Pulp International

vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news

SEGOVIA POP QUIZ

The girls unexpectedly send us to film school.

The Pulp Intl. girlfriends have been road tripping with friends around Spain for a week, hitting Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, Cordoba, Segovia, and some small places we can’t remember the names of right now. The cities we listed are all places we’ve been multiple times, which is why we didn’t go. Also, we weren’t invited.

Last night, out of the blue, they sent us some photos they shot during their overnight at the Hotel Real Segovia of a beautiful mural featuring vintage film stars. They were apparently prompted to contact us after the disbelieving statement from a staffer: “Your boyfriends know every vintage movie star of all time?”

First though, when we got the message we were aghast. After all these years the girls know nothing? Really? They couldn’t identify any of the stars? Sisyphean—that word defines our experience when it comes to trying to get those two to love old movies. They did, however, identify the mural’s creator, José Luis Saura, who has long documented the life and history of Segovia. This particular effort, titled “La Fiesta del Cine,” went up in 2015.

We texted the girls back and amazed them (and the staffer) by naming everyone in the mural that we could discern based on the available resolution. Among them are Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Romy Schneider, Orson Welles, Fred Astaire, Louis Armstrong, and many others. The only faces we weren’t sure about are definitely European stars. Since there’s no list anywhere of who’s in the mural, we’ll never be able to check our guesses on those.

After the pop quiz we went back to our important girls-are-gone activities. What are those? Mostly we listen to music at shatteringly loud volume (possible because our house shares no walls with any other structure—a real rarity in a Spanish town center), we hit the local bars and chat with friends, we return, we listen to more music at volumes that could powder stone, and make specialty cocktails. This goes on until anywhere between 3 and 7 a.m. Last night’s playlist included—well, never mind. Let’s keep it mysterious.

Just for the hell of it we’ve posted below a shot the girls made from the front of the hotel, plus a couple from around town they sent. They swore they weren’t getting out of hand, but they can’t fool us—they always get out of hand. PI-1 once got us booted from a disco for turning cartwheels. Hopefully, there was none of that last night. In any case, we hope they’re having fun. And of course, we’ll now have to take a trip of our own, just the Pulp boys. It’s only fair.

Spain, Segovia, Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Romy Schneider, Orson Welles, Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Louis Armstrong, José Luis Saura

POST POSITION

Charisse strikes a perfect pose on MGM mailer.


We have something a bit different for you today. We say that every time we have something from Israel, don’t we? Well, in our experience items from there are pretty rare. And like our many Japanese discoveries, they’re inherently interesting because of the different alphabet used. What you see here is a promotional postcard for the 1957 MGM musical film Silk Stockings, which starred Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire. It’s not a film we’ll talk about, as it falls outside our purview, but we love this item, which we spotted on an auction site. It’s crudely printed, but beautiful just the same, thanks to Charisse, who was one of the special beauties of her era.

According to the vendor, the text says, “See you this week in the Esther cinema hall in the magnificent musical film, Silk Stockings. Yours, Cyd Charisse.” The Esther was a Bauhaus style cinema built in Tel-Aviv’s Dizzengoff Square. It opened in 1931 and was a popular social hub for decades before being closed, then reopened as a fancy hotel. As you know, we’re into old cinemas, and we managed to track down a shot of the Esther, which appears below. Consider it an addition to our collection of vintage cinema photos. We don’t have an Israeli release date for Silk Stockings, but if we had to guess we’d say it played there in 1958 or 1959.
Israel, Tel-Aviv, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Silk Stockings, Cyd Charisse, Fred Astaire

DANCING DAYS

When you can move like Astaire, nobody is out of your league.

