Femmes Fatales

November 24 2019

ALL SHE SURVEYS

I can see forever from up here. Man, the smog over London is really bad.

Raquel Welch stands tall in this pin-up poster made for her prehistoric adventure One Million Years B.C. This was sold in West Germany, where the movie premiered today in 1966. In fact, it was the film’s world premiere. It was made by Associated British-Pathé and Hammer Studios, and partly shot on British sound stages (as well as in the Canary Islands), but for some reason the filmmakers chose West Germany for a testing ground. They needn’t have been so cautious—thanks to Welch an otherwise ridiculous b-flick became a worldwide smash.

West Germany, Britain, Spain, Canary Islands, Hammer Studios, Associated British-Pathé, One Million Years B.C., Raquel Welch

Femmes Fatales

December 3 2015

A MAJOR HASSALL

But just Imogen the possibilities.

With the above, we’ve now given about as much exposure to a terrible film as can be excused. The photo shows British actress Imogen Hassall from When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, and the shot was made during that epic’s filming in the Canary Islands in 1969. Some may remember the movie premiering in late 1970 in England and 1971 elsewhere, but it languished in the studio vaults for a while. Actually, the entire shoot was a circus. Here’s co-star Victoria Vetri, speaking to journalist Joe Vannicola about filming the movie on Fuerteventura: “Two weeks after we were there the director left his wife. He was sleeping with the script supervisor. It was like you could have made a movie within a movie. Everybody was screwing around. People were skinny dipping, drinking sangria instead of tea at four in the afternoon, getting drunk [constantly], and it was like party time. Three or four in the morning they’d say, ‘You have to be up at six for a sunrise shoot? Let’s stay up all night!’ [snip] Of course, having [me] around didn’t help because I was the first one to drop a loincloth. And all the girls between shots were getting a tan. After a while it didn’t faze anybody. When you’re all sitting around half naked it doesn’t matter.” So the above photo may actually be the overdressed Hassall. We approve in any case.

Britain, Canary Islands, Fuerteventura, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Imogen Hassall, Victoria Vetri, Joe Vannicola, cinema

Vintage Pulp

January 8 2013

ROAD HARD, PUT AWAY WET

Darcy Glinto was yet another writer who ran afoul of contemporary morals squads.

The moment we saw these two versions of 1950’s Road Floozie by British author Darcy Glinto, aka Harold Ernest Kelly, we asked one question—why are they so expensive? The sellers were both asking five hundred dollars. That seemingly has to do with the novel being pulled from circulation and republished with certain passages stricken, making the original difficult to find. What was so offensive in 1950? Certainly the idea that a woman would choose life on the road, moving from place to place, sometimes man to man, would have been uncomfortable. But Glinto was probably done in by the double rape of the main character by two truckers, one white, one black. In America, in 1950, black hands on white female flesh was a no-no, in literature and real life. Heck, it’s still a no-no today, in certain backwaters. As his career went on, Glinto/Kelly continued to have legal troubles in both the U.S. and Britain, and eventually he closed Robin Hood Press, which he owned, and sold the rights to the name Darcy Glinto. He moved to the Canary Islands and later died there in 1969.

Britain, Canary Islands, Robin Hood Press, Darcy Glinto, Harold Ernest Kelly, cover art, literature

Intl. Notebook

August 18 2012

REVIEW AND REVISE

Continental Film Review was a leading voice of foreign film in Britain, as well as a leading source of cheap thrills.

We’re showing you this August 1966 Continental Film Review for one reason—Raquel Welch. She appears in both the front and back of the magazine, and the latter photo was made while she was in the Canary Islands filming One Million Years B.C. That photo session featuring a blonde, windblown Welch was incredibly fruitful, at least if we’re to judge by the many different places we’ve seen frames from the shoot, including here, here, here and especially here. There had not been a sex symbol quite like Welch before, and in 1966 she had reached the apex of her allure, where she’d stay for quite a while.

On the cover of the magazine are Christina Schollin and Jarl Kulle, pictured during a tender moment from the Swedish romantic comedy Änglar, finns dom? aka Love Mates. Inside you get features on the Berlin and San Sebastian film festivals, Sophia Loren, Nieves Navarro, Anita Ekberg, and more. CFR had launched in 1952, and now, fourteen years later, was one of Britain’s leading publications on foreign film. It was also a leading publication in showing nude actresses, and in fact by the 1970s was probably more noteworthy for its nudity than its journalism. The move probably undermined its credibility, but most magazines—whether fashion, film, or erotic—began showing more in the 1970s. CFR was simply following the trend, and reached its raciest level around 1973, as in the issue here. Fifteen scans below.

Britain, Spain, Canary Islands, Berlin, Donostia-San Sebastian, One Million Years B.C., Ð„nglar finns dom?, Continental Film Review, Raquel Welch, Letícia Román, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Christina Schollin, Jarl Kulle, Nieves Navarro, Anita Ekberg, cinema

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 5

1945—Hollywood Black Friday

A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.

October 4

1957—Sputnik Circles Earth

The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik I, which becomes the first artificial object to orbit the Earth. It orbits for two months and provides valuable information about the density of the upper atmosphere. It also panics the United States into a space race that eventually culminates in the U.S. moon landing.

October 4

1970—Janis Joplin Overdoses

American blues singer Janis Joplin is found dead on the floor of her motel room in Los Angeles. The cause of death is determined to be an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.

October 3

1908—Pravda Founded

The newspaper Pravda is founded by Leon Trotsky, Adolph Joffe, Matvey Skobelev and other Russian exiles living in Vienna. The name means “truth” and the paper serves as an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991.

October 3

1957—Ferlinghetti Wins Obscenity Case

An obscenity trial brought against Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of the counterculture City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, reaches its conclusion when Judge Clayton Horn rules that Allen Ginsberg’s poetry collection Howl is not obscene.

October 3

1995—Simpson Acquitted

After a long trial watched by millions of people worldwide, former football star O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Simpson subsequently loses a civil suit and is ordered to pay millions in damages.

October 2

1919—Wilson Suffers Stroke

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed. He is confined to bed for weeks, but eventually resumes his duties, though his participation is little more than perfunctory. Wilson remains disabled throughout the remainder of his term in office, and the rest of his life.