana Pauluzzi swap subordinate positions for 1967's Chuka.
Edmund O'Brien goes for the time honored hair grab on Marla English for 1954's Shield for Murder.
Marilyn Monroe swoons as Richard Widmark snarls for Don't Bother To Knock, 1952.
Inger Stevens and Terry Ann Ross for Cry Terror, an adaptation of a novel we talked about a few years ago.
Kim Hunter soothes an overheated Marlon Brando in a promo for 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire.
George Raft menaces Marlene Dietrich in the 1941 comedy Manpower.
As promos go, these actually make sense. They show three unidentified models mesmerized by vampire Christopher Lee for 1970's Taste the Blood of Dracula.
Glenn Ford is at it again, this time looming over Rita Hayworth for the 1946 classic Gilda.
Aldo Ray and Barbara Nichols for 1958's The Naked and the Dead.
This one shows less domination and more protectiveness, as Humphrey Bogart prepares to defend Ida Lupino for High Sierra, 1941.
Humphrey once more. Here he's with Lizabeth Scott for Dead Reckoning, 1947.
This shot shows Brazilian actress Fiorella Mari with an actor we can't identify in a movie we also can't identify.
Shelly Winters and Jack Palance climb the highest mountain together for I Died a Thousand Times, 1955.
As we said, we didn't find as many examples of kneeling men, but we found this gem—Cappucine makes a seat of director Blake Edwards on the set of The Pink Panther in 1963. Does this count, though? While Edwards is subordinate, he isn't kneeling and it really isn’t a legit promo.
And lastly, in a curious example, Hugo Haas seems to tell Cleo Moore to stay in a shot made for 1953's One Girl's Confession.
The Big HeatChukaShield for MurderDon't Bother To KnockCry TerrorStreetcar Named DesireManpowerTaste the Blood of DraculaGildaThe Naked and the DeadDead ReckoningI Died a Thousand TimesThe Pink PantherOne Girl's ConfessionRod TaylorLuciana PauluzziEdmund O'BrienMarla EnglishMarilyn MonroeRichard WidmarkInger StevensTerry Ann RossKim HunterMarlon BrandoGeorge RaftMarlene DietrichChristopher LeeRita HayworthAldo RayBarbara NicholsIda LupinoLizabeth ScottFiorella MariShelly WintersJack PalanceBlake EdwardsCappucineHugo HaasCleo Moorecinema
| Hollywoodland | Feb 21 2024 |
She's one act you shouldn't miss.
How many times have we circled back to Gilda? Four or five, we guess. It isn't because it's good, which it is, of course, but rather because it has excellent promo materials. Above are two images (plus a crop we made) from the Hollywood set of the film showing Rita Hayworth performing her signature number “Put the Blame on Mame,” which was one of the more provocative sequences put onscreen post-Hays Code. For those who don't remember or haven't seen it, just after the number ends she's willing to let audience members undress her. Supporting actor Joe Sawyer prevents it by intercepting the guys struggling at Hayworth's zipper. But nothing is preventing you from watching Gilda. We consider it at least a top fifteen film noir.
| Hollywoodland | Jan 1 2023 |
When you're a movie star you can't simply have a bad day.
When you're a celebrity, even in professional decline or retirement, you can always make news with a public misstep. Such was the case with Rita Hayworth when she was helped from a TWA flight after it landed in London today in 1976. Hayworth had caused a disruption by directing an angry outburst at a flight attendant. The press was on hand at the airport, so Hayworth was photographed from arrival terminal to limousine looking as tired as if she'd walked instead of flown to London.
It was bad day for Hayworth, but it was only the latest in a long run of them. She had been deeply affected by both her brothers dying within a week in March 1974, had been drinking heavily since then, and in fact was allegedly intoxicated on the flight. When news of the disturbance hit the papers she took a public relations beating and, of course, back then the press wasn't circumspect about attacking a woman's looks.
It wasn't until several years later that Hayworth was diagnosed with the still largely unknown ailment Alzheimer's disease, which helped explain her increasingly erratic behavior. Aging is difficult, there's little doubt. Aging as a sex symbol must be incredibly hard. Some would say growing old in public is back payment for fame, fortune, and undeserved adoration, and that may be so, but to us it seems like a mighty high price. We have a few more photos below.
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 25 2022 |
Columbia Pictures gives moviegoers a fuller picture of one of its top stars.
Above is a poster advertising the drama Miss Sadie Thompson. When we watched the movie a few years ago we had no idea it had been in 3-D. It seems like a strange choice for such treatment. Now we'll have to watch it again and see what things are thrust at the camera. We're hoping whatever they are, they're all attached to Rita Hayworth. In the meantime, below is a flyer also touting the film's 3-D run. Though it was supposed to premiere “at Christmas,” the American Film Institute tells us it actually first showed on December 23 in New York City, before receiving a nationwide opening in February 1954. The phrase “at Christmas,” we suppose, might imply anytime during the season. Sadie Thompson is an interesting movie, though not Hayworth's best. You can read our pithy thoughts here.
| Vintage Pulp | Sep 8 2022 |
Rita Hayworthová was worth the wait.
