| Femmes Fatales | Jan 17 2021 |
Three good Andreasons for these photos.
Above, three wonderful burlesque style images of mid-century dancer and actress Mylee Andreason. We can't confirm whether she was a legit touring burlesque performer, but we'll do some digging. As an actress she had two uncredited roles in King Richard and the Crusaders and the bizarrely titled comedy Phffft, both from 1954. These images are undated but from around that year.
| Intl. Notebook | Jan 1 2021 |
Don't just turn over a new leaf. Turn over twelve of them.
Let's start the year right. Everyone is hoping for a better 2021 than 2020. That's assuming you adhere to constrained, non-scientific ideas about time—for cynics and realists it's just another day. But in any case, above you see the cover of a 1959 nudie calendar that came inside an issue of the U.S. magazine Cocktail, a creation of Beacon Publications. The interior is below, and those with sharp eyes will spot a few notables—burlesque dancer Candy Barr in June, Shirley Kilpatrick in July and August (her July pose is the same as from the famed promo poster for the sci-fi film The Astounding She-Monster), and Jean Nieto, aka Ramona Rogers, in November. The other models may be well known too, but not by us, at least not today. When the cava hangover wears off, maybe our brains will work better. Then again, maybe the damage is permanent. Only time will tell. Happy New Year.
Beacon SignalThe Astounding She-MonsterCocktail MagazineShirley KilpatrickCandy BarrJean NietoRamona Rogersnudityburlesque
| Femmes Fatales | Dec 25 2020 |
What's more festive than a holiday candy cane?
Some people say Christmas. A few say X-mas. Many just say happy holidays. Whatever your preference, here's burlesque legend Lilly Christine—or if you prefer, Lilly X-ine—looking festive in a candy striped outfit. She's appeared on our website often, most notably in this series of photos from Carnival magazine we were the first to scan and upload. If you have the time and inclination, click her keywords below. And enjoy this day.
| Intl. Notebook | Sep 29 2020 |
This is the best Laff you'll have all day.
We've posted three issues of Laff magazine over the years, and we return to that publication today with an example from this month in 1946 featuring starlets, showgirls, and burlesque dancers of the highest order. You get Jane Russell, Adele Mara, Vera Ellen, and Myrna Dell, amongst others, but the winner in these pages is Acquanetta, aka the Venezuelan Volcano, who gets a striking tropical themed centerfold photo. In addition, you get a bit of sports coverage—specifically baseball, which is appropriate with the MLB playoffs starting tonight—as well as numerous cartoons.
These cartoons—the laffs in Laff magazine—tend to be sexist by today's standards, but then so is this entire website, really, which is an unavoidable side effect of focusing on vintage fiction, art, and photography. We hope the historical significance of the material overshadows all else. In any case, we included the cartoons despite their mostly lame humor, due to the fact that they're high quality illustrations well worth seeing. All that and more appears here in forty-plus scans and zooms, and you can see the other issues of Laff by clicking its keywords below.
LaffAdele MaraAcquanettaJane RussellMyrna DellVera EllenJoy SkylarHarry DanningDoreen DeMosDoris DeanPat HuttoVirginia Dewmagazine artburlesquebaseball
| Femmes Fatales | Sep 3 2020 |
She barely stomached Hollywood.
Adele Jergens, who appeared in I Love Trouble, The Corpse Came C.O.D., The Dark Path, and numerous other films, got her start in show business, like so many actresses of her era, when she won the a beauty contest—Miss World's Fairest, at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Later, as one of the famed Rockettes dancing troupe, she was named the number one showgirl in New York City. This led to her serving as understudy to burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee in the Broadway production Star and Garter, and from there Jergens never looked back. That's probably why she forgot half of her sweater. This fun image of her with bare midriff was made in Los Angeles in 1946, by the pool at the famed Town House Hotel, a locale we've talked about more than once. Find out why by clicking its keywords below and scrolling through those posts, and you can do the same with Jergens if you want to see what else we've posted about her.
New York CityLos AngelesBroadwayTown House HotelStar and GarterI Love TroubleThe Corpse Came C.O.D.The Dark PathAdele JergensGypsy Rose Leeburlesque
| Vintage Pulp | Aug 4 2020 |
They have a certain je sais exactement quoi.
