| Femmes Fatales | Oct 9 2017 |
In some ways she's a non-traditionalist.
Above, a nice geisha themed promo photo of Japanese actress Junko Fuji, star of scores of films spanning forty-five years. Among them: Kyokotsu ichidai, aka The Chivalrous Life, Bakuchi-uchi: socho tobaku, aka Big Time Gambling Boss, and the popular Hibotan bakuto aka Red Peony Gambler series. Fuji's showed no signs of slowing down and has another film on the slate for 2018. We don't have a date on this image, but figure late 1960s.
JapanJunko FujiHibotan bakutoRed Peony GamblerKyokotsu ichidaiThe Chivalrous LifeBakuchi-uchi: socho tobakuBig Time Gambling Bosscinema
| Femmes Fatales | Sep 26 2017 |
Whoa... is the floor swaying or is that me?
Audrey Totter isn't as well known today as she should be, considering she appeared in The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Lady in the Lake, F.B.I Girl, The Unsuspected, The Set-Up, Main Street After Dark, and Tension, but she was well appreciated in her day as a bad girl and film noir stalwart. Her career spanned radio, cinema, and television, and her life spanned ninety-five years, a good run on both counts. This promo photo of her in the typical bad girl's natural habitat—the local gin mill—was made in 1946 and appeared in Life magazine.
Life MagazineThe Postman Always Rings TwiceThe Lady in the LakeThe UnsuspectedThe Set-UpTensionMain Street After DarkF.B.I GirlAudrey Totterfilm noir
| Mondo Bizarro | Jan 19 2017 |
Section of CIA trove of declassified material reveals research into psychic phenomena.
The Central Intelligence Agency has just published 800,000 formerly classified files online. The data dump, comprising some 13 million separate documents, isn't technically new. The files had been declassified years ago, but had only been available at the National Archives in Maryland, on only four computers tucked away at the back of the building which were accessible only during business hours. A freedom-of-information group called MuckRock sued the CIA and forced it to upload the collection, and the process took more than two years. Among the discoveries in the trove are documents related to the Stargate Project, which was tasked with examining psychic phenomena. A subset of those investigations involved celebrity paranormalist Uri Geller in 1973.
For those who don't know, Geller is a guy who used to show up on television programs like The Tonight Show and perform various paranormal tricks. His fame drew the roving gaze of the CIA, and they had him come in for a series of tests. No word on whether he had a choice in the matter. The testers ultimately reached the conclusion that Geller was legit, stating in the declassified dox that he had, “demonstrated his paranormal perceptual ability in a convincing and unambiguous manner.” How did they reach that conclusion?
Through double blind experiments, one of which involved sealing Geller in a room, having a worker make a drawing, and asking Geller to recreate the drawing without having seen it. The images above and below show three of the original drawings, and Geller's eerily accurate renderings.
Through double blind experiments, one of which involved sealing Geller in a room, having a worker make a drawing, and asking Geller to recreate the drawing without having seen it. The images above and below show three of the original drawings, and Geller's eerily accurate renderings.Geller made a nice career for himself finding hidden objects, bending spoons, and reproducing hidden sketches, but the really interesting part is he may have been a spy. In 2013, a BBC documentary titled The Secret Life of Uri Geller–Psychic Spy? claimed Geller worked for the CIA, was recruited by Mossad, and performed such missions as using only the power of his mind to erase floppy discs carried by KGB agents. Geller allegedly spent years in Mexico working as security for President José López Portillo, and the aforementioned documentary suggests he was also involved in some capacity in the famed Israeli hostage rescue in Entebbe, Uganda in 1976. It may take a few more CIA declassifications before we get to the bottom of all that.
Geller is still around at age seventy (looking about fifty, which might the most convincing evidence yet of his paranormal ability) and he still appears in news reports for antics such as purchasing Lamb Island, off the eastern coast of Scotland, which was the site of many witch trials, and for building a 12 foot-tall statue of a gorilla made from
40,000 metal spoons. We aren't believers in psychic ability or any form of the paranormal. And we won't be unless we see evidence proving these realms exist. But the CIA said Geller was the real deal, so that's worth something. Of course, they also said Iraq had a nuclear weapons program, so maybe their opinion should be taken with a grain of salt.
