 She's small but she has enormous appetites. 
What would ’70s erotic cinema be without Swedish movies? And more importantly, without Swedish actresses? Above is a Japanese poster for the softcore film Justine och Juliette, known in English as Justine and Juliette, or sometimes Swedish Minx, and it starred the small wonder known as Marie Forså, who pound for pound was probably the best performer to come out of Swedish sexploitation cinema. That's what we think, anyway. We talked about the movie last year, so all we're doing today is showing you this eye-catching piece of art. Oh, and the rare image of Forså below. Let's not forget about that. We also have the rear of the poster. In addition, you can see a colorful Japanese promo for Forså's movie Butterflies here, and a very, erm, interesting one for her movie Bibi here.
 
 Forså puts her name on the Marquis. 
Above you see a poster for the erotic comedy Justine och Juliette, also known as Swedish Minx, which opened in Sweden today in 1975. We usually focus on beautiful art, but there's obviously nothing special about this particular promo. We watched the film anyway because one of its co-stars is Marie Forså, and you know how we feel about her. She's credited here as Marie Lynn, a pseudonym (sometimes it was Maria Lynn) she used in Flossie and Molly, though we didn't mention it when we talked about those movies.
Theoretically Justine och Juliette is based on the Marquis de Sade novels Justine, published in 1791, and Juliette, published in 1797. Forså and Anne Bie Warburg play sisters who take different paths trying to survive in the cruel world. Forså has principles, which lead to poverty, while Warburg will do anything for money and a flashy lifestyle. Forså, try as she might, can't keep herself from being sucked into Warburg's coterie of weirdoes, and pretty soon there's a sex film that was secretly shot with Forså as the unwitting star.
Justine och Juliette is one of those erotic films that had hardcore footage inserted, but instead of jarring close-ups of anonymous stunt genitals meant to deceive you into thinking Forså did the deed (which she sometimes did, just not in this movie), you get actual porn performers in action. Among them are Harry Reems, the aforementioned Warburg, and Brigitte Maier. They give the movie a bit of extra spark, but overall it just doesn't compare to the best ’70s sexploitation flicks. We're not calling it a dud, but it's not worth seeking out either, unless, like us, you're fans of the divine Miss Forså.
       
 Anna Karina gives an ancient place a touch of contemporary beauty. 
Anna Karina, née Hanne Karin Bayer, is a famed model, novelist, singer, and award-winning actress, who was a muse of French director Jean-Luc Godard, and star of such films as Alphaville, A Woman Is a Woman, and Chinese Roulette. She has also directed two movies, with the latest appearing in 2008. All very amazing, considering she was homeless and unable to speak French when she was discovered by an advertising exec in a Paris café at age seventeen. The above photo was made in Tunisia (standing in for Egypt) for her 1969 film Justine.
 Thrift market digging disgorges buried treasure. 
So there we were in Madrid, digging for pulp gems at the outdoor market on the Prado, when we spotted Valentina au Débotté by the immortal comic artist Guido Crepax. Since this was a French translation, rather than an original Italian edition, we figured to score it for a song. After some expert negotiations that served to lower the asking price exactly 0.0 percent, we paid fifteen euros. But at least we got the book, and what a book it is.
Crepax began the Valentina series in 1965, and nurtured it into an international sensation that ran until 1995. Basically, it was erotica, but delicately drawn and infused with a 60s insouciance and dreaminess that somehow made it both titillating and highbrow. Crepax published other famous series, and drew adaptations of Emmanuelle, The Story of O, Justine and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but the Valentina series was his crowning achievement.
Reading any of the Valentina stories is like stepping through Lewis Carroll’s looking glass, but Valentina au Débotté is Crepax at his psychedelic best, deftly immersing his heroine in typically bizarre adventures, including riding a broomstick and having sex with an octopus. Crepax died in 2003, but not before amassing many awards and seeing his work translated into multiple languages. The book we found would have lasted at most another ten minutes at the busy Prado market, but we had gotten there early, which means we’re the lucky ones who now own this treasure. We found some scans online from the same book and posted several below for your enjoyment.      
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1981—Ronnie Biggs Rescued After Kidnapping
Fugitive thief Ronnie Biggs, a British citizen who was a member of the gang that pulled off the Great Train Robbery, is rescued by police in Barbados after being kidnapped. Biggs had been abducted a week earlier from a bar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by members of a British security firm. Upon release he was returned to Brazil and continued to be a fugitive from British justice. 2011—Elizabeth Taylor Dies
American actress Elizabeth Taylor, whose career began at age 12 when she starred in National Velvet, and who would eventually be nominated for five Academy Awards as best actress and win for Butterfield 8 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, dies of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles. During her life she had been hospitalized more than 70 times. 1963—Profumo Denies Affair
In England, the Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, denies any impropriety with showgirl Christine Keeler and threatens to sue anyone repeating the allegations. The accusations involve not just infidelity, but the possibility acquaintances of Keeler might be trying to ply Profumo for nuclear secrets. In June, Profumo finally resigns from the government after confessing his sexual involvement with Keeler and admitting he lied to parliament. 1978—Karl Wallenda Falls to His Death
World famous German daredevil and high-wire walker Karl Wallenda, founder of the acrobatic troupe The Flying Wallendas, falls to his death attempting to walk on a cable strung between the two towers of the Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Wallenda is seventy-three years old at the time, but it is a 30 mph wind, rather than age, that is generally blamed for sending him from the wire. 2006—Swedish Spy Stig Wennerstrom Dies
Swedish air force colonel Stig Wennerström, who had been convicted in the 1970s of passing Swedish, U.S. and NATO secrets to the Soviet Union over the course of fifteen years, dies in an old age home at the age of ninety-nine. The Wennerström affair, as some called it, was at the time one of the biggest scandals of the Cold War. |
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