Vintage Pulp

May 9 2018

HEIGHT OF TERROR

There's nothing harder than facing your worst fear.

The poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 thriller Vertigo, designed by Saul Bass, is one of the most famous and influential promos ever made. Bass actually can’t take full credit for it—he oversaw its creation, but the unique spiral pattern was made by John Whitney and the figures were drawn by Art Goodman. Bass and Co. made a couple of similar versions of the poster for the film’s U.S. run. We showed you one a while back, and now the above version completes the pair.

If you haven’t seen Vertigo, we can’t tell you much that hasn’t already been written. Four years after starring in Rear Window Jimmy Stewart plays another damaged man for Hitchcock, a San Francisco detective who has a fear of heights, the result of a rooftop chase gone wrong. He later gets involved in a mystery that puts his acrophobia to the ultimate test.

Many say this is Hitchcock’s best movie. We don’t think so, but it’s definitely a landmark, particularly as it relates to co-star Kim Novak’s role, its opening action sequence, and its reliance upon San Francisco locations to help tell its story. In fact, the latter aspect was why the film’s world premiere took place in San Francisco today in 1958. Below you see some screen grabs, along with a beautiful promo poster that was made for the movie’s run in India. Put Vertigo in your queue.

India, San Francisco, Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, Kim Novak, James Stewart, Saul Bass, John Whitney, Art Goodman, poster art, cinema

Femmes Fatales

July 26 2014

PAST KIM PERFECT

Hmm, I think maybe I’ll just keep this for myself.

Above, a promo image of the beautiful Kim Novak from the 1958 Academy Awards at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. She wasn’t nominated that year, though her hit film Vertigo was eligible. Instead she accepted the statuette for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium on behalf of winner Pierre Boulle, who had written the script for The Bridge on the River Kwai. No word on whether she ever actually gave him the Oscar.

Hollywood, Academy Award, Pantages Theatre, Vertigo, The Bride on the River Kwai, Kim Novak, Pierre Boulle, cinema

Vintage Pulp

June 7 2013

PROFONDO SYMEONI

Sandro Symeoni comes down with a case of Vertigo.

After focusing on Italian paperback artists lately, we thought today would be good for getting back to poster artists—namely Sandro Symeoni, who we’ve marveled at before. Symeoni veered from the realistic to abstract in style, and this very graphic poster for Dario Argento’s Profondo Rosso, aka Deep Red, sees him working in the latter mode, which we’ve also noted on pieces like the Suono Libero album sleeve, viewable in panel four here. This is also a clear homage to Saul Bass’s famed Vertigo poster. For a look at many more Symeonis, just click his keywords below. Profondo Rosso, by the way, premiered in the U.S. this week in 1976, and is well worth a look for fans of Argento and/or giallo.

Italy, Profondo rosso, Deep Red, Vertigo, Dario Argento, Sandro Symeoni, Saul Bass, giallo, poster art, cinema

Vintage Pulp

August 15 2009

ALTRA COOL

Working on a groovy thing.

This poster for Una sull’altra, aka Perversion Story, was painted by Angelo Cesselon, and the film was directed by Lucio Fulci, who would later become one of Italy’s grandmasters of cinematic gore. This flick is eerily similar in plot to Vertigo, complete with the death of the love interest and subsequent reappearance of her double. It’s even set in San Francisco like Vertigo, but the difference is Fulci notches the ’60s psychedelia up to the max, and offers up lots of Austrian actress Marisa Mell’s naked flesh. Mell had starred in the camp classic Diabolik the previous year, and here she is getting groovy again, particularly in one motorcycle striptease that’s probably worth the time spent watching the rest of the film. As a side note, you’ll see Jean Sobieski here, who happens to be Leelee Sobieski’s dad. Una sull’altra opened in Italy today in 1969.

France, Italy, Austria, Una sull’atra, Perversion Story, Vertigo, Lucio Fulci, Jean Sorel, Marisa Mell, Jean Sobieski, Leelee Sobieski, Angelo Cesselon, poster art, cinema, movie review

Vintage Pulp

April 23 2009

BE-HITCHED

Hitchcock means terror in any language.