40,000 metal spoons. We aren't believers in psychic ability or any form of the paranormal. And we won't be unless we see evidence proving these realms exist. But the CIA said Geller was the real deal, so that's worth something. Of course, they also said Iraq had a nuclear weapons program, so maybe their opinion should be taken with a grain of salt.MexicoIsraelUgandaScotlandMarylandLamb IslandEntebbeCIAMossadKGBNational ArchivesBBCThe Tonight ShowThe Secret Life of Uri Geller–Psychic Spy?Uri GellerJohnny CarsonJosé López Portillo
| Hollywoodland | Oct 26 2016 |
The Back makes a spectacle of herself in Hollywood.
In a series of photos made for an edition of Life published today in 1953, actress and model Vikki Dougan takes a stroll around Hollywood and Vine to see what sort of reaction she gets in her back baring dress. Dougan was nicknamed The Back, so this was a publicity stunt designed to increase her recognition as that persona. While the stroll was bold, the dress was actually rather tame for her—on at least a few public occasions her dresses dipped so low she showed ass cleavage, though only at Hollywood events, not outside where she might have gotten in trouble. Still, in the less radical outfit above she draws quite a crowd. Life didn't originally publish all the shots you see here. Some archival images appeared a few years ago and have made their way around the web. If you've been visiting our site for a long time, this series may bring to mind a similar one we shared several years back that was made in Mexico City in 1950 with actress Maty Huitrón. In that group of photos Huitrón was covered from shins to neck, but the effect she had on bystanders was if anything even more profound. You can see that here.
Edit: Turns out the cover and the photos come from two different issues of Life. The photos are actually from 1957, according to the Life website, and they would know (though they get the date of Dougan's cover wrong, saying it was from October 23. But we're sure they're right on the year.
| Hollywoodland | Aug 27 2016 |
Ice is nice, but harder than water.
British skater and actress Belita, who was born Maria Belita Jepson-Turner, frolics in the pool at the Town House Hotel in Los Angeles for a cover of Life that hit newsstands today in 1945. We've shown you this pool before. A window from a swanky hotel bar known as the Zebra Room provided a view through one wall, which meant patrons could watch swimmers while enjoying cocktails. The hotel put together a group of women called Aqua Maidens who performed swim shows, but Belita was not a Maiden. She was already famous for skating in the 1936 Olympics (though she had finished only sixteenth), and had established a Hollywood career with 1943's Silver Skates and 1944's Lady, Let's Dance. She would also make 1946's Suspense, which was unique for combining skating with film noir.
In addition to being an ace skater Belita was an accomplished dancer, and the Life photos show her demonstrating her underwater ballet skills. She even wears a tutu in a couple of shots. Interestingly, Picture Post, a British Life-like magazine that was considered imitative, had already featured Belita on its cover, also at the Town House, two months earlier on June 16, 1945. Doubtless both sets of photos were from them same session. So in this case Life was the imitator.Belita wasn't the most famous ice skater in Hollywood during the 1940s—Sonja Henie was a huge star, and Vera Ralston was probably better known as well. That may be one reason why Belita managed only eight or nine films before moving on to other pursuits. She eventually retired to the village of Montpeyroux, France, where she died in 2005 at age eighty-two. But the photos below are eternal.
BritainFranceLos AngelesMontpeyrouxTown House HotelLife MagazinePicture PostLady Let's DanceSilver SkatesSuspenseBelitaGladys Jepson-TurnerSonja HenieVera Ralstoncinemafilm noir
| Vintage Pulp | Aug 25 2016 |
Sometimes staying after school isn't a punishment.
Above is a poster for Onna kyōshi: Shiseikatsu, aka Female Teacher: Private Life, a Nikkatsu roman porno flick that starred Ayako Ichikawa and Hitomi Kozue in the story of an obsessive affair between teacher and student. Interesting fact about this movie: Nikkatsu staged a contest for roman porno scripts and Onna kyōshi resulted from the winning entry, submitted by Mari Abe, who benefitted screenwriting credit, a cash prize, and a college scholarship. Thanks to her stroke of genius Nikkatsu was able to milk the Onna kyōshi concept for a sequel, followed by an eight film series. Just goes to show how mainstream these racy movies were. Of course, Onna kyōshi explores scenarios that would be considered criminal today. In fact, there's debate in 2016 whether teachers should be allowed to have private lives at all—i.e. whether they should be role models both in and out of school, and if they fail whether their actions are fair game for judgment and discipline. Ichikawa and Kozue are ready to judged and disciplined below. Onna kyōshi: Shiseikatsu premiered in Japan today in 1973.
