WILD ANIMAL

A different kind of movie star.

So, here’s a Pulp Intl. moment for you. We occasionally ask our girlfriends to look at an image and give us their thoughts. The whole fresh eyes thing. Get a new perspective. We showed them this shot of Marlo Brando and they had no idea who he was. But they thought he looked creepy and dangerous, which gave us a chance to explain how Brando combined a bit of sinister threat with his sex appeal, and the photo really captures that. Their response: “Well, whatever, no thanks.” But millions of women said thanks to Brando at this point in his career. If he wasn’t the top male sex symbol in the U.S., he was second, surpassed—maybe—by only one other person. This shot was made as a promo for The Wild One, 1953. 

Oh this? It hasn't caught on yet, but one day everyone will carry one, believe me.

Mary Murphy, not to be confused with her many famous namesakes, was an American actress best known for co-starring with Marlon Brando in The Wild One. She played a virginal small-town girl, yin to Brando’s vagabond rebel yang. And what a pair they made. In this photo Murphy has a more mature yet still innocent look, gun accessorized. It was made for the 1955 thriller Hell’s Island. 

The fast and the furious.
Above you see the Swedish promo art for the seminal youth rebellion drama Vild Ungdom, aka The Wild One. When it premiered in Stockholm, moviegoers heard this:

“Pops, you pick up on this jive, man?”


“What?”

“You pick up on this jive, this crazy music here, man? Did you dig the rebop?”


“What?”


“The rebop, dad! The rebop! He’s a square, man. Don’t you get this at all?”


We’d love to have seen the subtitles, because after that the dialogue gets so crazy even we can’t transcribe it, but that’s The Wild One—a different type of cinema, and a new kind of
star in rough and tumble Marlon Brando. Some people think 1955 was the zenith of the American empire. If that’s so, then The Wild One is the proverbial writing on the wall that change was in the wind. Brando and the rest of his Black Rebel Motorcycle Club roared across movie screens in Sweden for the first time today in 1954. 

I'm gonna take this joint apart and you're not gonna know what hit you.

A few days ago we alluded to Marlon Brando’s weight struggles, so we thought it would be fair to post a reminder of how he looked during that time when he was the top male sex symbol in film, and the face of American rebellion. These two stills are from his seminal biker flick The Wild One, 1953.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

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.

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.

1967—Ché 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.

1918—Sgt. York Becomes a Hero

During World War I, in the Argonne Forest in France, America Corporal Alvin C. York leads an attack on a German machine gun nest that kills 25 and captures 132. He is a corporal during the event, but is promoted to sergeant as a result. He also earns Medal of Honor from the U.S., the Croix de Guerre from the French Republic, and the Croce di Guerra from Italy and Montenegro. Stateside, he is celebrated as a hero, and Hollywood even makes a movie entitled Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper.

1956—Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

The New York Yankees’ Don Larsen pitches a perfect game in the World Series against hated rivals the Brooklyn Dodgers. It is the only perfect game in World Series history, as well as the only no-hitter.

1959—Dark Side of Moon Revealed

The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).

Classic science fiction from James Grazier with uncredited cover art.
Hammond Innes volcano tale features Italian intrigue and Mitchell Hooks cover art.

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