Pulp International

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

SHAW LOOKS GOOD

That gleam in her eye is because she was really naked.

She wasn’t naked, but British actress Susan Shaw makes good use of classic nude suggestion in this lovely photo, which is undated but probably from around 1950. It’s amazing what bare shoulders can achieve, right? There are a couple of other famous Susan Shaws from the era, including the well remembered glamour model in this post, but don’t mix them up, even if our keywords will. The Susan Shaw above made a necessary name change from Patricia Sloots, then carved out a nice show business career starting at age seventeen, eventually accumulating more than thirty film credits. Some of her movies that might be up our alley include To the Public Danger, Five Angles on Murder, and Blonde Blackmailer, but the one we really want to watch is—and, yes, we know it’ll be bad—Fire Maidens of Outer Space. Why do we sign up for such punishment? So you don’t have to.

Britain, Public Danger, Five Angles on Murder, Blonde Blackmailer, Fire Maidens of Outer Space, Susan Shaw

MEDICAL CARE FOR ALL

She's a true professional. She doesn't care who shot who. She just gives to the utmost of her ability.


We have yet another issue of Adam magazine for you, published this month in 1971, with a cover illustrating Dick Love’s story, “Night Nurse.” Generally the magazine’s covers showed literal scenes from the fiction, but this one is more of a composite, with the nurse superimposed atop a scene of earlier violence. The story is about a cop who’s shot multiple times and almost killed, is nursed to health during two months in the hospital, and upon his release tracks down his almost-killer. It has a present-moment framing device in which, first, a shotgun blast tears open a door he’s standing just to one side of, sending his mind into a long reverie about the earlier wounding and recovery, before returning to him crashing through the door and taking down his quarry. The nursing aspect involves some sexual healing, but isn’t cheesy or obvious. Instead, there are weeks of talking at bedside before the deed happens, and the mood and pacing are generally good. So it’s nice work from “Dick Love,” whoever he or she may have been in reality. We have thirty-plus scans below, and those with sharp eyes and good memories will notice British glamour beauty Susan Shaw in the middle pages and again at the end. More from Adam soon.
Australia, Adam Magazine, Susan Shaw, Dick Love, magazine art, literature

DRIVER’S EDUCATION

I know I'm an unorthodox teacher, officer. But if she thinks this is tough how is she ever gonna handle a left turn in traffic?

Today we have another issue of our favorite men’s magazine Adam, this time from July 1971. Inside there’s the usual fiction, true adventure, and cheesecake, including British model Susan Shaw. But this issue is also a little different—it dips into celebrity waters with a write-up on Aly Khan, the Muslim prince whose romantic hook-ups included Gene Tierney, Bettina Graziani, and Rita Hayworth, who he married in 1949. The cover illustration is paired with the short story “Blonde for Bait,” by Dick Love. Yeah. Dick Love. This makes the 56th issue of Adam we’ve uploaded to our website. Enjoy Dick and more in thirty-two scans below, and see all the other issues just by clicking the keywords at bottom. 

Australia, Adam Magazine, Aly Khan, Gene Tierney, Rita Hayworth, Bettina Graziani, Susan Shaw, Dick Love, magazine art, literature

LOVE NOT GUNS

All she's saying is give peace a chance.

We’re back. The festival is ongoing and our friends are here for another week, but going forward we’ll be making time to share material. So above you see scans from Australia’s Adam magazine, published August 1971, with British model Susan Shaw inside and Austrian actress Senta Berger on the rear. The cover illustrates I. W. Coughlan’s story “Killer in Conflict,” in which an assassin is sent to kill an important scientist’s daughter, who’s a free love hippie. The killer finds his target easily enough, but the more she talks to him the less sure he is about his mission. Is it too late for him to turn over a new leaf? At the bottom, do you notice the cartoon concerning flights to Havana? Somebody help us. What’s the joke there? We keep looking at it and can’t understand what the cartoonist is trying for. While we wait for enlightenment on that, you can see many more issues of Adam by clicking its keywords below.

Update: the answer comes from J. Talley who explains: Hi. Longtime fan of your blog. In case no one else has answered your question about the Havana reference in the Aug. 1971 Adam magazine cartoon you put up a few days ago: aircraft hijackings to Cuba were relatively frequent in the late ’60s/early ’70s, so this would fall under the category of “topical humor.”

Australia, Cuba, Adam Magazine, Senta Berger, Susan Shaw, I.W. Coughlan, magazine art

THROUGH THE KEYHOLE

Can you really teach an old dog new tricks?

Above is another issue of the NYC based tabloid Keyhole, this one published today in 1972, and it’s the fifth we’ve scanned and shared. British model Susan Shaw, a constant presence in 1970s tabs, puts in another appearance here along with centerfold Barbara Stand. So how does one pick up younger women when one is over forty, as the cover asks? Various experts agree—don’t try to act like a kid, be self-confident, and aim for women around age thirty because they’re often willing to look at guys ten years or more older. Seems reasonable enough. But on the other hand, if you can’t figure those things out without a cheapie tabloid’s help we suspect you’re destined to screw up in myriad other ways. See more from Keyhole at our tabloid index, located here. 

New York City, Keyhole, Susan Shaw, Barbara Stand, tabloid

FORBIDDEN FRUIT

Seventeen ways to end up in serious legal trouble.

