Vintage Pulp | Feb 11 2021 |

Above are two nice posters for the film noir Angel Face, starring Jean Simmons as an incredibly sneaky nineteen-year-old who wants to kill her stepmother, and Robert Mitchum as a hapless chauffeur who finds himself sucked into the plot. The movie opened in the U.S. today in 1953. The bottom poster, made to look like a tabloid cover, in true tabloid style gives everything away. We debated posting it, but decided to do it for historical purposes, because this is the only promo poster we've ever seen that explicitly gives away the ending of the film it promotes. Is it still worth watching? We think so.
Vintage Pulp | Apr 18 2016 |

First things first—this poster was painted by Nicola Simbari, yet another genius from the ranks of Italian illustrators, someone who today is thought of as one of Italy’s most important modern artists and has pieces hanging in museums all over the world. He painted the above masterpiece for the Howard Hughes produced Seduzione mortale, known in the U.S. as Angel Face. It's the story of a man who tries to trade up to a richer, flashier girlfriend and ends up entangled in a murder plot. Robert Mitchum stars as the fickle hero, Jean Simmons co-stars as the femme fatale, Mona Freeman is the loyal girlfriend, and Jim Backus—aka Mr. Howell from Gilligan’s Island—is a tough district attorney.
Angel Face opened in the U.S. in late 1952 and premiered, according to all the sources we checked, in Italy today in 1953. But the poster at top advertises a premiere at a Rome cinema called the Fiamma on 6 May, 1953. Which date is right? Possibly both. April 18, 1953 was a Saturday, which would be a typical day for a film’s run to commence. May 6 was a Wednesday—not typical for launching a wide release. We suspect the poster was made for a special engagement, probably one night only. But we’re only guessing. We may have to slot this question in the unanswered file. There are only so many things you can figure out from a computer terminal after all. We have another poster below, plus two nice promos.
Vintage Pulp | Sep 18 2011 |

Below, twelve scans from the German magazine Neue Wiener Melange, issue 13, whose slogan "das magazin der schönen frauen" means "the magazine of beautiful women". Inside you get Jean Simmons, Angelika Hauff, Jean Kent, plus some tasty art and more, circa 1950. See another issue and an explanation of the magazine’s name here.
Vintage Pulp | Nov 5 2010 |

Above we have another issue of the West German magazine Das Ronke, this one from May 1950, with a great ad for the film Badende Venus, aka Bathing Beauty, with Esther Williams, along with photos of Jean Simmons, jazzman Al Edwards, and burlesque performer Maya Graf. The cover here—as on the previous one—is by Joka. We’ve got nothing on this person, but you know us—we’ll keep digging.