Here you see the promo poster from Nikkatsu’s roman porno Shikijô ama midare tsubo, aka Lusty Ama: Stirred-Up Pot. It’s the tale of a beautiful young ama (female pearl or abalone diver) and her relationship with her brother, or half-brother—we don’t know which because we weren’t able to track down a copy of this one, nor even a real review. But it’s probably in the same vein as this one, which we discussed a few months ago. Like that movie, Shikijô ama midare tsubo stars Natsuko Yashiro, and in addition to being featured on the poster she appears below in an almost identical promo shot. As always, we feel compelled to mention that roman porno stands for “romantic porno” and such movies feature no actual sex, despite the interesting connotations of the “stirred-up pot” metaphor. However, plenty of good-natured nudity is pretty much guaranteed in these movies and for people like us that more than suffices. Shikijô ama midare tsubo premiered in Japan today in 1976.
1978—Giorgi Markov Assassinated
Bulgarian dissident Giorgi Markov is assassinated in a scene right out of a spy novel. As he’s waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Bridge in London, he’s jabbed in the calf with an umbrella. The man holding the umbrella apologizes and walks away, but he is in reality a Bulgarian hired killer who has just injected a ricin pellet into Markov, who develops a high fever and dies three days later.