THE JUNGLE LOOK

The costume designer made this out of monkey fur? That's interesting. Next time can he use a couple more monkeys?

A wild hairdo, a bit of animal hide, and not much else usually comprises an actress’s costume for the typical lost world flick. Raquel Welch is considered by many to be the pinnacle of visual achievement in that area (though opinions vary), but U.S. actress Edwina Booth beat Raquel to it by more than three decades. She’s clad in monkey fur and a few animal teeth in this striking promo image made for her adventure Trader Horn. We won’t talk about the movie extensively today because we may delve into it later, but let’s just say that as a pre-Code film set in Africa there’s a lot to unpack. In addition, though it made Booth a star it ruined her career because she contracted malaria or schistosomiasis, prompting her to sue MGM Studios for negligence, her illness being—according to her lawsuit—a direct result of being made to run around the jungle half naked. She was probably right. As a reward she was blacklisted in Hollywood. Nevertheless, she looks very beautiful here. Trader Horn came out in early 1931, so this shot would be from sometime in 1930.

Trader Horn, Edwina Booth

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

January 18

1967—Boston Strangler Convicted

Albert DeSalvo, the serial killer who became known as the Boston Strangler, is convicted of murder and other crimes and sentenced to life in prison. He serves initially in Bridgewater State Hospital, but he escapes and is recaptured. Afterward he is transferred to federal prison where six years later he is killed by an inmate or inmates unknown.

January 17

1950—The Great Brinks Robbery Occurs

In the U.S., eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company’s offices in Boston, Massachusetts. The skillful execution of the crime, with only a bare minimum of clues left at the scene, results in the robbery being billed as “the crime of the century.” Despite this, all the members of the gang are later arrested.

January 17

1977—Gary Gilmore Is Executed

Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States. Gilmore’s story is later turned into a 1979 novel entitled The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer, and the book wins the Pulitzer Prize for literature.

January 16

1942—Carole Lombard Dies in Plane Crash

American actress Carole Lombard, who was the highest paid star in Hollywood during the late 1930s, dies in the crash of TWA Flight 3, on which she was flying from Las Vegas to Los Angeles after headlining a war bond rally in support of America’s military efforts. She was thirty-three years old.

January 15

1919—Luxemburg and Liebknecht Are Killed

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps. Freikorps was a term applied to various paramilitary organizations that sprang up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. Members of these groups would later become prominent members of the SS.