Yes, we have yet another issue of Cancans de Paris, this time from August 1967, with Teffie Winters on the cover and inside. There are plenty of fun French burlesque and glamour magazines, but Cancans is a particularly convivial one. Generally, these focus strictly on women, but this issue has a horoscope, which we've included for those of you out there who read French. But you don't need astrology to predict the future. Just keep coming back to Pulp Intl. and the future will be filled with fun, films, fiction, and femmes fatales. We have five other issues of Cancans de Paris in the website. They're available various places online, so if you want them for yourself, they're out there for the getting. To see the issues we've shared, click the keywords below and enjoy a leisurely scroll.
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 19 2020 |
We're not sure what mesdemoiselles are, but we'd like to meet one.
Remember those amazing front and rear covers of Nichigeki Music Hall magazine we showed you? We thought you'd like to see what's inside one. Below we have a 1955 cover, with its promise of “mesdemoiselles,” and some interior scans. We actually know what mesdemoiselles are, because we looked it up. It's the plural of mademoiselle. We're aways learning. The inside of this mag isn't as impressive as the outside, but how could it be? That's often the way it went in vintage publishing, where so much effort was put into luring buyers with pretty cover art. Exactly how pretty does this magazine get? Check our previous post.
| Vintage Pulp | Jul 13 2020 |
There's no business like showgirl business.
Below, the cover and virtually the entire interior of the bi-monthly U.S. cheesecake magazine Showgirls, featuring burlesque dancers, chorus girls, and semi-famous models of the era, published in July 1947 with a great cover by George Gross.
| Vintage Pulp | Jun 1 2020 |
She's not great on her feet but once she's horizontal—watch out.
We love the dancer on this cover of the 1962 sleaze novel Sex Dancer. We picture her coming out like, “Va-va-va-voom! Boom shakalaka! Wah-wah-waaa—” before remembering she despises her job and shifting into, “Oh, screw this. Just pay me.” Which is the progression most people go through with their jobs. The main character Jean is supposed to be a hell of a lot hotter than the deflated looking figure in the art. The story from the imagination of veteran author Clayton Matthews deals with a woman who headlines the burlesque attraction at a traveling carnival. She wanted to be a star on Broadway, but now must resist pressure from her boss to do more than just dance. It's a ripe concept but goes mostly unrealized, degenerating into a banal love story, as Jean falls for a stunt motorcyclist who's lost his nerve. After a few nights with her, though, he gets back his nerve, his verve, and his swerve, and the two plot a better life. The only question is whether they can get there. We weren't thrilled with this, but it's reasonably well written, so we may try Mr. Matthews again later. The art is uncredited.
| Vintage Pulp | May 16 2020 |
Everyone in Paris hopes for a glimpse of Nico's velvet underground.
Una ragazza nuda, for which you see two beautiful Angelo Cesselon posters above, was originally released as Strip-Tease, and called in the U.S. Sweet Skin. It was an Italian/French co-production starring Krista Nico, née Christa Päffgen, better known as just Nico, future collaborator with the Velvet Underground. Her supporting cast includes Dany Saval, Jean Sobieski, and American jazz pianist Joe Turner playing a character named Sam (IMDB has him incorrectly listed as playing himself). Basically, the movie is the story of an ambitious dancer who can't catch a break, and takes a job stripping at Le Crazy Horse, the famed Parisian cabaret.
Nico goes through the typical stages of becoming the jaded, empty woman viewers have been taught to expect in movies like these. But what isn't typical is the setting. If you're looking for a film with overwhelming Parisian atmosphere this is the one. Streets, cafés, restaurants, the Seine, the wintry countryside, Hippodrome de Vincennes, and the Crazy Horse (or a fictive stand-in) are all on prominent display, and the stripteaseuses are beautifully showcased. And keep an eye out for cameos from Serge Gainsbourg and Juliette Gréco. We just came back from Paris last year and thanks to this flick we're already trying to figure out how to return.
On a technical level, the direction by Jacques Poitrenaud and cinematography by Raymond Pierre Lemoigne both take advantage of the film's many wonderful settings, but the on-camera performances aren't quite at the same level. Nico is a novice actress at this point and it shows, but her minimal emotional range fits with her character. Joe Turner isn't an actor at all and that shows too, but as the conscience of the film his role also works. Some movies are more than the sum of their parts, and Una ragazza nuda adds up to an excellent ninety-five minutes. It premiered in Italy today in 1963.
ItalyFranceParisLe Crazy HorseUna ragazza nudaStrip-TeaseSweet SkinNicoKrista NicoChrista PäffgenDany SavalUmberto OrsiniJean SobieskiJoe TurnerSerge GainsbourgJuliette GrécoJacques PoitrenaudRaymond Pierre LemoigneAngelo Cesselonposter artcinemaburlesquemovie review
