Below are the covers of some promotional brochures made by Illustrierte Film-Bühne for movies released in West Germany during the 1950s and 1960s. The examples here, some of which have killer designs, feature Elizabeth Taylor, Marisa Mell, Cary Grant, Virna Lisi, Sophia Loren, Doris Day, Tony Curtis, et.al. IFB was founded in 1946 in Munich by Paul Franke, and over the years produced thousands of these pamphlets. We’ll share more later.

The West German magazine Hamburg-Hollywood-Paris willingly surrenders to the one-woman French army known as Brigitte Bardot. Oh, the humanity. A big chunk of the issue—number 14, 1960—is devoted to her. Nothing much to do but let the images speak for themselves. 

Above is a piece of beautiful Japanese promo art for the West German sexploitation flick Mädchen beim Frauenarzt, aka Teenage Sex Report, part of an incredibly popular subgenre of films purporting to inform moviegoers about the sex practices of co-eds. Helmed mainly by Austrian director Ernst Hofbauer, the series of more than thirty films included thirteen entries in the famed Schulmädchen-Report franchise. Mädchen beim Frauenarzt stars Monika Dahlberg, Christine Schuberth, Brigitte Harrer, Evelyne Traeger and numerous others, and what mostly happens is pretty frauen go to a gynecologist, strip and climb into the stirrups, then we learn in flashback what problems preceded their visits. The girls are presented as studies, complete with superimposed text reading things like “The Case of Ulrike (20),” but even with its medical pretensions Mädchen beim Frauenarzt is a garden-variety 1970s muff-fest. We support muff-fests. We’re friends of muff-fests. But this is joyless stuff. And certainly, the cervix shots are a touch of clinical verisimilitude we could have done without. All things considered, the Japanese poster, with its dreamy light and cotton candy colors, is false advertising. Because if the movie were half that lighthearted we’d really have something here. But alas, no. Mädchen beim Frauenarzt opened—in more ways than one—in Japan today in 1972. 

 

Above, an excellent pulp style promo poster for the West German thriller Der Satan lockt mit Liebe. The film’s title was translated literally into Satan Tempts with Love for some of its English language releases, but it became better known internationally as Devil’s Choice. In the former Yugoslavia, where this piece originates, it was called Davo mami s ljubavju. The movie starred the beautiful British actress Belinda Lee, who died almost exactly one year later in a horrific car accident while traveling from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Lee wasn’t driving. She and two other passengers had left that duty to Alet Nino Falenza, who was racing along at approximately 100 mph when the car suffered a blowout. It skidded nine-hundred feet before finally flipping, sending Lee, who had not worn a seat belt, sailing more than 60 feet from the wreck. She was the only fatality. The shot of her below dates from 1955. Der Satan lockt mit Liebe premiered in West Germany today in 1960. 

Above is a rare Citizen Kane lobby card, produced for the film’s West German run, which, as you might imagine, didn’t occur until well after World War II for the 1941-produced film. This shot has Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten. It was sent over by our friends at National Road Books, and as always, we appreciate their generosity, especially with items this rare (the text in the inset box reads: “Descriptor: especially valuable”). See more here, including a rare shot of Dorothy Comingore.  

Below, selected images from the West German celeb/cinema/art magazine Hamburg-Hollywood-Paris, which was identical in content to the more famous French magazine Folies de Paris et de Hollywood. This issue was number thirteen, published in 1961, and in panel four features Italian actress Scilla Gabel, who we’ll get back to a bit later. 

Above, nine fun covers of the West German men’s magazine Gondel (Gondola) dating from the early 1950s. Gondel contained pictorials, cheesy jokes, short stories, celebrity profiles, and features about jazz. Like many mid-century men’s magazines, as the times became more permissive, it became more risqué, and by the 1970s had everything it had before, plus a boatload of nudity. We'll show you what's inside a couple of these down the line. 

Above we have another issue of the West German magazine Das Ronke, this one from May 1950, with a great ad for the film Badende Venus, aka Bathing Beauty, with Esther Williams, along with photos of Jean Simmons, jazzman Al Edwards, and burlesque performer Maya Graf. The cover here—as on the previous one—is by Joka. We’ve got nothing on this person, but you know us—we’ll keep digging. 

Promo photo of Austrian actress Maria Perschy from the West German action flick Die Pagode zum fünften Schrecken, aka Five Golden Dragons, 1960. 

German poster for Mario Bava’s 1968 camp masterpiece Diabolik. We’re a little surprised how few people actually get this film, which pushed the swinging sixties thriller to its illogical extreme. The lead character—played by John Phillip Law—was a thief, and a rather Machiavellian one at that, who didn’t mind innocent people getting hurt if it meant more profit. Sounds a bit like a Goldman Sachs executive, right? But where investment bankers are typically balding math majors pretending to be swashbucklers of high finance, Diabolik was 100% stud, complete with a secret identity, a high tech underground lair, and a female sidekick always ready for some down and dirty. We recommend you check this one out next time you’re in the mood for a laugh. Diabolik premiered in West Germany today in 1968.