Give credit where credit is due—when possible.
Above is an MGM promo handout for the film noir Tension, which starred Audrey Totter and hit cinemas today in 1949. It was painted in ink by the same person who did the poster, one of the greatest artists in cinema poster history—the inimitable uncredited. It's a great piece by a true master. We've shown you a lot of Tension's U.S. promo art, and today's doesn't even empty the well of what's out there, but it's the last time we'll dip into it. So many vintage films, so little time...
The costume designer made this out of monkey fur? That's interesting. Next time can he use a couple more monkeys?
A wild hairdo, a bit of animal hide, and not much else usually comprises an actress's costume for the typical lost world flick. Raquel Welch is considered by many to be the pinnacle of visual achievement in that area (though opinions vary), but U.S. actress Edwina Booth beat Raquel to it by more than three decades. She's clad in monkey fur and a few animal teeth in this striking promo image made for her adventure Trader Horn. We won't talk about the movie extensively today because we may delve into it later, but let's just say that as a pre-Code film set in Africa there's a lot to unpack. In addition, though it made Booth a star it ruined her career because she contracted malaria or schistosomiasis, prompting her to sue MGM Studios for negligence, her illness being—according to her lawsuit—a direct result of being made to run around the jungle half naked. She was probably right. As a reward she was blacklisted in Hollywood. Nevertheless, she looks very beautiful here. Trader Horn came out in early 1931, so this shot would be from sometime in 1930.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1939—Batman Debuts
In Detective Comics #27, DC Comics publishes its second major superhero, Batman, who becomes one of the most popular comic book characters of all time, and then a popular camp television series starring Adam West, and lastly a multi-million dollar movie franchise starring Michael Keaton, then George Clooney, and finally Christian Bale. 1953—Crick and Watson Publish DNA Results
British scientists James D Watson and Francis Crick publish an article detailing their discovery of the existence and structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, in Nature magazine. Their findings answer one of the oldest and most fundamental questions of biology, that of how living things reproduce themselves. 1967—First Space Program Casualty Occurs
Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when, during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere after more than ten successful orbits, the capsule's main parachute fails to deploy properly, and the backup chute becomes entangled in the first. The capsule's descent is slowed, but it still hits the ground at about 90 mph, at which point it bursts into flames. Komarov is the first human to die during a space mission. 1986—Otto Preminger Dies
Austro–Hungarian film director Otto Preminger, who directed such eternal classics as Laura, Anatomy of a Murder, Carmen Jones, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Stalag 17, and for his efforts earned a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, dies in New York City, aged 80, from cancer and Alzheimer's disease. 1998—James Earl Ray Dies
The convicted assassin of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., petty criminal James Earl Ray, dies in prison of hepatitis aged 70, protesting his innocence as he had for decades. Members of the King family who supported Ray's fight to clear his name believed the U.S. Government had been involved in Dr. King's killing, but with Ray's death such questions became moot.
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