Hollywoodland

August 12 2025

SECRET INGREDIENTS

You can't dish without plenty of spice.

What ingredients do you need to sell a tabloid? On this cover of Top Secret from July 1962, you see two of the most effective in Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra. They were the equivalent of clickbait back then, because there was always something interesting happening in their lives. If we were to dig out all our old tabloids from the ’50s and ’60s, we bet we’d find Sinatra on the cover, in an interior feature, or in the Hollywood roundup section of 80% of them. That’s a cautious estimate—the percentage could be higher. This time he gets second billing on the cover—a mere inset photo.

Top Secret reserves the majority of its dishing for Taylor and her epic drama Cleopatra, which wouldn’t premiere until a year later, in July 1963. The reason there was such advance curiosity had partly to do with the film’s prolonged production time. Principal photography was to have begun in September 1960, but Taylor fell gravely ill, causing a delay. Soon after filming started, director Rouben Mamoulian resigned. That was in January 1961. When replacement Joseph L. Mankiewicz was hired he announced a totally new concept for the movie, which meant the footage already shot was binned. More delay.

We could go on forever—the shooting of Cleopatra certainly did—but the point is, the public had been hearing about the movie for a long time. It made for good tabloid fodder, as the production eventually became the most expensive ever. Adjusted for inflation it still might be. In 2025 money the movie would cost more than $450 million.

Top Secret refers to Taylor’s “daringly naked” scenes. All the tabloids were flogging that idea. We have a running joke around the Pulp Intl. metroplex that if there was no bush there was no nudity. Therefore, we wouldn’t say Taylor got naked in Cleopatra. She did show a lot of PG-level skin during a massage scene, but nothing more. The rumors, though, were newsstand catnip. We’ve seen dozens of tabloids from 1961 to 1963 that spread the nude Taylor rumor. It has ever been thus that when you’re a big star, people want to see as much of you as they can—in every sense.

Meanwhile, over in the inset, Frank Sinatra supposedly cancelled a wedding. The almost-bride in question was dancer-actress Juliet Prowse, and Top Secret labels the engagement a publicity stunt to boost her film career. Prowse and Sinatra had first met in 1959 while filming Can-Can, and the pair hit it off. In 1962 they announced their plans to wed, but six weeks after that called it quits. It happens. But tabloids are supposed to be skeptical, so Top Secret‘s take was that it was a planned manipulation of the public. We doubt Frankie noticed the magazine’s attacks—far worse had been written about him.

Elsewhere in Top Secret the editors offer up Brigitte Bardot, Ingrid Bergman, Jayne Mansfield, Ava Gardner, Jack Paar, Alicia Purdom, and many other notable figures. While the stories are generally negative, they could be worse. By 1962 the editors were being careful to stay on the right side of the libel line. The magazine had launched in 1953 before clarity on such matters had been established (the clarity: be careful or get your ass sued off). Even so, it’s interesting how vicious the tone of Top Secret remains even at this late stage. We’ll have more down the line.

Top Secret, Cleopatra, Jayne Mansfield, Meg Myles, Hanna Rasmussen, Zara Norbo, Greta Thyssen, Vikki Dougan, Ingrid Bergman, Jenny Ann Lindstrom, Jacqueline Kennedy, Alicia Purdom, Shirley MacLaine, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Ava Gardner, Brigitte Bardot, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Rouben Mamoulian, tabloid

Vintage Pulp

August 29 2023

INGRID’S IN THE HAUS

Bogart may own the café, but Bergman owns the room.

Since we’re checking out European poster art today, above is a nice West German promo for the classic wartime drama Casablanca, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. We’ve covered just about all the nice promos for this film: Japanese, Spanish, Italian, and of course the classic U.S. version. Plus we wrote a post about the movie’s brilliant set design. But this additional poster is worth sharing because it’s the first time we’ve featured artist Hans Otto Wendt, a well regarded figure who worked during his youth as a draftsman in the newspaper industry, before taking his talents afield and collaborating with Deutsche London Film, Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, and other major studios. He worked until 1969, at which point he retired due to poor health, and finally died in Berlin in 1979. For the above effort, note that he not only made Bergman the star of the poster, but the star of his handpainted lettering too. Casablanca premiered in West Germany today in 1952.

West Germany, Germany, Berlin, Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Hans Otto Wendt, poster art, cinema

Modern Pulp

May 21 2022

PLAIDING HIS CASE

Something old, something new.

This is something a bit unusual. It’s a life-sized promotional cardboard cut-out for 1982’s film noir-sourced comedy Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, which starred Steve Martin and Rachel Ward. We thought of this film recently due to Martin’s new Agatha Christie-influenced television mystery series Only Murders in the Building, which we watched and enjoyed. We first saw Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid years ago, long before Pulp Intl. and all the knowledge we’ve gained about film noir. We liked it much better during our recent viewing.