Above: the cover and many scans from Keyhole magazine published today in 1973. The editors push the envelope a bit in this issue with their glorification of under-17 sex, but as always, the content is just fiction spiced up with photos of a few semi-famous glamour models—all well into adulthood—including Susan Shaw, who was a regular in Keyhole’s pages. We have several more issues of thus unique publication and you can find them in our handy tabloid index by following this link. 

Keyhole, Susan Shaw, tabloid

SHLOCK AND KEY

Unlocking the door to all your darkest and dirtiest thoughts.

Keyhole’s slogan is “for mature adults.” We think it’s more for horny high schoolers, but there’s no doubt it’s a bold tabloid. This issue published today in 1972 has everything from swinging sex safaris (“Make sure your gun is loaded for bare”) to gay frat houses (“They don’t swallow goldfish anymore”). None of it’s real, of course. The frat house story is a firsthand account of a new pledge at a Harvard fraternity who doesn’t discover the members dress in drag until he goes under the skirt of a blonde lovely and gets a handful of nutsack. The article features a photo of a bearish model with a volume of Shakespeare over his willie. The sex safari story features British model Susan Shaw in what could easily be someone’s unweeded back garden. But while the stories are phony, they’re at least funny—not on their merits so much, but because people actually got paid to write them. Quite a way to make a living. What’s even funnier? People bought Keyhole. We have a few scans below, and sharp-eyed readers may recognize American glamour model Sylvia Bayo, aka Lucienne Camille as the Keyhole Cutie for the month.

Keyhole, Harvard University, Susan Shaw, Lucienne Camille, Sylvia Bayo, tabloid

POLICE EMERGENCY

America’s oldest magazine shows signs of advanced age.

Oh, the poor National Police Gazette. By 1974 it was impossible for the editors to keep claiming Hitler was still alive and hiding out in Argentina. If he’d ever been there he was long dead. Castro was still around, of course, but it was pointless to keep pretending the U.S. was going to send an armada to take back Cuba. Mao was a useful foil for a few years, but somehow he just didn’t resonate the same way for readers. So the magazine turned its focus to pettier intrigues, dogging the Kennedy clan and hoping to move issues by featuring bikini models on its covers. How the mighty had fallen. Launched all the way back in 1845, the oldest magazine in America was now uninspired and out-of-touch with 1970s readers. In this entire issue only a few pages were even worth scanning. Teddy Kennedy, Susan Shaw, Felicity Devonshire, Sliwka… and killer catfish, all below.

Police Gazette, Teddy Kennedy, Vance Hartke, Leslie Caron, Susan Shaw, Sliwka, Felicity Devonshire, tabloid
Femme Fatale Image

ABOUT

EMAIL

LEGAL

  • CATEGORIES

SEARCH PULP INTERNATIONAL

PULP INTL.
HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1968—Cash Performs at Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison in Folson, California, where he records a live album that includes a version of his 1955 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Cash had always been interested in performing at a prison, but was unable to until personnel changes at his record company brought in people who were amenable to the idea. The Folsom album was Cash’s biggest commercial success for years, reaching number 1 on the country music charts.

2004—Harold Shipman Found Hanged

British serial killer Harold Shipman is found dead in his prison cell, after hanging himself with a bedsheet. Shipman, a former doctor who preyed on his patients, was one of the most prolific serial killers in history, with two-hundred and eighteen murders positively attributed to him, and another two-hundred of which he is suspected.

1960—Nevil Shute Dies

English novelist Nevil Shute, who wrote the books A Town Like Alice and The Pied Piper, dies in Melbourne, Australia at age sixty-one. Seven of his novels were adapted to film, but his most famous was the cautionary post-nuclear war classic On the Beach.

1967—First Cryonics Patient Frozen

Dr. James Bedford, a University of California psychology professor, becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. Bedford had kidney cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and was untreatable. His body was maintained for years by his family before being moved to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona.

1957—Jack Gilbert Graham Is Executed

Jack Gilbert Graham is executed in Colorado, U.S.A., for killing 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in a suitcase that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629. The flight took off from Denver and exploded in mid-air. Graham was executed by means of poison gas in the Colorado State Penitentiary, in Cañon City.

1920—League of Nations Convenes

The League of Nations holds its first meeting, at which it ratifies the Treaty of Versailles, thereby officially ending World War I. At its greatest extent, from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, the League had 58 members. Its final meeting was held in April 1946 in Geneva.

1957—Macmillan Becomes Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan accepts the Queen of England’s invitation to become Prime Minister following the sudden resignation of Sir Anthony Eden. Eden had resigned due to ill health in the wake of the Suez Crisis. Macmillan is remembered for helping negotiate the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty after the Cuban Missile Crisis. He served as PM until 1963.

  • FEATUREd PULP

WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT

Italian artist Sandro Symeoni showcases his unique painterly skills on a cover for Peter Cheyney's He Walked in Her Sleep.

OPEN SECRETS

French artist Jef de Wulf was both prolific and unique. He painted this cover for René Roques' 1958 novel Secrets.

THE WORST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Christmas themed crime novels are rare, in our experience. Do Not Murder Before Christmas by Jack Iams is an exception, and a good one. The cover art is by Robert Stanley.

VINTAGE ADVERTISING

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

Vintage Ad Image

Around the web