Vintage Pulp

April 1 2017

ELIMINATION GAME

Winning isn't everything—it's the only thing.

We already shared the West German poster for Deathsport back in September. We’d be remiss if we didn’t share these two U.S. promos also. One thing we can’t share, though, is the name of person who painted the art. We checked every resource we know of for this sort of thing, and the consensus is that the provenance of this piece is lost to the mists of time. It’s a bit of a surprise because the posters are considered collectible, but there you go. The movie premiered in the U.S. today in 1977. If you haven’t seen it and want to know what it’s actually about, check our previous write-up here. And below, as a bonus, we have some promo images of stars David Carradine and Claudia Jennings.

Deathsport, David Carradine, Claudia Jennings, poster art, cinema

Vintage Pulp

September 8 2016

EXTREME SPORT

You have to be in it to win it.

When the dystopian sci-fi movie Deathsport premiered in West Germany today in 1978, the unusual poster above was used to promote it, the title having been changed to Giganten mit staÌˆhlernen faÌˆusten, which means “giants with steel fists.” That’s obviously a terrible name, but whatever, that’s what they went with. And what they got was David Carradine and Claudia Jennings in a tale of defiant freedom fighters known as range guides pitted against the minions of a state at eternal war.

The government needs to propagandize the population into joining the armed forces, so it stages televised gladiatorial spectacles in which statemen use fancy death machines to do battle. These contraptions are supposed to be so cool they bedazzle credulous viewers into joining the war effort. This is a really interesting point for an American movie to make, but this is b-cinema, which means the death machines are really just motorcycles the prop department welded extra aluminum to.

The budget may be low, but the framework of the movie is sound. Against its totalitarian/post-apocalyptic backdrop you get an ambitious stateman, played by all time b-movie villain Richard Lynch, pursuing a personal grudge against Carradine’s legendary range guide. You may not know who Richard Lynch is by name, but if you’ve watched even a few terrible ’70s movies you know his face because of its distinctive scarring.

The movie also offers up cannibal mutants, desert mysticism, silver jumpsuits, crystal swords, and naked women—including Jennings in a couple of her nudest scenes. Ah, but don’t fret, lovers of manmeat—Carradine wears a loincloth for most of the film. True, he’s got one of those high fat content ’70s bodies, but on a typical Friday night, were the clock to strike closing time at the club, you’d take his hairy hunkiness home and be happy about it. In a way, that’s true of the movie too.

West Germany, Giganten mit staÌˆhlernen faÌˆusten, Deathsport, David Carradine, Claudia Jennings, poster art, cinema, movie review, sci-fi

Vintage Pulp

April 9 2010

AUTO FOCUS

Baby you can drive my car.

Yesterday, the Pulp girlfriends suggested that the only reason we posted all those album covers was because several of them featured nudity. We’re just humble historians, chronicling mid-century art and discussing the social context within which it appeared—honest. But because our girlfriends called us voyeurs, we’ve decided to balance the scales a bit by posting something pretty much all women find exciting—crashing cars. Below is an assortment of Japanese posters for nine automotively-themed, vintage American movies. So there you go girls. If you don’t find these exciting, well, we give up trying to figure you out.

Japan, Thunder in Carolina, Death Race 2000, 52 Miles to Terror, Blazing Magnum, The 24 Hours of Le Mans, White Lightning, Vanishing Point, The Gumball Rally, White Line Fever, Robert Mitchum, Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone, David Carradine, Steve McQueen, poster art, cinema

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 10

1971—London Bridge Goes Up

After being sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in the resort town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

October 10

1975—Burton and Taylor Marry Again

British actor Richard Burton and American screen star Elizabeth Taylor secretly remarry sixteen months after their divorce, then jet away to a second honeymoon in Chobe Game Park in Botswana.

October 9

1967—ChÃ© Executed in Bolivia

A day after being captured, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara is executed in Bolivia. In an attempt to make it appear as though he had been killed resisting Bolivian troops, the executioner shoots Guevara with a machine gun, wounding him nine times in the legs, arm, shoulder, throat, and chest.

October 8

1918—Sgt. York Becomes a Hero

During World War I, in the Argonne Forest in France, America Corporal Alvin C. York leads an attack on a German machine gun nest that kills 25 and captures 132. He is a corporal during the event, but is promoted to sergeant as a result. He also earns Medal of Honor from the U.S., the Croix de Guerre from the French Republic, and the Croce di Guerra from Italy and Montenegro. Stateside, he is celebrated as a hero, and Hollywood even makes a movie entitled Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper.

October 8

1956—Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

The New York Yankees’ Don Larsen pitches a perfect game in the World Series against hated rivals the Brooklyn Dodgers. It is the only perfect game in World Series history, as well as the only no-hitter.

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).