| Intl. Notebook | Jul 26 2024 |
The anatomy and the ecstasy.
We have a tremendous amount of material on burlesque in Pulp Intl., yet it's been eight years since we put together a full collection of mid-century burlesque dancers, go-go girls, and strippers. That day has arrived again. Above and below you see some of the better shots we've run across of late, featuring the famous and the obscure, the restrained and the explicit, the domestic and the foreign, and the blonde, red, brown, and brunette. Where possible we've identified the performer, such as above—that's Carol Ryva, sometimes known as Carol Riva, Carole von Ryva, Cara Rive, et al, a French dancer who rose to fame during the early 1960s. Other familiar faces you'll see are Lilly Christine, Maria Tuxedo, Gay Dawn, Yvonne Ménard, and Virginia Bell.
Occasionally, when we post something that contains nudity, we feel, in this age of new puritanism that we should comment about it. We saw a survey recently indicating that a large percentage of Gen Z'ers think nudity in movies is unnecessary in all circumstances, especially sex scenes. And we're like, really? The wonderful thing that virtually every person does, or which practically everyone wants to do, and which is how nearly all of us came to be here on the planet, is somehow taboo, but the horrible thing that virtually none of us do—kill—must be part of nearly every film, book, and television show? Programming works. If you sell sexual shame unceasingly new generations will absorb it, and believe they've come to their views organically.
The reality is that sex and nudity are freeing. Burlesque and erotic dance are valuable because they take our DNA driven sexual desire and package it as an art form, fit for public consumption and contemplation. Moving one's body rhythmically feels good, and watching those who work so very hard but make look so easy the pushing of their physical limits within the realm of such expression is pleasing to the eye and psyche. That's why we love erotic dance. Our two previous burlesque collections, “Infinite Jest,” and “Dancers Gotta Dance,” are here and here, and we have some notable smaller burlesque forays here, here, and here. But if you want to kill some time for real, instead click the keyword “burlesque” at bottom, then scroll, scroll, scroll. Make sure you pack a lunch.
Virginia Bell
Noel Toy, and more here.
Lee Sharon.
Dixie Brandy.
A group shot from the legendary Crazy Horse, Paris.
Stacey “Stormy” Laurence at Louisiana State University in 1948.
Maria Tuxedo. More here.
The incomparable Lilly Christine. We also have a set of photos from one of her performances here, and more links from that point.
The Follies Theater at 337 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, 1946.
Tempest Storm.
Gay Dawn.
Yvonne Ménard, and more photos here.
Carol Jane, aka Spider Woman.
Jackie Miller.
Debra Paget, who performed one of the most provocative screen dances ever in 1959's De indische grabmal.
JapanFranceParisLe Crazy HorseCarol RyvaCarol RivaVirginia BellNoel ToyLee SharonDixie BrandyStacey LaurenceMaria TuxedoLilly ChristineTempest StormGay DawnBlaze StarrYvonne MénardJackie MillerCarol JayneDebra Pagetburlesquenudity
| Femmes Fatales | Jul 22 2024 |
And she didn't even need a password to do it.
Japanese actress Noriko Yamamoto was a minor player onscreen, but she's a major player on this log in a photo published in a 1980 issue of Heibon Punch. It's a nice image, part of an essay shot in Alaska, of all places. Here's what she said about it (so claimed the editors): “The clock is pointing to 11 PM, but the red sun is bright and beautiful. Anxiety crossed my mind as to whether I would be able to survive in this great outdoors. Fishing with a lure for the first time after setting up the tent. And the feeling of a king salmon coming into my hand. A river as wide as a lake. I don't know when bears will come out, making my heart flutter.” Despite her fears she survived, there were no bears, and most importantly she suffered no splinters. Bonus: she got to hold a humungous fish.
| Femmes Fatales | Jul 3 2024 |
Nice for the camera but very hard on the circulation.
Every time Miki Sugimoto stars in a promo photo we can barely believe our eyes. Here the cult action actress is squeezing her frame—or part of it anyway—into a tight space to get this wonderful shot. Wonderful for who? Certainly not her. She played some difficult roles, but this may have been her hardest. By the time she finished riding the rails for this image we bet she felt like her bottom was full of novocaine. Sometimes, though, you have to go above and beyond in the pursuit of art. Click her keywords below to see amazing promo shots and movie posters.
| Femmes Fatales | Jun 26 2024 |
She's a heat related emergency in human form.
