 I'm going out for a spin. If you need me just look for the brightest light in the evening sky. 
There's a common assumption that Swedish actress Anita Ekberg began her acting career in Europe and later appeared in Hollywood productions, but the opposite is true. She debuted onscreen in 1953's The Mississippi Gambler, and her first credited role was in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, for which the above promo image was made. She had competed in the 1951 Miss Universe Pageant, and as one of six finalists been awarded a contract with Universal Studios. In Abbott and Costello Go to Mars she played a member of the Venusian Guard (Abbott and Costello's ship landed on Venus by mistake). By 1955 she was a regular supporting player, and by the next year was earning $75,000 a movie. Not a bad way to fly.
 Vaudeville goes to outer space. 
Occasionally we deviate from pure pulp to share something amazing and this Japanese poster for Abbott and Costello Go to Mars falls into that category. Not that the movie is light years from pulp—it's sci-fi, sort of. The twist is that Abbott and Costello don't actually reach another planet—at least not at first. Instead they accidentally land in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and merely think they're on an alien world. Cute in parts, but stupid as hell in most, the movie is strongly Vaudeville influenced, with everything that term implies. Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, with the lovely Mari Blanchard co-starring in film and on poster, opened in Japan today in 1953. 
 Suddenly we believe in a Hyer power. 
American actress Martha Hyer first appeared in films in 1946, which makes her another golden age actress who is still around today. She was predominately cast in westerns, however did appear in the thriller The Velvet Touch, the comedy Abbott and Costello Go To Mars, and the musical Bikini Beach. This was shot by Lativian-born photographer Philippe Halsman in 1963, and appeared in the German magazine Intim.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1967—First Space Program Casualty Occurs
Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when, during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere after more than ten successful orbits, the capsule's main parachute fails to deploy properly, and the backup chute becomes entangled in the first. The capsule's descent is slowed, but it still hits the ground at about 90 mph, at which point it bursts into flames. Komarov is the first human to die during a space mission. 1986—Otto Preminger Dies
Austro–Hungarian film director Otto Preminger, who directed such eternal classics as Laura, Anatomy of a Murder, Carmen Jones, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Stalag 17, and for his efforts earned a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, dies in New York City, aged 80, from cancer and Alzheimer's disease. 1998—James Earl Ray Dies
The convicted assassin of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., petty criminal James Earl Ray, dies in prison of hepatitis aged 70, protesting his innocence as he had for decades. Members of the King family who supported Ray's fight to clear his name believed the U.S. Government had been involved in Dr. King's killing, but with Ray's death such questions became moot. 1912—Pravda Is Founded
The newspaper Pravda, or Truth, known as the voice of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg. It is one of the country's leading newspapers until 1991, when it is closed down by decree of then-President Boris Yeltsin. A number of other Pravdas appear afterward, including an internet site and a tabloid. 1983—Hitler's Diaries Found
The German magazine Der Stern claims that Adolf Hitler's diaries had been found in wreckage in East Germany. The magazine had paid 10 million German marks for the sixty small books, plus a volume about Rudolf Hess's flight to the United Kingdom, covering the period from 1932 to 1945. But the diaries are subsequently revealed to be fakes written by Konrad Kujau, a notorious Stuttgart forger. Both he and Stern journalist Gerd Heidemann go to trial in 1985 and are each sentenced to 42 months in prison.
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