| Vintage Pulp | Jan 18 2020 |
By any Reckoning this poster is a top quality piece.
This promo poster for Dead Reckoning is deliberately garish and highly effective at drawing the eye. They don't make 'em like this anymore, nor movies like this either. It had a special premiere today in 1947 in San Francisco, and went into wide release across the U.S. a month later. We shared a piece of Japanese promo art years ago and talked about the film, so if you want to know more, check here.
| Vintage Pulp | Jan 10 2020 |
As far as they're concerned no crime means no fun.
The 1994 romantic action movie I Love Trouble is unrelated to the original from 1948, for which you see a beautiful promo poster above. The first I Love Trouble is a film noir, a neglected one not often mentioned as an entry in the genre. Franchot Tone stars as a detective hired by a politician to look into his wife's background. He's been getting anonymous notes implicating her in some sort of illegality. As Tone chases clues from L.A. to Portland, his investigation uncovers blackmail and hidden identities, and of course a love interest pops up in the form of the wife's sister. With its smug private dick and regular interjections of humor the movie feels derivative of The Maltese Falcon, and its romance angle is incongruous, but Tone is cool in his detective role and carries the weight of the narrative nicely. The cast is a who's-who of stars and soon-to-be stars, including Adele Jergens, John Ireland, Tom Powers, and Raymond Burr. If that doesn't pique your interest you just don't love trouble. I Love Trouble premiered today in 1948 and went into to wide release January 15.
Los AngelesPortlandI Love TroubleFranchot ToneJanet BlairJanis CarterAdele JergensJohn IrelandRaymond Burrposter artcinemamovie reviewfilm noir
| Hollywoodland | Jan 6 2020 |
Don't waste your time, sweetheart. You know as well as I do it'll bounce right off.
Who was Irene Manning aiming her gun at a few days ago? Bogart, who's so cool he can't even be bothered to pretend concern. In real life it isn't quite so easy to be hard-boiled with a gun pointed at your center mass. Did we mention the time we spent living in Central America? One day maybe we'll tell you the story of how one of us had a shotgun aimed at our spine, which preceded a home invasion, drawn knives, spilled blood, and retribution involving someone getting shot in the ass. Anyway, concerning Manning and Bogart, now the picture is complete.
| Hollywoodland | Jan 5 2020 |
Supplementary material on the Thelma Jordan case.
We ran across these production shots from the film noir The File on Thelma Jordon, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey, and thought they were worth a share. They were made in 1949 and the film premiered in the U.S. today in 1950. We talked about it last year.
| Femmes Fatales | Jan 4 2020 |
Ask me again. I dare you. Ask me if I got my jacket at Bullfighters-r-Us.
Above, a nice promo image of Irene Manning from the 1942 film noir The Big Shot. No bullfighting is involved in the movie but with a jacket like that, maybe they should have added a scene or two. More Manning here.
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 2 2019 |
Looking back at one of the solar system's hottest celestial bodies.
Anita Ekberg's film noir Screaming Mimi opened in West Germany today in 1960. We've had a look at one West German poster, but today we've decided to share another one. This version is similar to the U.S. promo, but the unusual color palette makes it seem like a completely different design. We think's it's really beautiful.
| Femmes Fatales | Nov 29 2019 |
Think you can wear an outfit like this? Not a chance.
Above, a beautiful shot of a checkered suit wearing Lauren Bacall made when she was filming To Have and Have Not, which according to legend came about when Howard Hawks told Ernest Hemingway he could make a movie out of Papa's worst book. Worst is relative when you're talking about the most revolutionary author of his era. But yes, as apples to oranges go, in some ways the movie surpasses the book. It's one of our favorite vintage films. 1944 on this image.
| Vintage Pulp | Oct 25 2019 |
The more it comes into focus the clearer the danger is.
Above, a beautiful promo by Roger Rojac for La femme au portrait, known in English as The Woman in the Window. It premiered in the U.S. today in 1944, but didn't reach France until 1947. We talked about this one a long while ago—Edward G. Robinson is bored with his life, but gets more than he bargained for when he helps a damsel in distress. Solid film noir, disliked by many for its ending, but with a French poster disliked by none.
FranceLa femme au portraitThe Woman in the WindowEdward G. RobinsonRoger Rojacposter artcinemafilm noir
| Vintage Pulp | Oct 18 2019 |
Pity the fool who has impossible expectations.
In Italian “pietà” means “pity,” which is just what you may feel in Pietà i giusti, aka Detective Story, for Kirk Douglas and his wife Eleanor Parker. Basically he learns she isn't the virginal creature he'd assumed. This movie must have frazzled many male nerves seventy years ago. It's the first film noir we ever wrote about on Pulp Intl., but our first time seeing this amazing Italian poster was just recently. It's a reminder that Detective Story is a pretty decent flick about a man who doesn't know his wife as well as he thinks. Imperfect but worth a watch. You can read what we wrote about it here, but be forewarned, it was before we were browbeaten into our no-spoilers pledge. After premiering in the U.S. in 1951, Detective Story opened in Italy today in 1952.
| Vintage Pulp | Oct 14 2019 |
The temperature rises and the bodies fall in Fritz Lang's tense film noir.
In the thriller The Big Heat, which is based on a novel by William P. McGivern and directed by Fritz Lang, Glenn Ford plays one of the toughest men you'll find in film noir—ass kicking detective Dave Bannon, whose clash with organized crime sends him down a rogue path that leaves people battered, bruised, bloodied, burnt, and blown up. He co-starred with Gloria Grahame, and the way the plot develops, she turns out to be every bit as tough. We can't tell you anything about the movie others already haven't about a thousand times, so we're focusing instead on this top notch promo poster, a framable classic in the panel format we love. You'll see this online only occasionally because it's way too rare for sellers to ever have in stock, but it's a fitting piece for such a great movie. The Big Heat premiered in the U.S. today in 1953.
The Big HeatGlenn FordGloria GrahameLee MarvinFritz LangWilliam P. McGivernposter artcinemafilm noirmovie review
