Hollywoodland | Mar 21 2024 |
![ON BENDED KNEES](/images/headline/7415.png)
Strange ideas from the minds and lenses of mid-century promo photographers.
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A while back we shared a promo photo of Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame from 1953's The Big Heat that was meant to imply oral sex (it absolutely was, and you can see for yourself here). We commented on its weirdness, and noted that an actress would probably not be asked or made to pose that way today. The shot got us thinking about whether there were other kneeling promo shots from the mid-century era, and above you see two others from The Big Heat.
Below we have more such shots, and while none are as jarring as that previous promo, they're all interesting. We assumed there would be few if any featuring kneeling males, but we found a couple. Even so, there are probably scores more kneeling actresses that we missed. While many of shots took the form they did to highlight the criminal/victim themes in their parent films, you still have to wonder what else—consciously or not—was in the various photograhers' minds. Anyway, just some food for thought this lovely Thursday. Ready, set discuss!
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And lastly, in a curious example, Hugo Haas seems to tell Cleo Moore to stay in a shot made for 1953's One Girl's Confession.
The Big HeatChukaShield for MurderDon't Bother To KnockCry TerrorStreetcar Named DesireManpowerTaste the Blood of DraculaGildaThe Naked and the DeadDead ReckoningI Died a Thousand TimesThe Pink PantherOne Girl's ConfessionRod TaylorLuciana PauluzziEdmund O'BrienMarla EnglishMarilyn MonroeRichard WidmarkInger StevensTerry Ann RossKim HunterMarlon BrandoGeorge RaftMarlene DietrichChristopher LeeRita HayworthAldo RayBarbara NicholsIda LupinoLizabeth ScottFiorella MariShelly WintersJack PalanceBlake EdwardsCappucineHugo HaasCleo Moorecinema
Vintage Pulp | Dec 1 2017 |
![WANTS AND NEEDS](/images/headline/4292.png)
End of the line—Brando's place.
Above, a striking West German poster for Endstation Sehnsucht, which you know better as A Streetcar Named Desire. Admit it. You've heard of it, you know who Tennessee Williams is, but you haven't seen it (or seen or read the much racier Pulitzer Prize winning play it's based on). A famous critic once explained that a good book teaches you how to read it. The same can apply to movies. You have to let yourself be immersed in A Streetcar Named Desire. The first twenty minutes you might be tempted to give up. But once the dubious southern accents and style of the production settle into your head, you'll find a movie well worth watching, with a nice performance by Marlon Brando, who was comfortable in his role of the beefcakey Stanley Kowalski after having played it on Broadway. A Streetcar Named Desire is over the top—and over the needed running time, in the opinions of many—but it's an involving experience. After its U.S. premiere in September 1951 it rolled into West Germany as Endstation Sehnsucht today the same year.