Femmes Fatales

May 24 2020

REMAIN PERFECTLY STELLA

Don't change a thing for anybody.

You know we’re Stella Stevens fans here. Though we prefer the thirty-plus version of her, she first turned heads as a model in her early twenties, posing for a Playboy centerfold published in 1960, sessions from which the above shot originates. Stevens had begun acting before then, appearing in three films released in 1959. The next year she won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year, and eventually appeared in dozens of films and television shows. She was always a good actress, but never scored prestige roles. She did, however, grace some low budget classics, foremost among them the blaxploitation flicks Slaughter and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. Mixed in were cheeseball hits like The Poseidon Adventure and The Silencers, and an occasional good movie, such as The Ballad of Cable Hogue. All in all she’s had an amazing career, on pause since 2010. But she’ll never be on pause on this website. More Stella here and here.

Edit: We received an e-mail from Herman, a man who knows a thing or two about mid-century celebs and has helped us with corrections, and he wanted to remind us:

I certainly appreciate that image of Stella. Although I have been a fan of PB since the mid 50s as a boy, I don’t believe I have seen this particular photo. Of course, I have to say I believe you left some important points out of your commentary about her. I believe you said once you are not a particular fan of Elvis Presley (that may have been someone else) but without the 1962 Girls, Girls, Girls appearance I don’t think she would have caught on so quick. Don’t forget that the reason PB recognized her in the first place was because of her appearance in Li’l Abner in 1959. I know you didn’t set out to do a biography on her, but these were points I think are important in her chronology.

Agreed, H, Stevens has a long and interesting story. We didn’t set out to write a biography, as you said, but we may need to spend a little more time on her to give her proper due. She’s not a subject we’ll tire of easily.

Playboy, Slaughter, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, The Poseidon Adventure, The Silencers, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Golden Globe Award, Stella Stevens, blaxploitation, nudity

Vintage Pulp

April 14 2019

CIAO STELLA!

Dobson welcomes a guest to her poster but there's still only one queen.

Above are two gorgeous Italian posters for the blaxploitation classics Cleopatra Jones: licenza di uccidere and Operazione casinò d’oro, better known as Cleopatra Jones and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. The first poster is obviously a photo-illustration, but the second was painted by Robert Tanenbaum. It’s an iteration of his original U.S. poster, which you see here as well, just below.

On the U.S. version star Tamara Dobson stands alone, but for the Italian promo a second figure appears to her right, representing we know not whom. You’ll notice the Italy Dobson figure has lighter skin than on the U.S. poster, and lighter skin than her new sidekick. Was this a deliberate switcheroo? Were Italian moviegoers supposed to think the figure on the left, who was Dobson in the U.S., now represented co-star Stella Stevens? They probably did, even though Stella’s face is present on both posters at about thigh level to the main figures. But we don’t think Tannenbaum had any of that in mind. We think the second figure represents nobody and came out of his fertile imagination.

Something else interesting about these—Tannenbaum had no trouble reproducing Stella’s face, but you’ll notice none of the figures look like Tamara Dobson. Not unless you squint. Hmm. Well, even if he had trouble with Dobson’s likeness, he did an amazing job on these pieces, which is no surprise considering he’s a major contributor to cinematic art who painted promos for The Sting, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and other big budget releases. There are no known Italian release dates on these Cleopatra movies, but ballpark, figure summer 1974 and winter 1975. Read about them here and here.

Italy, Cleopatra Jones: licenza di uccidere, Operazione casinò d'oro, Cleopatra Jones, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, The Sting, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Tamara Dobson, Stella Stevens, Robert Tanenbaum, poster art, cinema, blaxploitation

Vintage Pulp

December 11 2015

WARRIOR QUEEN

Nobody can keep up with this Jones.

We talked about Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold a few weeks ago. The above poster was made for the Japanese run of its progenitor Cleopatra Jones, which is superior to the fairly decent sequel in every aspect except budget. Tamara Dobson was a globetrotting James Bond type in Casino of Gold, but here she stars in a somewhat grittier story centered around an attack on a Los Angeles halfway house she owns, which occurred in retaliation for her burning a drug lord’s poppy field in far away Turkey.

The villain behind this is Shelley Winters, who grandiosely overacts, but she’s fun in a role that requires her to dominate lots of tough henchmen, only to be inevitably slapped around and killed by Dobson in the climax. Like many well regarded stars of her era, Winters found roles in blaxploitation fare when mainstream opportunities dried up (hello there, Ray Milland), and it’s fun to see her inhabit such an out-there character.

Other players include Bernie Casey, Esther Rolle, and the lovely Brenda Sykes. Dobson had appeared in two previous films, but Cleopatra Jones made the ex-model a star. There were not many lead roles at the time for heroic women, and few roles of any sort for Dobson once the blaxploitation wave passed. As a result she graced the silver screen too few times. But Cleopatra Jones is a nice showcase of her ability as an action icon. Its Japanese premiere was today in 1973.

Japan, Turkey, Los Angeles, Cleopatra Jones, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, Tamara Dobson, Shelley Winters, Brenda Sykes, Bernie Casey, Esther Rolle, poster art, cinema, blaxploitation, movie review

Vintage Pulp

November 18 2015

DEVIL IN MISS JONES

You don’t want to get on her bad side.

She’s six-one-plus without heels, works as a special agent to the president, will go chopsocky on fools in a split second, and never loses her cool—or even her swanky red hat. The first Cleopatra Jones movie thrilled audiences in 1973, and the sequel Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold ups the ante by piling on production value and a big Hong Kong backdrop. Other blaxploitation films did more with less, but then a lot of them did less with less. This one is visually powerful and well worth a viewing, especially to see Tamara Dobson as the devilish dervish Jones, Ni Tien as the smart alecky but lethal sidekick Mi Ling Fong, and ex-centerfold Stella Stevens as the evil Bianca Javin the Dragon Lady. The nice double-sided poster above was made to promote the movie’s run in Japan, which began today in 1975.

Japan, Hong Kong, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, Cleopatra Jones, Tamara Dobson, Stella Stevens, Ni Tien, poster art, cinema, blaxploitation, movie review

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 7

1959—Dark Side of Moon Revealed

The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).

October 6

1966—LSD Declared Illegal in U.S.

LSD, which was originally synthesized by a Swiss doctor and was later secretly used by the CIA on military personnel, prostitutes, the mentally ill, and members of the general public in a project code named MKULTRA, is designated a controlled substance in the United States.

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.