Only in the movies could a 150 pound broomstick like Fred Astaire score a babe like Rita Hayworth. Or maybe we’re not giving him enough credit. He was an amazing dancer, and we know that counts for a lot. Also, Hayworth made it with Sinatra and he was tiny too. So forget what we said. She liked them small. Anyway, the image above is from the rear of a copy of the Portuguese newspaper O Século Ilustrado, and it’s a promo for the musical romance You Were Never Lovelier. We’ve watched it a couple of times, and it’s a nice flick set in Buenos Aires telling the story of a very picky Hayworth refusing to marry any of the many handsome and rich men around her. When she meets Astaire she thinks he’s a pest—until she sees him glide around the room. We recommend the movie. It’s as fun as this photo makes it look. To add to the fun even more, we have a promo image from the film below, and by the way, let’s never forget that Hayworth was a professional level dancer too. Check here for proof.

Portugal, Argentina, Buenos Aires, O Século Ilustrado, You Were Never Lovelier, Rita Hayworth, Fred Astaire, cinema

DANCING ON AIR

Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire prove levitation is possible.

We love Rita Hayworth as a femme fatale and in our opinion her turn in Gilda, playing a decadent casino owner’s jaded arm candy in Argentina, is by far her signature role. But we should never fail to remember that she was an ace dancer. And of course Fred Astaire was a magician. Here they both are in a series of promo shots made while they were filming the 1942 musical You Were Never Lovelier. Some sites say these are actual film frames, but they aren’t—this was a rehearsal rather than a number from the actual film. Curiously, like Gilda the movie is set in Argentina and features similar lead roles—i.e., a bored, perhaps unreachable woman and a scoundrel with a gambling problem. Since both flicks were produced by Columbia Pictures it’s possible the studio simply recycled a successful theme. Maybe we’ll do some research on that. Meantime, check out the images below.

Columbia Pictures, You Were Never Lovelier, Rita Hayworth, Fred Astaire, cinema
Femme Fatale Image

ABOUT

EMAIL

LEGAL

  • CATEGORIES

SEARCH PULP INTERNATIONAL

PULP INTL.
HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1923—Yankee Stadium Opens

In New York City, Yankee Stadium, home of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees, opens with the Yankees beating their eternal rivals the Boston Red Sox 4 to 1. The stadium, which is nicknamed The House that Ruth Built, sees the Yankees become the most successful franchise in baseball history. It is eventually replaced by a new Yankee Stadium and closes in September 2008.

1961—Bay of Pigs Invasion Is Launched

A group of CIA financed and trained Cuban refugees lands at the Bay of Pigs in southern Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro. However, the invasion fails badly and the result is embarrassment for U.S. president John F. Kennedy and a major boost in popularity for Fidel Castro, and also has the effect of pushing him toward the Soviet Union for protection.

1943—First LSD Trip Takes Place

Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann, while working at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, accidentally absorbs lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD, and thus discovers its psychedelic properties. He had first synthesized the substance five years earlier but hadn’t been aware of its effects. He goes on to write scores of articles and books about his creation.

1912—The Titanic Sinks

Two and a half hours after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean on its maiden voyage, the British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks, dragging 1,517 people to their deaths. The number of dead amount to more than fifty percent of the passengers, due mainly to the fact the liner was not equipped with enough lifeboats.

1947—Robinson Breaks Color Line

African-American baseball player Jackie Robinson officially breaks Major League Baseball’s color line when he debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Several dark skinned men had played professional baseball around the beginning of the twentieth century, but Robinson was the first to overcome the official segregation policy called—ironically, in retrospect—the “gentleman’s agreement.”

  • FEATUREd PULP

BRAZIL UNDERGROUND

Edições de Ouro and Editora Tecnoprint published U.S. crime novels for the Brazilian market, with excellent reworked cover art to appeal to local sensibilities. We have a small collection worth seeing.

FLUENT IN VIOLENCE

Walter Popp cover art for Richard Powell's 1954 crime novel Say It with Bullets.

IN HOT WATER

There have been some serious injuries on pulp covers. This one is probably the most severe—at least in our imagination. It was painted for Stanley Morton's 1952 novel Yankee Trader.

VINTAGE ADVERTISING

Things you'd love to buy but can't anymore

Vintage Ad Image

Around the web