If you haven’t seen it, Martin uses scores of film noir clips to weave a mystery in which he stars as private detective Rigby Reardon. Aside from Ward, and director Rob Reiner, his co-stars are Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Barbara Stanwyck, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and many others, all arranged into a narrative that turns out to be about cheese, a Peruvian island, and a plot to bomb the United States.

The film’s flow only barely holds together, which you’d have to expect when relying upon clips from nineteen old noirs to cobble together a plot, but as a noir tribute—as well as a satirical swipe at a couple of sexist cinematic tropes from the mid-century period—it’s a masterpiece. If you love film noir, you pretty much have to watch it. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid had its premiere at the USA Film Festival in early May, but was released nationally today in 1982.

Vintage Pulp

September 25 2021

SPLIT PERSONALITY

He's not a bad guy. He's just a little conflicted.

Above: a beautiful French language Belgian poster for the suspense/horror film Dr. Jekyll et Mr. Hyde, aka Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner. We love this poster as much as we love the Finnish and West German ones. The art here depicts quite effectively Jekyll’s inner battle, with his face half in light and half in shadow. The movie opened in the U.S. in 1941, was delayed from showing in Europe for years due to World War II, but we think it finally premiered in Belgium during the autumn of 1946, a range we extrapolated from the film’s premiere in France today the same year.

Belgium, Dr. Jekyll et Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, poster art, cinema, horror

Hollywoodland

November 26 2020

EVERYBODY COMES TO RICK’S

In Casablanca no other place compares.

We’re back in the house today—Casablanca, that is. Several days ago, on the film’s Italian premiere date, we showed you some Italian posters, and today, on its U.S. premiere date, we’re taking a close look at possibly the most famous fictional bar in cinema history—Rick’s Café Americain. Casablanca is one of the greatest films ever made, and it’s fair to say Rick’s was a supporting character. Filmgoers of 1942 found themselves steeped in its otherworldly Moroccan atmosphere, as scenes were staged in its courtyard, dining room, gambling room, at its lively bar, and in Rick’s roomy upstairs office and personal living quarters. We’ve never confirmed this, but we suspect one third of the film occurs inside Rick’s Café. We have photos of every area we could find of this iconic and exotic “gin joint”—as Bogart cynically describes it—and we even turned up a blueprint.

You’d be tempted to think bars like Rick’s exist only in film, but you’d be wrong. We’ve been to places that have exotic architecture, excellent food and drink, lively musical entertainment, well dressed international

clientele, and the aura of being in the middle of a spy caper. The decadent colonial bar Abaco, located in Palma de Mallorca, comes immediately to mind, as does the supper club Meson Pansa Verde in Antigua, Guatemala, where they have live jazz in a converted wine cellar and a friend of ours once famously pushed his date into the pool. We’ve been to Rick’s-like places in Mexico, the Caribbean, the Greek Islands, and, appropriately, Morocco, in both Fes and Marrakech (we’re not fans of the Rick’s that currently operates in Casablanca—same name, very diminished feel). But magical places do exist, which means even if Bogart’s beloved café was never real, having those types of nights is possible. We recommend making it your mission to seek them out.

Morocco, French Morocco, Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, Dooley Wilson, Ingrid Bergman, Madeleine Lebeau, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet

Vintage Pulp

November 21 2020

HOUSE PAINTERS

Two Italian artists created some of the coveted posters for the classic drama Casablanca.

All of these posters are Italian promos for the classic war drama Casablanca, which premiered in Italy today in 1946, four years after it opened in the U.S. An original example of the top poster, which was painted by Luigi Martinati, sold at auction in 2017 for $478,000. The following three posters are also by Martinati. The bottom three efforts, meanwhile, are by Silvano Campeggi (who sometimes signed his work as “Nano”), and were painted for the movie’s re-release in 1962. Top notch efforts all of them, for a top notch movie. See more Casablanca promos here and here.

Italy, World War II, Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Luigi Martinati, Silvano Campeggi, Nano, poster art, cinema

Vintage Pulp

May 17 2019

THE HEALING ARZT

The doctor is out—of his freaking mind.

Above: a poster for Arzt und Dämon, aka Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which premiered in West Germany today in 1949. The art here is by Heinz Schulz-Neudamm, whose most famous piece is the poster he designed for the expressionist sci-fi movie Metropolis. It once sold for $1.2 million, which made it the most valuable movie promo in existence at the time, but this Hyde effort shows Schulz-Neudamm’s skills in a totally different light. We think it’s top shelf work for a top shelf flick.

West Germany, Arzt und Dämon, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Metropolis, Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Heinz Schulz-Neudamm, poster art, cinema, horror

Vintage Pulp

January 10 2019

NO PLACE TO HYDE

Spencer Tracy unleashes the beast on Bergman and Turner.