Japanese beauty Rino Katase began acting in the late 1970s, hit her stride during the eighties, and hasn't looked back since. Some of her nearly one hundred credited roles include performances in such films as 1987's Yoshiwara enjô, aka Tokyo Bordello, 1986's Gokudô no onna-tachi, aka Yakuza Ladies (plus seven sequels), and 2022's Bad City. This hot shot of her goes to back to before her first acting roles. We found it in an issue of Weekly Playboy from 1976.
| Vintage Pulp | Jun 25 2024 |
In an L.A. minute anything can be stolen.
The now-cult movie Gone in 60 Seconds is remembered partly because the 2000 Nicolas Cage remake rekindled interest, but also because a man named H.B. Halicki is famous for being the producer, writer, star, director, and stunt coordinator. He's a classic example from an earlier era of Hollywood of a guy with knowledge specific to an industry who dreamt up a story then cobbled together the funds to put his vision on the screen. He was a car mechanic who for years had been owner of a Southern California junkyard. In his work life he'd conceived or learned of a foolproof method for stealing and reselling cars. It involved boosting cars that were identical to wrecks, then swapping vehicle identification numbers and other elements so the stolen car disappeared and the wreck was reborn as a new ride. The technique became well known eventually, but back then it wasn't. That idea provided Halicki's entree into the world of moviemaking.
You see a Japanese poster above, with one more plus promo shots below. The movie opened in the U.S. in 1974, and premiered in Japan today in 1975. It's what some people these days like to call car porn, as audiences get to see formula one cars, custom sports cars, limousines, and a customized Ford Bronco owned by Parnelli Jones, who has a cameo in the film. The centerpiece (really more like the endpiece) is a forty minute chase sequence that in order to film allegedly resulted in ninety-three wrecked cars. Storywise, it's about an insurance investigator who moonlights as a professional car thief, who accepts a contract from a South American drug cartel to provide forty-eight luxury cars by week's end. The task seems impossible, but failure isn't an option. Several complications arise. Halicki, playing a character named Maindrian Pace, is called upon to investigate the very thefts his ring is perpetrating. When one of his crew steals a car packed with heroin things start to get really complicated.
That's all fine and fun, and Halicki's personal Hollywood success story is an inspiring one, but the movie does still have the touch of amateurism about it, particularly in the acting. That's to be expected with a quickly mounted production, starring a first-timer who also cast various family members and amateurs in small roles. In the writing area, the characters are mere sketches, which worked fine in other indie flicks from the period like Two-Lane Blacktop, but somehow doesn't quite come to fruition here. The great director John Huston once said Hollywood had a bad habit of remaking good movies. They should remake the bad ones, he advised. Since the remake wasn't as good as it could have been either, Gone in 60 Seconds could probably still use a revamp, but until that time comes audiences will have to make do. Halicki thought outside the box (did we mention the forty minute car chase?) which means his original Gone in 60 Seconds is the only one to watch.
JapanLos AngelesGone in 60 SecondsH.B. HalickiMarion BusiaJerry DaugirdaJames McIntyreGeorge ColeParnelli Jonesposter artcinemamovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Jun 21 2024 |
The French know how to put on a show, and the Japanese know how to put on a poster.
Here's a fantastic poster we've had sitting around for a while made for the Japanese run of the French film Ah! les belles bacchantes!, which was changed here to Hadaka no megami, or “the naked goddess,” and in English was known as Ah! The Beautiful Priestesses of Bacchus, Peek-a-Boo!, and other titles. Basically it follows a provincial morals cop played by Louis de Funès who decides to take a close look at the local cabaret revue expecting to shut it down, but due to a series of wacky events during the rehearsals he ends up appearing in the show.
This will be the first time this poster has ever been online, but it isn't the first time we've talked about the movie. We wrote about it eight years ago and shared a different, equally rare promo. You'll notice that the Japanese title is different, but the French title in the upper right corner is the same. Ah! les belles bacchantes! is an extremely interesting historical curio, effervescent and sexy, evidencing how much more advanced the French were concering the human body than puritans in the U.S. It premiered in France the autumn of 1954 and reached Japan today in 1955. We also have two other posters in the same beautiful style that you can see here and here.
This will be the first time this poster has ever been online, but it isn't the first time we've talked about the movie. We wrote about it eight years ago and shared a different, equally rare promo. You'll notice that the Japanese title is different, but the French title in the upper right corner is the same. Ah! les belles bacchantes! is an extremely interesting historical curio, effervescent and sexy, evidencing how much more advanced the French were concering the human body than puritans in the U.S. It premiered in France the autumn of 1954 and reached Japan today in 1955. We also have two other posters in the same beautiful style that you can see here and here.
