![SERIAL HUSBAND](/images/headline/6848.png) Some love lasts forever. Other times it doesn't survive the wedding night. ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_01.jpg)
Another of the movies we watched recently was Bluebeard, a castle and dungeon-style, quasi gothic horror flick about a folk tale character who murders a series of wives. Its Spanish poster was the best of those we saw, and we chose today to share it because the film premiered in Spain today in 1974, after opening in the U.S. two years earlier.
This piece was painted and collaged from photos by Fernandez Zarza-Pérez, also known as Jano, now a regular visitor to Pulp Intl. Just for the sake of it, we've also included the U.S. poster at right (or above if you're on a mobile device). You can see that it's built fully around a photo-illustration, and while it's interesting, we thought Jano's work had a little more merit.
Bluebeard stars Richard Burton, who's supposed to be a great actor, but we have to admit we'd seen exactly zero of his acclaimed movies up to this point. He was a Shakespearean stage guy who transitioned to Hollywood in similar type roles, and being decidedly non-pulp in style, we've highlighted none here. He later made a couple of war movies, though, as well as the overbudget epic Cleopatra, and we might get around to those. Going on the example presented by Bluebeard, however, you'd have to conclude that he's a hack. Those who know more than us say that by the 1970s heavy drinking had impaired both his judgment and skill.
You'd think that a famous folk tale would provide a trove of potential cinematic possibilities to sift through, but Bluebeard is uninspiringly written, and the direction—from film noir vet Edward Dmytryk—presents little evidence of engagement with or inspiration by the material. The women Bluebeard murders are played by Karin Schubert, Nathalie Delon, Virna Lisi, sexy nun Raquel Welch, Marilú Tolo, Agostina Belli, and Joey Heatherton—not neccsarily in that order—plus Sybil Danning makes an appearance. Heatherton has the key role as Anne, the wife who elicits a confession from a psychologically tortured Bluebeard as to why he kills.
And the reason? Dude can't get it up. Therefore, in the era before little blue pills, as a prominent member of Austria's post-World War I patriarchal society, Bluebeard murders to keep his limpness secret. You'd think dying wives would destroy his matrimonial suitability, but at a certain point we suppose money papers over all flaws. Rich or not, though, never marry a guy who sits around with a raptor on his shoulder. And speaking of hunting, we should warn the kind-hearted that there's an extended hunting sequence in Bluebeard, and the animals are killed for real, in detailed action. We're talking several rabbits, a number of birds in flight, a couple of foxes, a boar, and a deer.
Based on what we've written so far, you might think we're not recommending Bluebeard, but not so fast, friends. The female cast—to state the obvious—comprises some of the loveliest actresses of the era, and in diverse ways. Welch is sculpturally flawless, Lisi is ethereally beautiful, Toló is broodingly dark, and Heatherton, whose resting face is ingenuous and slightly open-mouthed as if she's always concentrating on a problem, can only be described as luscious. She also has one of cinema's all-time greatest hairdos. Is it pervy to say you should watch a movie solely for the beauty of its actresses? Probably—but it's the truth. The filmmakers must have agreed, because they published lots of nude production stills, when in fact the film has less skin. See below. ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_03.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_04.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_05.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_06.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_39.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_07.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_08.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_09.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_10.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_11.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_12.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_13.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_14.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_15.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_16.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_17.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_18.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_20.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_21.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_22.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_40.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_23.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_25.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_26.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_27.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_28.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_30.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_32.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_33.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_34.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_35.jpg) ![](/images/postimg/serial_husband_36.jpg)
![WONDER BAR](/images/headline/2685.png) Wow, you’re blurrier and taller than you were earlier this evening. ![](/images/postimg/wonder_bar.jpg)
French actress Nathalie Delon was born in Oudja, Morocco as Francine Canovas, during the period when the North African country was occupied by France. She appeared in more than thirty films, including Bluebeard, Sex Shop, and Un sussurro nel buio, aka A Whisper in the Dark, and she also wrote, directed, and recorded music. We love this photo because not only was it shot in the world’s swankiest bar, but because it looks like it was photographed from the perspective of someone who got drunk and fell off his stool. No beer goggles here, though—Delon is a celebrated beauty. The shot is from 1977.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1945—Churchill Given the Sack
In spite of admiring Winston Churchill as a great wartime leader, Britons elect
Clement Attlee the nation's new prime minister in a sweeping victory for the Labour Party over the Conservatives. 1952—Evita Peron Dies
Eva Duarte de Peron, aka Evita, wife of the president of the Argentine Republic, dies from cancer at age 33. Evita had brought the working classes into a position of political power never witnessed before, but was hated by the nation's powerful military class. She is lain to rest in Milan, Italy in a secret grave under a nun's name, but is eventually returned to Argentina for reburial beside her husband in 1974. 1943—Mussolini Calls It Quits
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini steps down as head of the armed forces and the government. It soon becomes clear that Il Duce did not relinquish power voluntarily, but was forced to resign after former Fascist colleagues turned against him. He is later installed by Germany as leader of the Italian Social Republic in the north of the country, but is killed by partisans in 1945. 1915—Ship Capsizes on Lake Michigan
During an outing arranged by Western Electric Co. for its employees and their families, the passenger ship Eastland capsizes in Lake Michigan due to unequal weight distribution. 844 people die, including all the members of 22 different families. 1980—Peter Sellers Dies
British movie star Peter Sellers, whose roles in Dr. Strangelove, Being There and the Pink Panther films established him as the greatest comedic actor of his generation, dies of a heart attack at age fifty-four.
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