Cynically Sentimental

Mostly film reviews, with the occasional personal musing, interesting photo/cartoon, and audio/video clip. I am a film historian, lecturer, writer, librarian, and would-be layabout.

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#SwipeFile 117: Multiple Mask Makeovers

Canadian 3-D horror movie The Mask (’61) featured some striking images, one of which was used intact (albeit colourised) on Silber-Krimi 777 (Germany, ’69).

A re-visioning by Manuel Breá Rodríguez appeared on --

Spectral 7 (France, ’79);

Gespenster Krimi 418 (’81)

Escorpion 9 (Spain, ‘7?)

Claw of Pain (Australia, ’83?)

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#RomanceComicsTuesday --- Dramatic Body Language

Pointing!

Gesticulating!

Quaking With Fear and Disgust! 

“Home Alone” – ing!

[Accompanied by shouting, exclaiming, and sobbing.]

Love Tales 36 (’49); Romantic Confessions 1/5 (’50); My Love Secret 30 (’50); True War Romances 18 (’54)

note: in the first panel, the woman on the right shouts "Your jealousy killed my brother, Frank!" The misplaced comma makes it seem as if the woman on the left is named "Frank."

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#SwipeFile 116:  Multiple Mummies

On “Eerie” 12 (’67), Dan Adkins faithfully re-created a shot from The Mummy’s Ghost (’44).  Several years later, Leandro Biffi used the same source, but made the mummy’s face resemble Boris Karloff (rather than Lon Chaney Jr.'s version) and changed the victim’s appearance as well (he still has the bulging eyes and mouth agape in horror): “Terror” 8 (Ediperiodici, ’70), re-used on (at least) “Série Jaune” 24 (’76) and “Horror” 5 (’72).

José G. Cruz borrows from a publicity still from The Mummy’s Hand (’40) for the cover of “Santo” 479 (’69).  He flips the image, removes Charles Trowbridge, makes George Zucco younger, gives him a knife, and colours the mummy’s face & hands green. Oh, and he adds El Santo, chained to a wall in the background.

[Note: I seem to have screwed up the numbering of the Swipe File entries (again!) with two 114s, but what's past is past.]

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#RomanceComicsTuesday:  If You Could Read My Mind . . .

What a tale my thoughts would tell!

"He isn't too young but he must have money and that's what I'm looking for."

"I'm lonesome all right! But not for your type!"

Memo to ladies: never date a mind reader.

My Secret Affair 2 (’50)

My Past Thrilling Confessions 8  (’49)

Love Confessions 16 (’52)

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SwipeFile 115: Pseudo-Stallones, Stallone Clones, Phony Stallones

Sylvester Stallone films Cobra (’86) and the Rambo series provided major swipe-fuel for VHS box artists. 

Rocky and Rhinestone? Not so much.

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#RomanceComicsTuesday: NOW you tell me!

“Marry YOU? Are you CRAZY!”

“You poor dumb kid!”

“You’re a little fool!”

Say it all together, fellows: “I’m not the marrying kind!”

Romantic Hearts 2/8  (’54), My Love Memoirs 12  (’50), My Own Romance 18 (’51)

I like the 3 different attitudes of the men: one is irritated, one laughs, and the third is blasé.

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#SwipeFile 114:  Even More Paperback Swipers

“Homicide Johnny” cover by the great Rudolph Belarski  (Popular Library, ‘ 40) > “Het mysterie van de gestloten brandkast” (The Locked Safe Mystery; Netherlands, date unknown but at least mid-‘50s or later);

Dominique Wilms: La Môme vert-de-gris (Poison Ivy, ’53) > Delilah Was Deadly (UK: Horwitz, ’56)

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#RomanceComicsTuesday: New York is Hell!

Aspiring performer Bradna can't get a role, has her purse stolen, is forced to wear a skimpy outfit at work, and is CONSTANTLY sexually harassed by every man she meets.

But she's got some good come-backs:

"Go somewhere and drop dead!"

"I'd rather starve, you old goat!"

Broadway Romances 2 (1950).

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#SwipeFile 114:  Zombie Walking

Inspired by key art for I Walked With a Zombie (’43) --

Clockwise:

Bunco Squad (’50 – this was an RKO film as was I Walked With a Zombie so I guess it was authorised);

Dr. Neff’s spook show ads (as early as ‘46);

House of Dracula/House of Frankenstein Double Bill (’53): the “Who Said the Dead Don’t Walk” catch-phrase is also from I Walked with a Zombie promotional material (IWWAZ was re-released in ’53). Note: this is the only one of these swipes that gives the Zombie Lady pupils for her eyes;

A mystery image used since the mid-‘90s for various merchandising items, music covers, etc.  Sometimes referred to as “Ms. Mesmer” but apparently not related to the comic book character of that name.  I can’t locate the original or find any artist credit;

“Seven Tickets to Hell” ('72): Gray Morrow paperback cover art . This is not an exact swipe, more of a re-imagining, but uses main elements of the original. The "Ms. Mesmer" image borrows the "eye" motif from Morrow's painting.

