| Vintage Pulp | Aug 28 2020 |
Low rent Bond imitation withers in comparison to its inspiration.
By the time the mid-1960s rolled around movie studios the world over were imitating James Bond. The film Ypotron, aka Agente Logan - missione Ypotron, which was released in Italy today in 1966, was one of the worst imitators. It's inept in all aspects, especially the slide guitar soundtrack that might make you bury yourself somewhere in the back yard. But then you'd miss lines of dialogue like, “I don't specialize in making speeches. I use bullets.” Yes, it's bad. It is bad-good? That depends on you, since you'll have to provide all the actual entertainment. But good or bad we wanted to share the above Italian promo poster painted by Ezio Tarantelli, which is good-good. You can see more Tarantelli here, and another poster for Ypotron at the top of this post.
ItalyYpotronAgente Logan - missione YpotronYpotron - Final CountdownLuis DevillLuis DávilaGaia GermaniEzio Tarantelliposter artcinemamovie review
| Vintage Pulp | May 23 2020 |
He didn't become a doctor by quitting when things got tough.
Above is an eye catching Italian poster painted by Ezio Tarantelli for Ik. Dr Fu Manchu, aka The Face of Fu Manchu, part of a series of films based on Chinaphobic novels by Sax Rohmer. According to IMDB and other sources this film played in Italy as Fu Manciù A.S.3: Operazione Tigre, but this poster suggests otherwise, or at least suggests it played there under more than one title. There's no known release date, but it would have shown sometime in 1966.
We gave it a look, and plotwise the infamous crime boss Fu Manchu is executed via beheading in the first scene, much to the delight of various police authorities, but they later suspect that a double died—a man with Fu's face, hypnotized into marching to his own death. And of course, they're right. Fu can do most anything he sets his mind to, including setting other people's minds to doing things detrimental to their earthly existence.
Christopher Lee, who specialized in movies of this ilk, occupies the starring slot, with his yellow make-up shading toward a grayish brown. Other cast members include Nigel Green, Karin Dor, Joachim Fuckburger—er, we mean Fuchsberger—and several more white folk pretending to be Asian. You'll have to ignore that and other racist aspects of the film. Or not, at your option. Setting that aside, is The Face of Fu Manchu any good? Umm... no, we wouldn't say so. But you might get a laugh or two from it.
Dr Fu ManchuFu Manciù A.S.3: Operazione TigreThe Face of Fu ManchuChristopher LeeNigel GreenJoachim FuchsbergerKarin DorSax RohmerEzio Tarantelliposter artcinemamovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Feb 24 2020 |
Glenn Ford, Lee Marvin, and Gloria Grahame raise the temperature in Italy.
Above, three Italian posters for Il grande caldo, better known as The Big Heat. The top piece was painted by Ezio Tarantelli, and the middle one is by Anselmo Ballester, both of whom we featured a while back, here and here. We already talked about the film. If you haven't watched it, try to make the time. It's good.
ItalyIl grande caldoThe Big HeatGlenn FordGloria GrahameLee MarvinEzio TarantelliAnselmo Ballesterposter artcinemafilm noir
| Vintage Pulp | Oct 13 2018 |
Tarantelli makes masterful look effortless.
Above, some examples of the artistic prowess of Italian illustrator Ezio Tarantelli, who was very active during the 1960s. Looking at the poster directly above, you notice, no doubt, the woman holding her own ass. That's an unusual pose but one Tarantelli used more than once. We discuss its origin in this write-up from last year.
ItalyLa morte nella manoEhi amigo... sei Morto!Hell's Belles - La donna dei centauriLa spia sulla cittáUna donna sposataIl clan dei BarkerBocche cucitePer vivere meglio divertitevi con noiSecret ServicePerversi a occhi chiusiEzio Tarantelliposter artcinema
| Vintage Pulp | Feb 8 2017 |
Three great artists try to get the feel of an identical pose.
Today we thought we'd illustrate the imitative nature of commercial art by sharing a nice Italian poster for the comedy Tre femmine in soffitta. Originally released in the U.S. in 1968 as Three in the Attic, and starring Yvette Mimieux and Judy Pace, the movie involves a wacky love triangle, and is notable for its breezy interracial theme, as Mimieux, who is white (and hot), and Pace, who is black (and hot), both get involved with the same inordinately lucky guy.Turning to the art, the figure at the poster's far right, which represents Pace, is a direct copy of one of our favorite Robert McGinnis femmes fatales, the girl on Carter Brown's 1960 novel The Bombshell, who has an unusual fascination with her own butt. Clearly, some imitation is more blatant than others. The poster was painted by Ezio Tarantelli, who had a nice career as an illustrator, particularly in the spaghetti western genre, and whose work on the poster for L’Amore Scotta a Yokohama we lavishly praised several years back. We may have to downgrade the genius label we slapped on him, but obviously he still shows great skill, copied butt grabber or not.
As if Tarantelli's pass at a McGinnis ass wasn't enough, we found another copy of the same pose, executed by another Italian artist, this time the great Mario de Berardinis. His piece promotes the 1975 erotic comedy La nottata, or “The Night,” which starred Sara Sperati and Susanna Javicoli. Did de Berardinis imitate Tarantelli or McGinnis? We don't know, but he truly was a genius, so copying is officially forgiven. You can see our original write-up on The Bombshell here.
ItalyTre femmine in soffittaThree in the AtticLa nottataEzio TarantelliJudy PaceYvette MimieuxCarter BrownRobert McGinnisMario de Berardiniscover artposter artcinema
| Vintage Pulp | Mar 10 2009 |
How do I love thee? Let me count the greenbacks.
Here’s a piece of beautiful poster art for Hajime Sato’s 1966 film L’Amore Scotta a Yokohama. The film was originally released in Japan as Sanpo suru reikyusha, and of course it had a Japanese cast, but in the painting you get a decidedly Italian-looking woman playing dirty with paper money. The film is difficult to find, so if you search for it prepare for frustration. But we really wanted to show you the art anyway, painted by Tarantelli—that must be Italian for genius.