JapanOnna kyōshi: ShiseikatsuFemale Teacher: Private LifeNikkatsuAyako IchikawaHitomi Kozueroman pornopinkuposter artcinemanudity
| Hollywoodland | Jul 14 2016 |
And they say nobody walks in L.A.
Ingrid Bergman takes a stroll near downtown Los Angeles in this promo photo made in 1967 for a Life magazine feature titled “Ingrid Bergman: A Day on Bunker Hill.” At this point Bergman wasn't acting much, but she was featured in Life several times that year and, as one of the transcendent movie stars of the 1940s, was never out of mind, even when she was out of sight.
| Vintage Pulp | Apr 2 2016 |
You ever wonder what nuns wear under their habits? Neither do we. But some people do.
What is it about nuns? We’ve never paid them any mind, but seventies filmmakers sure found them irresistible. We’ve shared a few examples of the phenomenon over the years, such as here, here, and especially here. Educande fuori… femmine dentro was originally made in West Germany, where it was called Die Klosterschülerinnen, and later it appeared in English speaking countries as Sex Life in a Convent. We watched it, and it’s nunsploitation without much in the way of successful humor or eroticism. You've been duly warned. But the Italian poster, which you see above, is pretty cool. Also German actress Astrid Boner—her name kills us every time!—is in a co-starring role. And probably most worth mentioning is the fact that the miraculous Doris Arden gets top billing, and deservedly so. To reiterate, deservedly so. From 1972, this one.
West GermanyItalyEducande fuori… femmine dentroSex Life in a ConventDie KlosterschülerinnenDoris ArdenPhilippe Dumontcinemaposter artsexploitationnunsmovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Jan 28 2016 |
Ekberg as a stripper is a dream come true but she brings a nightmare with her.
Based on a 1949 novel of the same name by Frederic Brown, Screaming Mimi stars Anita Ekberg as a traumatized burlesque dancer who can’t shake the memory of being attacked by a knife-wielding maniac. She’s committed to a mental institution, where her psychiatrist promptly falls in love with her and helps her escape and create a new identity. Now dancing at a club in Laguna Beach, California, she’s the hottest draw in the area and her former doctor is her lover and protector, but also smothers and dominates her. Can the anonymity last? Of course not.
Enter stage right an entitled horndog who won’t take no for an answer. After Ekberg survives another knife attack, the new man in her life—who’s also a reporter—has all the justification he needs to trail poor Anita 
everywhere she goes, as the doctor meanwhile tries to protect her fake identity and keep her and the reporter from falling into bed together. Chances of success? Probably not very good.
Screaming Mimi is an interesting noir—it was fertile enough to serve as inspiration for Dario Argento’s L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo, aka The Bird with the Crystal Plumage—but its b-movie budget really shows and we think Philip Carey is miscast as the reporter/hero. Carey has no charm at all in this, which renders Ekberg’s interest in him unbelievable. But his performance will be a treat for patrons of the Noir City fest—most will probably remember him from his twenty-four-year stint as the repulsive Asa Buchanan on the soap opera One Life To Live.
Screaming MimiBird with the Crystal PlumageOne Life To LiveAnita EkbergGypsy Rose LeeLinda CherneyPhilip CareyDario Argentoposter artcover artcinematelevisionliteraturefilm noirmovie review
| Intl. Notebook | Dec 25 2015 |
All I really wanted for Christmas this year was Russia. Sigh. This holiday sucks.
Adolf Hitler and cohorts enjoy an uproarious 1941 Berlin Christmas party, where the mood may have been somewhat subdued due to the fact that attempts to crush Russia had so far failed at the cost of more than 800,000 German casualties. The photo was shot by Hugo Jaeger, one of the Führer’s personal photographers, and didn’t come to light until published by Life magazine in 2010.
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