Vintage Pulp

January 1 2021

NEW YEAR, OLD CALENDAR

Don't just turn over a new leaf. Turn over twelve of them.

Let’s start the year right. Everyone is hoping for a better 2021 than 2020. That’s assuming you adhere to constrained, non-scientific ideas about time—for cynics and realists it’s just another day. But in any case, above you see the cover of a 1959 nudie calendar that came inside an issue of the U.S. magazine Cocktail, a creation of Beacon Publications. The interior is below, and those with sharp eyes will spot a few notables—burlesque dancer Candy Barr in June, Madeline Castle in July (her pose is the same as from the famed promo poster for the sci-fi film The Astounding She-Monster, though Shirley Kilpatrick played the monster), Shirley Kilpatrick in August (what a coincidence), and Jean Nieto, aka Ramona Rogers, in November. The other models may be well known too, but not by us, at least not today. When the cava hangover wears off, maybe our brains will work better. Then again, maybe the damage is permanent. Only time will tell. Happy New Year.

Beacon Signal, The Astounding She-Monster, Cocktail Magazine, Madeline Castle, Shirley Kilpatrick, Candy Barr, Jean Nieto, Ramona Rogers, nudity, burlesque

Vintage Pulp

September 11 2019

THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MODEL

Her invasion didn't quite work out as planned.

The list of old publishing houses from around the world that borrowed photos of actresses for their covers continues to grow. Discovering these books decades later often means finding incredibly rare shots of women who weren’t well known when their images were used, but who later became big stars. This cover for Albert Conroy’s, aka Luigi Amerio’s Fuga nel sangue from Edizioni Giumar in 1959 features Shirley Kilpatrick. She wasn’t one of the ones who later became a big star. We have a feeling her title turn in 1957’s sci-fi megabomb The Astounding She-Monster ruined that dream. It was her only credited film role, which just goes to show that no place is harder to conquer than Hollywood. But we love Kilpatrick anyway, and this is a great shot of her. See others here.

Italy, Edizioni Giumar, The Astounding She-Monster, Albert Conroy, Luigi Amerio, Shirley Kilpatrick, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

May 18 2019

KILPATRICK’S DAY

Looks like she forgot to wear something green.

This Champion Line Technicolor lithograph entitled “Sultry Charm” features U.S. model Shirley Kilpatrick getting cuddly with a fur wrap. Kilpatrick was featured in pretty much every men’s magazine of her era, in a decade-plus appearing sexily clothed or nude in Caper, Gent, Scamp, Bold, Frolic, Stare, Gala, Tempo… Really, just make up a name and at some point it was probably a magazine and she got naked in it. Or semi-naked. Her heyday was during the pubic-hair-is-obscenity era. In recent years, though, sets of full nudes have been unearthed, and guess what? She doesn’t show pubic hair in those either. Ahem. But while the photos are nice, we appreciate Kilpatrick most for playing the she-monster in The Astounding She-Monster, a cheeseball sci-fi b-picture from 1957 that gave us a considerable amount of enjoyment. It’s a terrible movie, make no mistake—but in that good terrible way. Kilpatrick, on the other hand, is just good good.

Champion Line, The Astounding She-Monster, Shirley Kilpatrick, Technicolor pin-up, nudity

Vintage Pulp

December 12 2018

CELESTIAL BODY

Greetings, humans—take me to your leading erotic dancing establishment.

This poster for The Astounding She-Monster is beyond a doubt one of the best mid-century sci-fi promos ever. The illustrator Albert Kallis was responsible for numerous top notch works like The Brain Eaters and Terror from the Year 5000, but we think this one is his masterpiece. He used famed nude model Madeline Castle as his inspiration for the monster, though she wasn’t in the film. We’ll get back to Kallis a bit later.

As far as the movie goes, the plot is simple: an alien that looks a lot like nude model Shirley Kilpatrick in a zipback jumpsuit lands on Earth and crosses paths with a group of kidnappers, who with their hostage have invaded a geologist’s house. Though Kilpatrick is wardrobed like a stripper or go-go dancer, the filmmakers have a serious goal, which is to show how a celestial emissary immediately sees humans at their most basic—in pointless conflict. When the She-Monster is forced to defend herself she does so, like all strippers do, with her lethal radioactive touch.

This effort from American International Pictures is ’50s sci-fi at its worst yet most earnest. The underlying anti-nuclear, anti-violence messages are laudable, but undermined by an $18,000 budget and a four-day shoot rife with terrible execution and unintentional comedy. The stock bear footage alone will have you rolling your eyes. And Marilyn Harvey screaming in panic…

…as she bolts out of the geologist’s house is such a funny sight we had to watch it over and over. We’re talking fall-on-the-floor hilarious. Even so, when is the last time you saw an anti nuclear movie? All these cheesy peacenik flicks from the ’50s and ’60s cared, which makes them—in that way at least—far superior to most of the cynical films being produced today. The Astounding She-Monster premiered this month in 1957.

I call this the dreaded claw.

Oh yeah? I call this the dreaded fist!

Does anyone want a lap dance?

Oh my freaking God! Let’s get the fuck out of here!

Kilpatrick, during calmer times, catches some rays and practices making creepy space hands.

American International Pictures, The Astounding She-Monster, Robert Clarke, Shirley Kilpatrick, Albert Kallis, Madeline Castle, Marilyn Harvey, poster art, cinema, sci-fi, movie review

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 12

1978—Sid Vicious Arrested for Murder

Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious is arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is found in their room at New York City’s Chelsea Hotel. Vicious and Spungen had a famously stormy relationship, but Vicious proclaims he is innocent. He is released on bail and dies of a heroin overdose before a trial takes place.

October 12

1979—Adams Publishes First Hitchhiker's Book

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in a series, is published by Douglas Adams. The novels follow on the heels of the tremendously successful British television series of the same name.

October 11

1976—China Coup Thwarted

The new head of the Chinese Communist Party, Hua Goufeng, snuffs out a coup led by Chairman Mao’s widow Jiang Qing and three other party members. They become known as the Gang of Four, and are tried, found guilty of treason, and receive death sentences that are later commuted to lengthy prison terms.

October 11

1987—Loch Ness Expedition Ends

A sonar exploration of Scotland’s Loch Ness, called Operation Deepscan, ends after a week without finding evidence that the legendary Loch Ness Monster exists. While the flotilla of boats had picked up three sonar contacts indicating something large in the waters, these are considered to be detections of salmon schools or possibly seals.

October 10

1971—London Bridge Goes Up

After being sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in the resort town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

October 10

1975—Burton and Taylor Marry Again

British actor Richard Burton and American screen star Elizabeth Taylor secretly remarry sixteen months after their divorce, then jet away to a second honeymoon in Chobe Game Park in Botswana.

October 9

1967—Che Executed in Bolivia

A day after being captured, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara is executed in Bolivia. In an attempt to make it appear as though he had been killed resisting Bolivian troops, the executioner shoots Guevara with a machine gun, wounding him nine times in the legs, arm, shoulder, throat, and chest.