“Madness at Midnite” horror show promos (various Wisconsin cinemas ‘55-57)

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#RomanceComicsTuesday: Compulsion

"I want everybody to want me. When a boy tells me I'm beautiful and wants to kiss me -- well, I feel so warm inside that I can't help it! But this time I didn't even let him kiss me!" THIS TIME?

[To be fair, the story makes it VERY clear that Dolly never goes "too far" and in fact she has two flaws -- she compulsively seeks "admiration" and then "leads men on" and never delivers. Not that she would in a romance comics story, even pre-Code, but this makes her seem selfish in addition to emotionally needy.]

Dolly vows it will "Never, Never Never" happen again, but it does.

Bart: "We're through! Through!!"

All True Romance 18 (1954)

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#SwipeFile 113: Demon Doubles

The Original: Goliath and the Vampires  (’64 USA release of ’61 Italian film), Reynold Brown art;

Swipe 1: Night of the Blood Monster (’72 USA release of ’70 film);

Swipe 2:  a package show that played various drive-ins in the early ‘70s.  In some (but not all, as this example shows) cases Night of the Blood Monster was one of the features and used that film’s tagline “Horror will hold you helpless!”

Swipe 3: Pabel "Dämonenkiller" Nr. 23 (Germany, 1974) art by Firuz Askin, who keeps the pose but shrinks the demon's head to normal proportions and also reduces the horns.

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#RomanceComicsTuesday: Not a nice girl!

Once again, the desire for social popularity leads a young woman down the wrong path.

"I know nice girls don't let fellows casually kiss them goodnight! But if it's the only way I can be popular, I have no choice!"

“It hurts me to say this, Ellen, but you’re getting a very BAD reputation.  People are saying you’re not a nice girl!”

If this seems a bit exaggerated, remember that in romance comics, "kissing" was code for "sexual activity."

Love Diary 7 (1950)

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#SwipeFile 112:  Swipe in the Family

“At least it’s in the same genre” – borrowed ad art.

Note that the swipe from Orgy of the Dead promotional materials contains the “Astra Films presents” lettering, when Terror at Orgy Castle wasn’t made by this company.

The Mating Urge ad is a “re-visioning” of the elements (nude woman's back, smaller image of a man's naked back because who wants to see that?) from the Adam and Eve poster.

The key art for Brain of Blood and the catch-phrase were applied to a triple-bill of 3 entirely different movies, none containing a “brain transplant.”

Thrill Deviates gave up part of its imagery for this local, unrelated double bill ad.

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#RomanceComicsTuesday -- I Couldn't Help It!

"I hungered for love! I needed men's kisses! It was like a sickness . . . Man after man -- date after date. I didn't even try to control it any more. There was no cure for this terrible disease of mine . . . there was only torment."

Linda's childhood trauma (father deserted the family, mother became bitter against men) makes her indiscriminately seek male affection. But she finds The One (a caring guy who really loves her) and will marry him and be happy.

Note: in the montage of Linda's "dates," there is a person of colour in the upper right-hand corner. This is an extremely shocking suggestion of interracial "dating" for the time, even though it's just a tiny image.

I don't know who wrote this story, but Bob Powell did the art and he definitely made this one guy's face non-Caucasian and the colourist went along with it.

True Love Problems and Advice Illustrated 25 (1954).

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#SwipeFile 111: Bare Shoulders, Thighs & Haystacks

Zoe Mozert painted Jane Russell for “The Outlaw” poster & suddenly “bare shoulders, thighs and haystacks” became a thing.

Summer Storm (’44), Susana (Mexico, ’50), Passion’s Mistress (’49, Rodewald art), Woman Hunter (Australia, ’51), Play-Girl (’50, George Gross art).

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#RomanceComicsTuesday -- Take me! I'm Yours!

Pre-Code romance comics sometimes surprise one w/ their portraits of psychologically & emotionally vulnerable protagonists.

Rita is "not nice looking" so she becomes a "hot number" to attract boyfriends.

No fear, she eventually finds true love.

Darling Romance 7 (1950)

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#SwipeFile 110 --  Steven Spielberg’s Non-Union Mexican Equivalent Artwork

The box cover of the Laguna VHS release of Pablo y Carolina (’55) was “inspired by” the Working Girl (’88) key art.  The new artwork (by Gioser Art Studio) doesn’t even try to make the woman resemble co-star Irasema Dilián, except by giving swipe-Melanie Griffith short hair (which Irasema had in Pablo y Carolina).  Good likeness of  Pedro Infante, though (possibly a swipe from somewhere else).

UPDATE to #SwipeFile 75: Mystery of the Screaming Woman --

The Mexican lobby card for Black Christmas (’74) borrows the poster image of Susan Strasberg from 1961’s Scream of Fear; the cover of “Monstruos” 12 (1963) uses a different publicity photo from that film as its inspiration.