Intl. Notebook

May 13 2023

THE RAREST RAQUEL

There was only one, but you could own an assortment of reproductions.

We wanted to circle back to the legendary Raquel Welch, who died a couple of months ago. We’ve been collecting material on her for years, but Hollywood deaths are usually unexpected, which means whatever we collect isn’t ready to share at a moment’s notice. Above we have three items for you. These are pin-up posters from the U.S. and Japan. The first is a life-sized door panel poster for the big screen caper The Biggest Bundle of Them All, printed in 1969. The second is for the 1967 adventure Fathom, printed when it was released in Japan in 1971. And the third is for 1970’s Myra Breckenridge, which was released in Japan the same year, resulting in a 1970 copyright on that poster. These are extremely rare items. And Raquel Welch was an extremely rare star.

Japan, The Biggest Bundle of Them All, Fathom, Myra Breckenridge, Raquel Welch

Vintage Pulp

January 17 2022

BUNDLE OF JOY

Raquel makes everyone a little bit happier.

There’s no discussion of mid-century cinema without Raquel Welch. She burst onto the scene in 1964 mainly on television, but by 1966 was a major silver screen presence. She was far more famous than the quality of her films would otherwise have warranted, but her beauty and bod helped make her a superstar. The above poster for The Biggest Bundle of Them All is an example of what movie studios usually sold: Raquel with a smile, preferably in a bikini. This promo was painted by Robert McGinnis in his trademark elongated style, and you see the naked art below, reversed from the poster but in its original orientation. Often the only available versions of these vintage pieces contain graphics, inextricable except by enterprising modern people using Photoshop or Gimp, but clean McGinnis originals survive for quite a few of his commissions, making his artistic ability all the more evident. You can see examples here and here, as well as on this website dedicated to him. We talked about The Biggest Bundle of Them All a while back. Shorter version: Raquel drives Italy wild. It premiered in the U.S. today in 1968.

The Biggest Bundle of Them All, Raquel Welch, Robert McGinnis, poster art, cinema

Vintage Pulp

May 10 2021

WORTH A BUNDLE

Welch proves indispensable to yet another ’60s caper flick.

Above you see a promo poster for å¤§æ³¥æ£’, or “Great Thief,” made for the 1968 Raquel Welch/Robert Wagner caper flick The Biggest Bundle of Them All. The U.S. poster was painted by master illustrator Robert McGinnis, but we decided to show you the Japanese art instead because it’s rare. There are two more Japanese promos below that are also rare. We’ll get to the McGinnis version later. In the film, Wagner and his henchmen kidnap an elderly Italian gangster played by Vittorio De Sica and hold him for ransom. Problem is he has no money. At first they don’t believe him, but when it finally becomes clear he’s broke, Wagner and Co. try to cut bait. But De Sica is terrified all Italy will find out he couldn’t pay his own ransom. His reputation would be ruined. So he convinces his kidnappers to join him in a swindle that will maintain his reputation, make him rich again, and earn the kidnappers more money than they ever imagined. De Sica becomes the boss of his own abductors.

For a crime-comedy, it’s an ingenious premise, which makes it a shame it wasn’t original. Another movie with an almost identical plot called The Happening was in production at Columbia, and when the studio got wind of The Biggest Bundle of Them All it threatened to sue. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer agreed to give Columbia a cut of Bundle’s profits and a legal bloodbath was avoided, but in the same way De Sica’s big caper doesn’t exactly play out perfectly, Bundle‘s profits didn’t blow the roof off MGM headquarters as planned. And no wonder. It wasn’t just the script that wasn’t original—the film falls into the same category as continental crime capers like Charade, To Catch a Thief, and Topkapi, and those make for crowded and treacherous cinematic waters. Bundle isn’t sophisticated enough, or exciting enough, or infused with enough sexual chemistry to compete with better films of its ilk.

Speaking of sexual chemistry, Welch is naturally the big attraction of any movie she’s in, and we’ve seen enough of her work now to understand that she was more of a persona than an actress during this mid- to late-’60s period. In film after film she basically played herself. Here she smiles and quips and poses, and it’s all very Welchian in that groovy way her fans had come to expect—bikinis, lingerie, go-go dancing and all. The movie would be worth far less without her. There are also supporting appearances by Edward G. Robinson and Femi Benussi, while future blaxploitation icon Godfrey Cambridge is one of the kidnappers, so there’s plenty for stargazers to enjoy here, but we can’t call the movie a success. If you have nothing to do some evening, it might give you a few smiles, but not a bundle of them. After premiering in the U.S. in 1968, The Biggest Bundle of Them All opened in Japan today in 1968.

Japan, Italy, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia Pictures, The Biggest Bundle of Them All, The Happening, Vittorio De Sica, Raquel Welch, Robert Wagner, Godfrey Cambridge, Femi Benussi, Edward G. Robinson, poster art, cinema, movie review

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

September 16

1920—Terrorists Bomb Wall Street

At 12:01 p.m. a bomb loaded into a horse-drawn wagon explodes in front of the J.P.Morgan building in New York City. 38 people are killed and 400 injured. Italian anarchists are thought to be the perpetrators, but after years of investigation no one is ever brought to justice.

September 15

1959—Khrushchev Visits U.S.

Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States. The two week stay includes talks with U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, as well as a visit to a farm and a Hollywood movie set, and a tour of a “typical” American neighborhood, upper middle class Granada Hills, California.

September 14

1959—Soviets Send Object to Moon

The Soviet probe Luna 2 becomes the first man-made object to reach the Moon when it crashes in Mare Serenitatis. The probe was designed to crash, but first it took readings in Earth’s Van Allen Radiation Belt, and also confirmed the existence of solar wind.

September 13

1987—Radiation Accident in Brazil

Two squatters find a container of radioactive cesium chloride in an abandoned hospital in GoiÃ¢nia, Brazil. When the shielding window is opened, the bright blue cesium becomes visible, which lures many people to handle the object. In the end forty-six people are contaminated, resulting in illnesses, amputations, and deaths, including that of a 6-year-old girl whose body is so toxic it is buried in a lead coffin sealed in concrete.