Pulp International

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

MACHINE GUN JEAN

Seberg indulges in a bit of overkill.

The shot you see here shows U.S. actress Jean Seberg and was made as a promo for her appropriately named 1971 French thriller Kill!, which was retitled for its U.S. run as Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! We’re not joking. There’s a commentary there, but we’re sure you can figure it out without our help. We gather the film is set in Spain, Tunisia, and Afghanistan, and deals with vigilante killings of drug and porn traffickers, which are investigated by an Interpol agent. Well, we love the idea. We’ll see if we can track it down.

Spain, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Kill!, Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!, Jean Seberg

HER INTERIOR LIFE

Let's see how it looks out there this morning. Nope, still no compelling reason to seize the day.

Every day we live the same moment Japanese actress Reiko Ike is living in this photo. In or out? Stay or go? Cue the Pulp Intl. girlfriends: “You mean there’s actually a decision-making process behind not leaving the house?” Indeed there is, but it’s not as if we don’t have fun indoors. We don’t know the date on this shot, as it came to us a single page with no information attached, but we’d guess it’s from around 1972. As we mentioned last time Reiko appeared here, we’re not likely to run out of rare images of her. We’ve had this one sitting around for twelve years, but today we finally found a moment to get it uploaded, and that wouldn’t have happened if we’d gone outside.

Japan, Reiko Ike, pinku, pinky violence, nudity

FOXY LADY

I know. It's a lot of foxes. But if they were so damn clever they'd have never gotten caught.

This shot shows Ann Corio sitting on a pile of fox furs—black fox furs with their distinct white tips, to be exact—a popular animal in the mid-century fur industry. Corio was popular in a different industry. As a burlesque performer, she launched her career in 1925 at the age of sixteen (we know, we know), and later, at Minsky’s Burlesque in New York City she earned, at her height, as much as $1,000 a week, according to legend. Depending on the exact year (Minsky’s was shut down in 1939 by New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia, so we’re thinking 1935) that would be the equivalent of $22,000 today.

Corio fled to Los Angeles and, like other top dancers, made the leap into cinema, appearing in seven movies, among them Swamp Woman, Call of the Jungle, and The Sultan’s Daughter. Later, she leveraged her popularity to release the record you see here, How To Strip for Your Husband, which she recorded with Sonny Lester and His Orchestra and which appeared in 1962, then again in the 1970s. She put out a couple of other albums, but we liked the art on this one best.

Also in 1962 she produced, directed, and danced in the Broadway show This Was Burlesque, which must have represented something of a triumphant return to the city she’d had to leave years earlier. As her long career continued, she eventually even appeared on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, and later earned her way into the Exotic World Burlesque Museum’s celebrated Hall of Fame. The foxtail shot dates from around 1938.

New York City, Swamp Woman, Call of the Jungle, The Sultan's Daughter, The Tonight Show, Minsky's Burlesque, Exotic World Burlesque Museum, Ann Corio, Sonny Lester, Fiorello La Guardia, Johnny Carson, burlesque

TOTALLY DREAMY

Excellent, Carole! Now let's do some profile shots. Carole? Um, are you still with us?

It’s been a long time since we visited with Hollywood legend Carole Lombard. Above you see her in a particularly lovely shot, emphasizing her arctic pale eyes, possibly focused on someplace far beyond the confines of the photographer’s studio. While she appeared in a few pulp-style movies, she made her name in screwball comedies such as Big News, Twentieth Century, and My Man Godfrey. Those choices certainly worked. At the time of her early death in 1941 she was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. 

Big News, Twentieth Century Fox, My Man Godfrey, Carole Lombard

THE GATHERING DARK

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Above: another promo image of June Havoc from 1947’s Intrigue. This one might be even nicer than the last one we shared. What we need to do now is watch the film. We’re working on that. 

Intrigue, June Havoc

CHOUREAU STORY

It took her quite a bit of time to get through the entire thing.

This promo image features French actress Etchika Choureau, née Jeaninne Verret, among whose films were 1957’s I colpevoli and 1958’s Darby’s Rangers. She eventually managed seventeen roles before retiring in 1966. At that point she had become tabloid fodder thanks to her affair with Morocco’s Prince Moulay Hassan, who later became King Hassan II. The two were unable to marry due to religious and cultural strictures, but remained lifelong friends. Choureau featured in a relatively small number of films, but she lived an unrelatively lengthy number of years, dying in 2022 at age ninety-two. We should all be so lucky. The above shot was first published in a 1957 issue of Esquire.