We don’t feature a lot of material from Finland* but this poster for Tri Jekyll ja Mr. Hyde, aka Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, caught our eye. The movie was based on the gothic horror novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, and was the third attempt Hollywood had made at the story, this time with Spencer Tracy as Jekyll/Hyde and Ingrid Bergman as Ivy Peterson. We gather Tracy thought his performance had ruined his career. Talk about being hard on yourself. He’s perfectly decent in the role, even if he’s a bit unconvincing as an English gentleman, and doesn’t even bother tackling the accent.

Bergman is decent too, and she does wrestle the accent, and loses, but since she’s Swedish you have to forgive her. She’d soon be acknowledged as one of the greatest actresses in cinema. The film also features a pre-superstardom Lana Turner. She would develop a tendency to chew the scenery after she became a global celebrity, but here, in a supporting role under established stars, she’s good, and hot as hell to boot—not that Bergman is anything other than dreamy herself.

Do we digress? Not in the least. Their beauty is pivotal to the plot. The two sides of Tracy’s personality, the loving and lustful sides, posited as good and evil, are preoccupied by these basically opposite women. This is demonstrated during a nightmare sequence in which Tracy uses a whip to drive a pair of horses, a dark one and a light one, that transform into Bergman and Turner, side by side, windblown, sweaty, and implied as nude. It’s a surprising sequence, hotly erotic, and all too brief if you ask us. We could have watched those two all wet and thrashing for a long while. But maybe that’s our own Mr. Hyde speaking.

In any case, the sequence serves to demonstrate that Dr. Jekyll’s beastly Hyde is loose and isn’t going back in his cage anytime soon. A career ruining performance from Tracy? On the contrary. His star continued to shine brightly after this highly effective piece of gaslamp horror, and his co-stars’ ascents were just beginning. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde premiered in the U.S. in 1941 and reached Finland today in, apparently, 1943. How that happened in the middle of World War II is a mystery to us, but maybe it just shows how pushy Mr. Hyde was.

*While the poster is supposed to be Finnish, it actually seems to contain both Finnish and Swedish lettering. For example “Tri” in Finnish means “doctor,” but “Dr.,” which is common in Swedish, appears too, Likewise the word “and” is repeated. In Swedish it’s “och” but in Finnish it’s “ja.” We guess the poster was used in both countries.

Finland, Tri Jekyll ja Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Robert Louis Stevenson, poster art, cinema, horror, movie review

Vintage Pulp

December 19 2018

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS

The fundamental things apply as time goes by.

Yes, we’re back to Casablanca. Above you see a Spanish poster for this award winning war drama, which premiered in Madrid today in 1946. The movie was a smash hit everywhere because, simply put, it dealt with every important theme in the realm of human experience, which is why it’s still fundamental viewing. And that would be true even if most of the characters weren’t migrants—a type of person that’s very prominent in the news these days.

The poster art is signed MCP, the designation applied to work produced by the Barcelona based design company owned by artists Ramón Martí, Josep Clavé, and Hernán Pico. We’ll get back to this trio’s output a bit later. Casablanca generated some very nice promos, and MCP’s effort is one of the best, in our opinion. We also recommend checking out the Japanese ones here.

Spain, Madrid, Barcelona, Casablanca, World War II, Ingrid Bergman, Ramón Martí, Josep Clavé, Hernán Pico, Estudio MCP, poster art, cinema

Vintage Pulp

November 25 2018

CASA GRANDE

The house that Bogart built.

The first time we watched Casablanca years ago we were impressed by so many aspects of the film, but perhaps most by its humor. There are laugh lines scattered throughout the first half of the script, but by far our favorite bit is:

Major Strasser: “What is your nationality?”

Rick Blaine: “I’m a drunkard.”

It’s impossible to overrate the movie. Only iconoclasts don’t like it. Even its many backstories are incredible. Just an example: the screenwriters of this American landmark—Howard Koch, Julius Epstein, and Philip Epstein—became victims of the Red Scare and lost their jobs.

The above poster befits such a monumental achievement. It was painted by Bill Gold for the movie’s U.S. run, which began in New York City today in 1942. When you consider the film’s longevity, you could almost say its run has never ended. You can see two more incredible Casablanca posters here.

New York City, Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Bill Gold, Howard Koch, Julius Epstein, Philip Epstein, poster art, cinema

ABOUT

EMAIL

LEGAL

SEARCH PULP INTERNATIONAL

PULP INTL.
HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

February 17

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

February 17

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

February 16

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanideâ€”not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juiceâ€”resulting in his death in late 1937.

February 15

1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt

In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.

February 14

1929—Seven Men Shot Dead in Chicago

Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone’s South Side gang, are machine gunned to death in Chicago, Illinois, in an event that would become known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Because two of the shooters were dressed as police officers, it was initially thought that police might have been responsible, but an investigation soon proved the killings were gang related. The slaughter exceeded anything yet seen in the United States at that time.