This Czech poster for the film noir classic Gilda isn't substantially different from the U.S. promo, but the Czech text makes it worth a share. Rita Hayworthová? Love it. “V titulní roli americkeho dramatu”? That's easy to figure out—“In the title role of the American drama.” The online translator agreed. There's no Czech release date for this, but we can make a guess. It was released in early 1946, played at the Cannes Film Festival in September of that year, and began to reach secondary European markets in early 1947. So it probably reached then-Czechoslovakia in mid-1947. But whenever it showed up, Hayworthová made it a mandatory night at the movies.
| Vintage Pulp | Apr 16 2022 |
Picture the entertainment business a lifetime ago.
Snap is yet another celeb and film magazine from the mid-century era, the product of the Snap Publishing Company, headquartered not in the usual locale of New York City, but in tiny Mount Morris, Illinois. Back in 1941, when this issue hit newsstands, Mount Morris had a population of only 2,700 people, and even today is home to only 3,000. You're probably thinking it's a really part of Chicago, a suburb within the metropolitan area, but it's actually fifty miles southwest, which was a long way in 1941 over rutted roads in primitive automobiles. Why was Snap based out in Mount Morris? We have no idea. Maybe the owner was inordinately attached to the Illinois Freedom Bell.
Though Snap had offices far afield, its focus was pure Hollywood and NYC., with plenty of celeb action inside each issue. In this one readers got Marion Miller, aka the “Queen of Quiver,” Dale Evans, Lily Damita, Marion Wakefield, Warner Baxter, Rita Hayworth, and many other screen stars and showgirls of the time. Editors also put together a comedic photoplay, notes on recent screen kisses, some kind of cockamamie home health test, and a scare feature on highschoolers going to tourist cabins—i.e. rentals in the woods where they could get laid. We have all that in forty-plus scans below.
IllinoisMount MorrisSnap MagazineMarian MillerBetty Jane CooperToni TraubDiane GreyMarion WakefieldPat LikelyPaula LindDenise MavityWarner BaxterLily DamitaDale EvansDelma ByronRita Hayworthmagazine art
| Vintage Pulp | Nov 25 2021 |
Rita Hayworth and Gilda get a dose of the northern aesthetic.
The awesome film noir Gilda premiered in Sweden today in 1946, and above is a beautiful promo for the movie painted by Swedish artist Eric Rohman. In typical Nordic fashion, the overall approach here is clean and understated. One of the most interesting parts of looking at vintage posters is noting the cultural differences in approach. Every country contributes to the art form in unique ways, and all are worthwhile. We often find Swedish posters to be less inspiring than U.S., Italian, Japanese, and French efforts, but this one, in all its simplicity, is a winner, as is the movie.
| Intl. Notebook | Nov 17 2021 |
A dozen movie stars share the Crown.
Not long ago we showed you a few Royal Crown Cola print ads featuring Hollywood superstar Lauren Bacall, and mentioned that other celebs had also pitched the brand. That was an understatement. In its efforts to claw away part of Coca Cola's dominant market share, RC signed up an entire stable of top stars, including a-list personalities such as Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, and Gene Tierney. Above you see a dozen celebrity ads produced by RC. There were others we left out of the group, for example with Sonja Henie, Irene Dunne, Diana Lynn, and even Bing Crosby. But how much cola can you really stand? Twelve is enough for one day.
Barbara StanwyckPaulette GoddardRita HayworthLizabeth ScottVirginia MayoLinda DarnellGene TierneyHedy LamarrLoretta YoungJoan CrawfordGinger RogersBetty GrableSonja HenieIrene DunneDiana LynnBing Crosbymagazine art
| Hollywoodland | Sep 18 2021 |
Royal Crown helps consumers to stay awake at the movies.
Lauren Bacall brings her special brand of smoky sex appeal to this magazine advertisement for Royal Crown Cola, made as a tie-in with her 1946 film noir The Big Sleep. RC was launched in 1905 by Union Bottling Works—a grandiose corporate name for some guys in the back of a Georgia grocery store. The story is that the drink came into being after grocer Claud A. Hatcher got into a feud with his Coca Cola supplier over the cost of Coke syrup, and essentially launched RC out of equal parts entrepreneurialism and spite. Union Bottling Works quickly had a line of drinks, including ginger ale, strawberry soda, and root beer.
However humbly RC Cola began, the upstart had truly arrived by 1946, because The Big Sleep, co-starring Humphrey Bogart, was an important movie, and Bacall was a huge star. She was only one jewel in the crown of RC's endorsement efforts. Also appearing in ads were Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake, Joan Crawford, Virginia Mayo, Paulette Goddard, Gene Tierney, Ann Rutherford, Ginger Rogers, and others. Bacall flogged RC for at least a few years, including starring in tie-in ads for Dark Passage, another screen pairing of her and Bogart that hit cinemas in 1947. You see one of those at bottom. We can only assume these ads were wildly successful. After all, it was Bacall.
The Big SleepDark PassageLauren BacallHumphrey BogartVeronica LakeAnn RutherfordVirginia MayoJoan CrawfordPaulette GoddardGene TierneyRita HayworthGinger Rogersmagazine art
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 29 2021 |
Hayworth takes front and center on classic poster, while Ford is lucky to be included at all.
Above is an alternate poster for Affair in Trinidad, and co-star Glenn Ford even gets to be on this one. The look here is simple and classic, and bespeaks a studio with total confidence it has a hit on its hands. The movie, which premiered today in 1952, wasn't actually that good, but it made money anyway because Hayworth was pure gold at this point. Ford? Well, he was mainly along for the ride, which is why he's second billed and standing behind Hayworth—and a pole too. You can read what we wrote about the movie at this link.