France, Morocco, Esquire Magazine, I colpevoli, Darby's Rangers, Etchika Choureau, Jeaninne Verret, Prince Moulay Hassan, King Hassan II

LOGGING ON

And she didn't even need a password to do it.

Japanese actress Noriko Yamamoto was a minor player onscreen, but she’s a major player on this log in a photo published in a 1980 issue of Heibon Punch. It’s a nice image, part of an essay shot in Alaska, of all places. Here’s what she said about it (so claimed the editors): “The clock is pointing to 11 PM, but the red sun is bright and beautiful. Anxiety crossed my mind as to whether I would be able to survive in this great outdoors. Fishing with a lure for the first time after setting up the tent. And the feeling of a king salmon coming into my hand. A river as wide as a lake. I don’t know when bears will come out, making my heart flutter.” Despite her fears she survived, there were no bears, and most importantly she suffered no splinters. Bonus: she got to hold a humungous fish.

Japan, Alaska, Heibon Punch, Noriko Yamamoto, nudity

HAT’S ALL YOU GET

I have smaller ones, but we don't know each other that well yet.

This fun promo image shows U.S. actress Claire Dodd and was made for the 1930 pre-Code comedy Whoopee! It was only her second film appearance and she was uncredited, but she went on to feature in more than sixty movies between 1930 and 1942, including the original version of The Glass Key. This behind-the-hat pose was quite popular back in her day. We’ve seen at least five or six performers from the ’30s doing it. Maybe we’ll put together a collection later. 

Whoopee!, Claire Dodd, Hays Code

BEND IT LIKE NEJLA

Everyone wants flexibility in their work. Only a few succeed.


Bellydancer Nejla Ates strikes the difficult backbend pose for this unusual promo image made in 1954. Ates was born in Romania but was Turkish, and rose to become an internationally famous performer nicknamed the Turkish Delight. She later appeared in films, including 1955’s Son of Sinbad with Lili St. Cyr, and modeled for album sleeves for Middle Eastern music, as we’ve shown you. In addition to all that she was popular in the tabloids. That means you’ll see her again at some point.

Turkey, Romania, Son of Sinbad, Nejla Ates, burlesque

THAT OLD BLONDE MAGIC

You know the old saying. Once you go witch you'll never want to switch.
Since we mentioned the television show Bewitched recently, here’s its star, the lovely Elizabeth Montgomery, bringing some supernatural qualities to a nightgown in this 1963 photo made to promote her comedy flick Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed? She was born into show business as the daughter of legendary actor and director Robert Montgomery, who boosted Elizabeth’s fortunes by casting her in thirty episodes of Robert Montgomery Presents. Having launched her career in television, she worked mainly in that medium going forward but appeared in a few movies, notably in 1963’s Johnny Cool. She accumulated credits on some sixty television shows, sang on three soundtracks, and even lent her voice to cartoon characters on The Flintstones and Batman: The Animated Series.

We’ve been enjoying Bewitched immensely. As a classic sitcom, it mixes a lot of zany problems into a suburban marriage, and enlivens the proceedings with a bit of low wattage sexiness. We think Darrin Stevens, as played so far by Dick York, is a terrible husband, but part of the fun is watching the twerp try to stop Samantha from using her magical powers. It was a plot contrivance meant extol the virtues of earning what you obtain, but these days reads more like marital domination, mansplaining, and unsupportiveness. Whereas we’d be, “You wanna do what? Zap us over to Budapest for the weekend? Well, sure, honey, I suppose I could free up time for that.” Since Montgomery didn’t make much in the way of pulp style entertainment she may not appear here again, but what an appearance. See another Montgomery here.

Bewitched, Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?, Johnny Cool, The Flintstones, Batman: The Animated Series, Robert Montgomery Presents, Elizabeth Montgomery, Robert Montgomery, television
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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).

  • FEATUREd PULP

BUTTERFACE

Classic science fiction from James Grazier with uncredited cover art.

COOL UNDER FIRE

Hammond Innes volcano tale features Italian intrigue and Mitchell Hooks cover art.

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