JapanFranceAh! les belles bacchantes!Ah! The Beautiful Priestesses of BacchusPeek-A-Boo!Femmes de ParisLouis de Funèsposter artcinemaburlesque
| Vintage Pulp | Jun 18 2024 |
Mount Naomi erupts with deadly consequences in pinku revenge opera.
The Japanese appetite for pinku films was unquenchable. Conversely, ours is mostly quenched, but when we see a poster this striking we have to share it, and that means glancing at the movie that spawned it. Oryu joen: shibari hada, which premiered in Japan today in 1975, was known in English as Oryu's Passion: Bondage Skin, and it came from Nikkatsu Studios as part of its specialized roman porno line, with the so-called Queen of S&M Naomi Tani in the lead role.
Plotwise, the head of a yakuza clan is assassinated and Tani, his loyal charge, vows revenge. Her search for the killer doesn't go according to the blueprint, and after a betrayal she ends up in a dank bdsm dungeon along with her sister Terumi Azuma, subjected to rope discipline and forcibly dildoed and dp'ed with yam batter as a lubricant. Yam batter. You know how it goes in those pinku dungeons. Note: for novices, roman porno films are not porn. The term is short for “romantic porno,” and they're r-rated, equivalently. Or more likely, they'd not be able to obtain ratings at all under the U.S. system. Just thought we'd reiterate that.
Anyway, Tani eventually slips her bonds with assistance, and her long delayed revenge occurs, bloodily. No spoiler there. You knew it had to happen. We can't recommend this flick. There's really nothing worthwhile about it unless you're a fan of the form. Even then it's middling. Yes, Tani was the Queen of S&M, but she made more than one hundred films, so some will have the feel of going through the motions. Even so, you do get several of the expected roman porno tropes. Like action movies offer gunfire and romance movies offer kisses, it's what you sign up for. Knock yourself out.
JapanNikkatsuOryu joen: shibari hadaOryu's Passion: Bondage SkinNaomi TaniTerumi Azumapinkuroman pornobdsmposter artcinemamovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Jun 15 2024 |
Shishido and his last line of defense.
Jo Shishido fronts this poster for Koroshi no rakuin, aka Branded To Kill, flanked by armed and dangerous sidekicks Mariko Ogawa and Annu Mari. This serves as a second alternate promo to the original, which we showed you years ago. See that here, and the tateken promo here. Koroshi no rakuin premiered in Japan today in 1967.
| Vintage Pulp | Jun 3 2024 |
You've garter see it to believe it.
This sensual promo image stars Japanese actress Izumi Shima and was made for her roman porno film Wakazuma ga nureru toki, known in English by the evocative title When a Young Wife Gets Wet. The large text at the right side of the poster says, “When a woman smells mysterious.” So Shima is wet and mysterious. Sweet. We talked about the movie a couple of years ago, so if you want to know more feel to look here. But you can probably guess what it's all about.
The boys at Nikkatsu Film were true wordsmiths when they put their minds to it. In the smaller text they get lyrical: This year, Izumi Shima has become even bigger as she continues to star in movies. The charm wafts from her kimono, the sexiness spilling out from her see-through nightgown, and the mysterious adult charm that overflows from her black slip. Her limbs, like ripe fruits, are displayed on the screen without hesitation. Let me show you!
They had us at wafts.
| Femmes Fatales | May 24 2024 |
If Maya manifests in the forest and nobody saw her was she really there?
In the Hindu religion Maya is the goddess of illusion, personifying the concept that the material world is not quite real, but Japanese actress Maya Hiromi is no illusion. She appears here in a photo published in 1977 in Heibon Punch Supplement 33, and in verifiable corporeal form she appeared in movies such as Onna kyôshi: Shônen-gari, aka Female Teacher: Boy Hunt, Kyoran no aegi, aka Morning Frenzy, and Kunoichi ninpo: Hyakka manji-garami, aka Female Ninja Magic: 100 Trampled Flowers. Like many pinku stars she racked up a bunch of credits all at once—seventeen in four years—then pretty much disappeared. But you'll see her here again.
JapanHeibon PunchOnna kyôshi: Shônen-gariFemale Teacher: Boy HuntKyoran no aegiMorning FrenzyKunoichi ninpo: Hyakka manji-garamiFemale Ninja Magic: 100 Trampled FlowersMaya Hiromipinkunudity
