Vintage Pulp

January 5 2025

SAVING OFFICER RYAN

You know, under other circumstances I feel we could have— Oh well. Maybe in the next life. Back off pigs or she's dead!

This poster for Mary Ryan, Detective is a collage of photos touched up by an artist, and the result certainly did its job—it made us want to watch the film. We did that last night and saw a crime drama in which Marsha Hunt plays a cop who goes undercover as a prison inmate in order to unmask a jewel theft ring. As part of her prep she’s taught some lingo and how to pick pockets, and uses the latter instruction to make criminals go starry-eyed over her skillset. Once she gets the info she needs in prison, she’s released and maneuvers her way to the top of the theft ring, ending up on a farm where the head crook is a countrified old gent with an ingenious method for smuggling jewels.

Naturally, Hunt’s undercover role drags her in deeper than she or her superiors would like, as she disappears entirely from sight, inducing panic in her department. But she’ll come out okay—a safe ending is part of the package with mid-century crime flicks. The only question is how exactly the conclusion will play out. The poster should give you a hint. There’s nothing outstanding about this film, but there are also no major missteps. For a b-movie that’s called unmitigated success. After a special premiere in New York City in November 1949, Mary Ryan, Detective went into general release today in 1950. We have some production photos below, and you can see one more at this link.

Mary Ryan Detective, Marsha Hunt, John Litel, June Vincent, Harry Shannon, poster art, cinema, movie review

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

January 17

1950—The Great Brinks Robbery Occurs

In the U.S., eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company’s offices in Boston, Massachusetts. The skillful execution of the crime, with only a bare minimum of clues left at the scene, results in the robbery being billed as “the crime of the century.” Despite this, all the members of the gang are later arrested.

January 17

1977—Gary Gilmore Is Executed

Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States. Gilmore’s story is later turned into a 1979 novel entitled The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer, and the book wins the Pulitzer Prize for literature.

January 16

1942—Carole Lombard Dies in Plane Crash

American actress Carole Lombard, who was the highest paid star in Hollywood during the late 1930s, dies in the crash of TWA Flight 3, on which she was flying from Las Vegas to Los Angeles after headlining a war bond rally in support of America’s military efforts. She was thirty-three years old.

January 15

1919—Luxemburg and Liebknecht Are Killed

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps. Freikorps was a term applied to various paramilitary organizations that sprang up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. Members of these groups would later become prominent members of the SS.

January 14

1967—Summer of Love Begins

The Human Be-In takes place in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park with between 20,000 to 30,000 people in attendance, their purpose being to promote their ideals of personal empowerment, cultural and political decentralization, communal living, ecological preservation, and higher consciousness. The event is considered the beginning of the famed counterculture Summer of Love.