| Femmes Fatales | Aug 17 2022 |
Whatever the background color she was always red hot.
Above are three images of Tunisian born Italian actress Claudia Cardinale made by Italian photographer Angelo Frontoni. It's difficult to imagine European cinema without Frontoni. He photographed everyone, and he blurred the line between mainstream photography and erotica by collaborating with magazines like Excelsior and Playmen. Cardinale is pretty racy here by her standards. She worked with Frontoni many times over the course of her career, which began during the late 1950s and continues today, encompassing such films as 8½, The Pink Panther, Blindfold, Les pétroleuses, Fitzcarraldo, Once Upon a Time in the West, et al. These shots don't have a copyright date that we could find, but based on appearance we'd say they're from the late 1970s.
ItalyTunisia8½The Pink PantherBlindfoldLes pétroleusesFitzcarraldoOnce Upon a Time in the WestClaudia CardinaleAngelo Frontoni
| Femmes Fatales | Jan 29 2019 |
Bogart didn't deserve me anyway.
French actress Madeleine Lebeau made more than thirty films, including Federico Fellini's classic 8½, but we remember her most for her small part in Casablanca. You remember too. She's badly treated by Humphrey Bogart in the beginning of the film, but we see her later as she joins bar patrons drowning out Nazi soldiers who are singing “Die Wacht am Rhein” by singing an even louder rendition of the French national anthem “La Marseillaise.” She's the one in tears. It's an unforgettable image in an unforgettable movie and remains Lebeau's trademark screen moment. This photo is a promo from Casablanca made in 1942.
| Femmes Fatales | Apr 14 2017 |
Just one look was all it took.
British actress Barbara Steele became known for starring in Italian gothic horror films, a genre in which she could put her penetrating eyes to good use. Some of her films include The Pit and the Pendulum, Nightmare Castle, and The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock, as well as mainstream efforts like 8½, Pretty Baby, and 2016's Minutes Past Midnight. She also moved into producing shows for television, earning credits on The Winds of War, Queer Eye, and other shows. No date on the above shot but we're thinking it's from around 1965.
BritainItalianThe Pit and the PendulumNightmare CastleThe Horrible Dr. Hitchcock8½Pretty BabyMinutes Past MidnightBarbara Steelehorrorcinematelevision
| Femmes Fatales | Oct 3 2015 |
In tip top shape from stem to stern.
Above is a promotional photo of Italian actress Edy Vessel, who was born in Trieste as Edoarda Wessellovsky, a fact that neccessitated a name change before she achieved reknown in such films as Psycosissimo and Federico Fellini's 8½. This photo from the French magazine Stop dates from 1962.