We mentioned a while back how frequently we run across foreign language Hitchcock posters, so here are a bunch for your enjoyment, including yet another version of Vertigo. FYI, Il Sipario Strappato is Torn Curtain and Ptáci is The Birds.

Vintage Pulp

March 27 2009

SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS

Polish poster designer hits the target.

Here we go again with Vertigo. This time we have a brilliant bullseye themed Polish one sheet to add to the amazing French and Italian ones we posted a while back. Again, we can’t choose a favorite. The three are distinct, and awesome.

Poland, Vertigo, poster art, cinema

Vintage Pulp

January 22 2009

NOVAK’S BACK

A sudden recurrence of Vertigo.

We posted the amazing French one sheet for Vertigo last month, and talked briefly about Kim Novak. We also told you Hitchcock posters turn up almost anywhere you look, and in whichever country. Well, today Vertigo premiered again, this time in Italy, and below you see a promotional poster that is completely different from the French version, not just in language of course, but in design as well. We couldn’t choose a favorite if we tried.

Italy, La donna che visse due volte, Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, Kim Novak, James Stewart, poster art, cinema

Vintage Pulp

December 12 2008

KIM POSSIBLE

The psychological thriller Vertigo couldn’t hold a candle to star Kim Novak’s real life.

Hitchcock really cranked out films. Vertigo was maybe his fiftieth effort. We’d have to count to more than fifteen to be sure, and we’re way too lazy to try. We just know Parisians first saw the flick today in 1958. By this time Hitch was so famous his films screened in virtually every corner of the globe, which means you can find posters of his movies in Russian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Portuguese, and so forth. When we stumbled across this nice French art we were reminded what a cool film Vertigo is. It has Jimmy Stewart, a great plot, period fx that still work despite their clunkiness, and a Bernard Hermann score. But really the best thing about this movie is Kim Novak.

After only a year in film, her classic beauty turned heads in the 1955 heroin addiction drama The Man with the Golden Arm, in which she played opposite Frank Sinatra. About two years later, when she was arguably the most famous and desired woman on the planet, she embarked upon an affair with brat-packer Sammy Davis Jr., which set off an avalanche of events that eventually resulted in the Mafia forcing Sammy to marry a Vegas showgirl who happened to be his own race. Novak’s story is too complex to condense into a blurb—it involves gangland bosses, hush money for secret nudes, obsessive suitors, and all the best staples of pulpdom. Through it all she pretty much told the world to screw itself if it didn’t like her exactly the way she was. And she’s still with us at 75. We’ll write more about this amazing person later on.

France, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Vertigo, The Man with the Golden Arm, Alfred Hitchcock, Kim Novak, James Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., poster art, film noir, cinema, mafia

ABOUT

EMAIL

LEGAL

SEARCH PULP INTERNATIONAL

PULP INTL.
HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

January 21

1950—Alger Hiss Is Convicted of Perjury

American lawyer Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury in connection with an investigation by the House unAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC), at which he was questioned about being a Soviet spy. Hiss served forty-four months in prison. Hiss maintained his innocence and fought his perjury conviction until his death in 1996 at age 92.

January 21

1977—Carter Pardons War Fugitives

U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all of the country’s Vietnam War draft evaders, many of whom had emigrated to Canada. He had made the pardon pledge during his election campaign, and he fulfilled his promise the day after he took office.

January 19

1915—Claude Patents Neon Tube

French inventor Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube, in which an inert gas is made to glow various colors through the introduction of an electrical current. His invention is immediately seized upon as a way to create eye catching advertising, and the neon sign comes into existence to forever change the visual landscape of cities.

January 19

1937—Hughes Sets Air Record

Millionaire industrialist, film producer and aviator Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds. During his life he set multiple world air-speed records, for which he won many awards, including America’s Congressional Gold Medal.

January 18

1967—Boston Strangler Convicted

Albert DeSalvo, the serial killer who became known as the Boston Strangler, is convicted of murder and other crimes and sentenced to life in prison. He serves initially in Bridgewater State Hospital, but he escapes and is recaptured. Afterward he is transferred to federal prison where six years later he is killed by an inmate or inmates unknown.