vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news
Once again a Blu-ray or dvd cover uses an image from a vintage film never before seen until the release of the disc. This one was made for digital re-release today in 2016 of the 1978 roman porno movie Toruko 110-ban: Monzetsu kurage, aka Bathhouse 911: Jellyfish Bliss, and features star Etsuko Hara looking nice and sudsy. The movie wasn’t bad. You can read about it here.
Did we just say to quit with the roman pornos while we’re ahead? Well, we failed. We watched a second movie from the genre, and as it’s our third film of the day you might be wondering why this sudden surplus of screening time has arisen. It’s because the girls are out of town. Into that gap we’ve been plugging every flick we can find that premiered this week, including this one that opened today in 1978—Toruko 110-ban: Monzetsu kurage. Known in English as Bathhouse 911: Jellyfish Bliss, it starred Etsuko Hara, Yuko Katagiri, and Yuki Yoshizawa, and right off the bat we’ll tell you it wasn’t as good as Hirusagari no joji: Uramado. But it wasn’t bad either. Huh? Two decent roman pornos in a row? Two in a row without sexual torture? It really happened. Though we should caution—there’s an enema. But a guy takes it, and it’s played for laughs. So… fine then.
In addition to avoiding too much extreme content, this movie is fantastically shot. It bursts with color, and is largely a clinic in composition in that way specific to roman porno where directors suggested explicitness but weren’t legally allowed to show even a single pubic hair. The story deals with a smalltime pimp who picks up Etsuko Hara on the street and turns her into a prostitute in a bathhouse. When the yakuza move in on his operation and take Etsuko away he suffers in the throes what he’s realized is love. But there’s little he can do, save vividly fantasize about revenge. Will he actually screw up the courage to fight for Etsuko’s freedom? We’d recommend getting a new profession, one where the competition isn’t tattooed guys with katanas, but if the odds weren’t long it wouldn’t be a movie worth watching. Feel free to do so. There’s hope for this genre yet.
Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison in Folson, California, where he records a live album that includes a version of his 1955 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Cash had always been interested in performing at a prison, but was unable to until personnel changes at his record company brought in people who were amenable to the idea. The Folsom album was Cash’s biggest commercial success for years, reaching number 1 on the country music charts.
British serial killer Harold Shipman is found dead in his prison cell, after hanging himself with a bedsheet. Shipman, a former doctor who preyed on his patients, was one of the most prolific serial killers in history, with two-hundred and eighteen murders positively attributed to him, and another two-hundred of which he is suspected.
English novelist Nevil Shute, who wrote the books A Town Like Alice and The Pied Piper, dies in Melbourne, Australia at age sixty-one. Seven of his novels were adapted to film, but his most famous was the cautionary post-nuclear war classic On the Beach.
Dr. James Bedford, a University of California psychology professor, becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. Bedford had kidney cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and was untreatable. His body was maintained for years by his family before being moved to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona.
Jack Gilbert Graham is executed in Colorado, U.S.A., for killing 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in a suitcase that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629. The flight took off from Denver and exploded in mid-air. Graham was executed by means of poison gas in the Colorado State Penitentiary, in Cañon City.
The League of Nations holds its first meeting, at which it ratifies the Treaty of Versailles, thereby officially ending World War I. At its greatest extent, from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, the League had 58 members. Its final meeting was held in April 1946 in Geneva.
Harold Macmillan accepts the Queen of England’s invitation to become Prime Minister following the sudden resignation of Sir Anthony Eden. Eden had resigned due to ill health in the wake of the Suez Crisis. Macmillan is remembered for helping negotiate the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty after the Cuban Missile Crisis. He served as PM until 1963.
