Italian goldsmith, sculptor, painter, musician, brawler, murderer, duelist and deep dick artist Benvenuto Cellini certainly had a high opinion of himself, judging from his 1563 autobiography. But certainly the book would not have survived four centuries to receive the pulp cover art makeover it got from Pyramid in 1953 if the contents were not riveting. Some of the historical details Cellini describes can be verified; others, like the time he claims to have seen devils summoned in Rome’s colosseum, cannot. Cellini writes: We repaired to the Colloseo, and the priest, according to the custom of necromancers, began to draw circles upon the ground with the most impressive ceremonies imaginable: he likewise brought hither assafoetida, several precious perfumes and fire, with some compositions also which diffused noisome odors. As soon as he was in readiness, he made an opening to the circle, and having taken us by the hand, ordered the other necromancer, his partner, to throw the perfumes into the fire at the proper time, intrusting the care of the fire and the perfumes to the rest; and then he began his incantations. This ceremony lasted above an hour and a half, when there appeared several legions of devils insomuch that the amphitheatre was quite filled with them. In addition to this acid trip—that’s what it sounds like to us—Cellini also writes of duels he won, enemies he outsmarted, murders he committed, and countless women he bedded. The only word that describes his epic existence is “Cellini-esque.” If you see his autobiography on a bookstore shelf, we recommend you pick it up. 100% true or not, it’s quite a tale. 

Above, a poster for the Italian giallo Diabolicamente sole con il delitto, also known as Nell buio del terrore, and retitled The Great Swindle for its U.S. release. The movie stars two of the great giallo icons, Marisa Mell and Sylva Koscina, both of whom died prematurely from cancer. You can’t say either of them was ever in a truly great movie, but both graced several cult classics and they shine in this potboiler as lesbian lovers whose relationship is complicated when one of them marries a man. There’s much more to the plot, but when you get Jordan and Gretzky on the same team, why pay attention to anything else? Good for a laugh, and some minimal thrills, Diabolicamente sole con il delitto premiered in 1971. See more Mell here, and more Koscina here. 

Above, Italian actress Rosanna Schiaffino, who was known as “the Italian Hedy Lamarr” and appeared in the notable films Piece of the Sky and La sfida, seen here in three pages from the Spanish magazine Triunfo, 1963 and 1964. Schiaffino died today in 2009. 

Above: a shot of Italian actress Luciana Paoli, who appeared in a dozen motion pictures between 1954 and 1968, including Casanova 70 and Seven Golden Women Against Two 07: Treasure Hunt, but is also well known among comics fans as Dana, from the racy Italian fotostorie Killing.

This issue of Exposed from October 1957 gives top billing to British sex symbol Sabrina, aka Norma Ann Sykes, and tells us she lost her dress in the street and caused a riot. How did it happen? During a public appearance in London someone supposedly stepped on the hem of her dress. The garment came off, the Brits went bonkers over her 41-inch bare bust, and Sabrina was so distressed that she fainted, so we’re told. Is this story true? We tend to think so, because Exposed goes on to ponder whether the whole fiasco was a publicity stunt. Their ruminations lend the tale just the right element of verisimilitude, so we’re going to say yes, it probably happened. Also on the cover of Exposed, like clockwork, appears Ava Gardner. Readers are told she’s doing the dirty with Italian actor Walter Chiari. This would have been after splitting with Frank Sinatra but before the official divorce. But wait—didn’t we just write about her seeing Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín while also still married to Frankie? Come on people—that was so 1956. Sometimes you have to wonder how Gardner had time for all these affairs, but let’s just say that if she liked a man she always found a way to squeeze him in.  

Above is a close-up of Italian actress Virna Lisi, who began acting in 1953 but is well known in the U.S. for 1965’s How To Murder Your Wife, and is considered one of the most beautiful performers ever to grace the silver screen, seen here circa 1960.

Below, twelve covers of the very racy Italian fumetto Pornostar, with its blonde protagonist Beba (and her dark-haired partner in crime Fiona). Pornostar is another Giovanni Romanini creation, along with Wallestein, Ulula, Lady Domina, et.al, circa mid-1980s, and the covers are by Roberto Molino. See a few more here.

Above, a brilliant shot of French/Italian actress Dominique Boschero, who acted in about sixty films during the 1950s and 1960s, including OSS 77—Operazione fior di loto (aka OSS 77—Operation Lotus), Gli imbroglioni (aka The Impostors), and Agente 310 spionaggio sexy (we probably don’t need to translate that one, right?). This image is from 1966. 

From the immortal director Alfonso Brescia, who gave humanity films such as Super Stooges vs. the Wonder Women and Kill Rommel!, comes Le amazzoni - donne d'amore e di guerra, aka Battle of the Amazons. As you’ve no doubt guessed, it’s a sword and sandal epic, shot in Italy and starring an international cast of b-level actors, including Lincoln Tate, Lucretia Love, Paola Tedesco, and Solvi Stubing. In the film, a group of villagers hire some thieves to help defend against a band of Amazons.

You’ve seen this plot before when it was called The Magnificent Seven, or better yet Seven Samurai, but unfortunately, the only magnificent aspects of Amazzoni are the various scantily clad women. These warriors are hot, but also exceedingly mean. They kill their own wounded, torture people in various diabolical ways, and run roughshod over the nearby peasants like a band of neocons, appropriating whatever or whomever they desire.

When the thieves and villagers make their mutual defense pact, we get a little culture clash comic relief to lighten the tone, which is good because the entire film is so dark it looks like it was shot through a pair of welding goggles. Eventually the fun and games end and we’re off to a climactic final battle, the outcome of which we won’t spoil except to say that in a movie with an anti-feminist subtext, things are not likely to end well for queen ballbuster. The above poster was produced for the film’s Italian premiere today in 1973, and you can see the original trailer here.

Above is a fantastic poster from the illustrator Mafé for Piaceri Folli, a 1977 French porn movie originally entitled Suprêmes jouissances, released in English as Exquisite Pleasure, then later as Supreme Delights. Mafé painted two posters for the production, and though the other one is great, this effort is on a different level entirely. In fact, in our opinion this is one of the most successful posters we’ve ever seen. If the mission was to create something both provocative and striking while still being classy, this is a grand slam. Moving on to the artist himself, we promised we’d dig for more info, but when we search in Italy nothing comes up but a few auction houses, sans bios of any sort. And when we search internationally it’s our website that sorts to the top, amusingly. So we’re the online experts on this guy and we don’t know squat. A very good library might be helpful at a time like this but where we live there isn’t one. Oh well. If we’ve learned one thing it’s that the information always appears eventually. We’ll just have to wait.