Femmes Fatales

June 19 2024

NO FRIEND OF DOROTHY

Your Honor, the deceased suddenly swam in front of me before I could react. I never took my eyes off the lake even a for second.

This Paramount promo image shows U.S. actress Dorothy Lamour and, according to the rear, was made while she was boating on Lake Arrowhead taking a break from filming Masquerade in Mexico. That dates the shot as from 1945. By then she had already achieved great fame in several Road movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, but some of her biggest box office hits were still in her future, particularly in 1947, when she made My Favorite Brunette, Wild Harvest, Road to Rio, fifth in the Road series. You can see another smiling Lamour here.

Lake Arrowhead, Paramount, Masquerade in Mexico, Dorothy Lamour

Sex Files

August 3 2019

BIBLE STUDY

Lamour lives up to her name by getting some hot island love.

We said we’d get back to Tijuana bibles soon, and true to our word here you see a blatant offense against all that is right and decent called Purple Passion in the South Seas. It stars cinema icon Dorothy Lamour and a fella named Jon Hall. You may not know him, but he was an actor also, and co-starred with Lamour in a 1937 south seas adventure called The Hurricane. The dirty-minded folks who made this booklet would have wanted it available while the film was still on people’s minds, so we’re thinking it came out that year or in early 1938.

We’re assuming you know the deal with these items. But if not you can visit our introductory post on the subject at this link. Because the column width on our website is somewhat narrow, the scans of this bible are small, which makes parts unreadable without practically putting your eyeball directly against the computer screen. Funny as that would look, it’s not recommendable, so we’ve transcribed the text where needed. If you like this one, we have others. Just click the keywords “Tijuana bible” at the bottom of the post and start scrolling. More of these to come.

Dorothy: Say Jon, aren’t you afraid that your cock will look white against your suntan?

Jon: Say! I never thought of that! Maybe I better take it out and get it to match the rest of me!*

*Transcribing the text only reinforces the fact that these things are absolutely moronic, but we love them anyway.

Tijuana bible, The Hurricane, Dorothy Lamour, Jon Hall, cinema

Femmes Fatales

September 4 2016

LAMOUR THE MERRIER

And life flows along with a smile and a sarong.

American actress Dorothy Lamour, who we shared a nice promo photo of back in 2011, changed onscreen fashion with a constant array of sarongs that caused her to be dubbed “The Sarong Queen.” She first wore one in 1936’s The Jungle Princess, and from there donned the distinctive garment for Her Jungle Love, Road to Singapore, and a score of other movies. This shot was made while she was filming the John Ford adventure Hurricane. Parts of the production took place on Tutuila Island in American Samoa, which is why some sources say the photo was made there, but it was really shot on Santa Catalina, in the Channel Islands off California. It dates from from 1937.

American Samoa, California, Tutuila, Santa Catalina, Hurricane, Her Jungle Love, Road to Singapore, The Jungle Princess, John Ford, Dorothy Lamour, cinema

Hollywoodland

May 11 2013

UPWARD MOBILITY

To get to the top you sometimes have to climb over someone else.

This publicity photo from Warner Bros. shows six members of the studio’s beauty chorus posing on a ladder that was part of a pirate ship being used in the 1933 Busby Berkeley musical Footlight Parade. This is not the first time this movie has been mentioned on Pulp Intl. We shared an excellent magazine cover related to it last year. Among the chorus girls who appeared in the film were nineteen-year-old Dorothy Lamour and twenty-two-year-old Ann Sothern, both just beginning their careers. The women above are not identified, but if we had to guess we’d say Lamour could be third from the top.

Warner Bros., Busby Berkeley, Footlight Parade, Dorothy Lamour, Ann Sothern, poster art, cinema

Vintage Pulp

June 6 2011

IT GIRLS

Whatever It is, we like it.

Above, a cover of the rare American celeb magazine It, with a few interior scans, including two pages of dancer Carmen D’Antonio. This issue was published in June 1949. You can see another issue here.

It Magazine, Dorothy Lamour, Betty Bruce, Carmen D’Antonio, cinema

Femmes Fatales

May 10 2011

LAMOUR SOUS INFLUENCE

Imprisoned by the chains of love.

Promo photo of New Orleans-born actress Dorothy Lamour, née Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton, who made many films but is remembered for playing opposite Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in seven zany Road movies. This image was shot during the making of Road to Zanzibar, 1941.

New Orleans, Road to Zanzibar, Dorothy Lamour, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, cinema

Vintage Pulp

April 19 2010

JUST FOR FUN

The art of enjoying yourself.

Assorted images from the American celeb magazine Film Fun, April 1940, with stars Myrna Loy, Bebe Daniels, Robert Preston, Dorothy Lamour, Susan Hayward et al.

Film Fun, Myrna Loy, Bebe Daniels, Robert Preston, Dorothy Lamour, Susan Hayward, magazine art, cinema

Sex Files, Vintage Pulp

January 21 2010

BOLD TESTAMENT

Tijuana bibles pushed back against the conservative sexual mores of the times.

Well, we’re glad to see somebody finally went and put together a website of Tijuana bibles. The site is called tijuanabibles.org. Above you see six covers from their collection, and below is the entirety of a raunchy and racially charged Esther Williams bible entitled Get a Li’l Like the Fishes Do. We had doubts about posting it, but whenever we self-censor we end up kicking ourselves later, so this time we decided screw it. We consider ourselves mainly a history site, and censoring history is always a bad idea. Consider that a content warning. Anyway, Esther Williams was of course a famous swimmer who used her skills in an acting career, so the underwater theme of her bible is a play on her many aquatic roles. It was probably printed in the late 1940s, a time during which its IR content would have gotten the hood and noose crowd pretty riled up. But they would have been clueless whom to blame, because, as we discussed before, these American-made books may have been called Tijuana bibles for the sole purpose of misdirecting crusading citizens and curious authorities. For more examples of these little treasures, pay tijuanabibles.org a visit.

Tijuana bible, Esther Williams, Dorothy Lamour, John Dillinger

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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.