Vintage Movie Photos
Cinema Retro
Here's a regrettably grainy but ultra-rare shot from the Cinema Retro archive, circa June 1966. It depicts a chance meeting of two major spy movie stars of that year, as Michael Caine bumped into George Segal on location in Berlin. Caine was reprising his Harry Palmer in Funeral in Berlin while Segal was shooting The Quiller Memorandum. Remember, every issue of our magazine edition is packed with rare photos and production ads you've never seen, so subscribe today!
VISIT THE HARRY PALMER WEB SITE. CLICK HERE!
Cinema Retro readers tell us they love issues that feature rare movie trade advertisements, so here's one extolling the boxoffice pull of the 1967 blockbuster "The Dirty Dozen" in its New York City engagements. In those days, major films often played exclusively in select theaters in big cities before opening wide in neighborhood theaters.
By Lee Pfeiffer
Shortly after his great success as the star of Death Wish in 1974, Charles Bronson started to go on automatic pilot in terms of striving to give impressive performances in his films. He was still capable of giving fine performances, as he demonstrated in Hard Times, From Noon Till Three and some other exceptions. He was always enjoyable to watch but as one cheesy Death Wish sequel begat the next (and any number of even more inferior clones), Bronson became regarded as a living cartoon character who sleepwalked through his films in search of an easy pay check. There was a time, however, when he was taken seriously by critics as evidenced by this ad for the 1972 film adaptation of The Valachi Papers. The movie itself was middling in most respects, but Bronson won personal critical plaudits for his performance as the infamous Mafia member who ratted out on his bosses in return for government protection and immunity.
(The image is from the nostalgia blog His Name is Studd. The site features a treasure trove of vintage photos and film ads. Click here to access.)
"The Valachi Papers" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
From the Cinema Retro archives: the opening of a new Cinerama theater in Las Vegas in January, 1965. First attraction: producer Samuel Bronston's "Circus World".
Dateline: 1966. Stars John Wayne and Robert Mitchum host their moms, who visited them on the set of Howard Hawks' "El Dorado". The mind boggles at the amount of booze ingested on the set of this film, but we're willing to bet that Hollywood tough guys Wayne and Mitchum behaved themselves out of fear their moms would ground them!
Rare photo of John Ford visiting the set and being greeted by fellow iconic director Howard Hawks and actress Michele Carey.
Rare shot of Ernest Borgnine on the Mexican set of Sam Peckinpah's 1969 classic "The Wild Bunch". Borgnine is nursing a foot injury that occurred prior to production and posed some obstacles for him in filming the action scenes.
This Canadian Odeon Theatres newspaper display ad dates from 1967 and it shows a wealth of gems playing at the same time: Frank Sinatra as Tony Rome, The Sound of Music, Dick Van Dyke and Barbara Feldon in Fitzwilly and Far From the Madding Crowd. Ah, if we only had a time machine!
Here are some blasts from the past, circa 1964, one of which is an American souvenir magazine based on A Hard Day's Night. Unlike most movie programs, this was sold on newstands, not in theaters. The other magazine, also tapping into the British Invasion mania that swept America, is dedicated entirely to the craze for Beatle haircuts. Talk about niche marketing! (No truth to the rumor that Moe Howard filed a copyright infringement suit over the concept.)
To visit the Beatles collectibles site click here
Premiere night of "Boys Night Out" starring Kim Novak ,James Garner and Tony Randall at the Lakeside Theatre in Oklahoma City, 1962.
Rare photo of Steven Spielberg with "Jaws" author Peter Benchley in Martha's Vineyard for the filming of the 1975 classic in which Benchley made a brief cameo appearance. Oh, and we know what you are thinking...yes, we'd also drool over acquiring that production crew T shirt that Spielberg is sporting.
This rare photo depicts screen legend Marlene Dietrich visiting Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and director Mike Nichols on the set of the classic 1966 film version of Edward Albee's ""Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
Three of the cinema's most legendary stars - Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone and Peter Lorre- teamed for the 1962 comedy-horror anthology Tales of Terror. This is a rare original ad that ran in trade magazines at the time of release.
The stars arrive in Honolulu to commence filming on the screen adaptation of James Jones' best-selling novel "From Here to Eternity". The resulting film would win Best Picture of 1953 at the Oscars and gain Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress wins for Frank Sinatra (whose career was saved by his role in the movie) and Donna Reed. (Left to right: Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, James Jones and director Fred Zinnemann.)
"The Duke is London. God Save the Queen!" So read the tag line on the film posters for John Wayne's detective thriller "Brannigan". Released in 1975, the fish-out-of-water tale finds the Duke traveling across "the pond" to extradite a prisoner back to Chicago. Needless to say, there are complications. This photo shows Wayne on location for a key scene in Piccadilly Circus in 1974. Note the marquees for the stage production of "Oh, Calcutta!" and the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow screen version of "The Great Gatsby". Peeking out from behind the traffic light is a poster for "The Sting".
Cinema Retro reader and contributor Kev Wilkinson was kind enough to provide these rare photos of the British sexploitation film The Pleasure Girls playing at London theaters in 1965. For Adrian Smith's extensive articles on the British sex film industry in the 60s and 70s, see Cinema Retro issues #23 and #24.
Real-life husband and wife Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland made numerous films together. Among them: "Breakout", a 1975 film that was shot quickly in order to capitalize on Bronson's soaring popularity with "Death Wish". The crime thriller was lambasted by critics but performed very well indeed at the boxoffice. Click here for review.
Flashback: 1972. Dustin Hoffman drops by the set to visit director Bob Fosse and star Liza Minnelli, who were filming "Cabaret". Hoffman would star in Fosse's next film, "Lenny", the biopic of Lenny Bruce.
Cinema Retro contributor David Dorward found this interesting photo of young Steve McQueen and his wife posing with his Ferrari Lusso. The license plate number reads 007! We think this may be just a coincidence that one of real-life coolest guys on the planet had a license plate pertaining to the one of the coolest fictional characters, as the Bond phenomenon hadn't totally kicked in yet...unless McQueen was so smitten by the Ian Fleming novels and the release of Dr. No on screen that he was inspired to request "007". Either way, it makes for a fascinating photo.
The above ad ran in ABC Film Review, a British movie publication, in 1962. All of these films were showing simultaneously around the UK.
Steve Thompson's addictive blog 1966 My Favorite Year has a wealth of pop culture photos and videos pertaining to what was hot during that glorious one year period. There is an abundance of Batman-related posts including Batman "Sparking" Cola by Cott, which we confess we don't recall back in the day but was apparently marketed as the champagne of sodas. You'd need quite a few dollars in your utility belt to afford a can or bottle of this today. Click here to visit the blog...it's not only groovy, it's downright fab!
RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FEATURES FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVE
This feature puts the spotlight on those glorious old movie marquees. This one depicts the
Loew's Capitol theater on the evening of the New York premiere of The Dirty Dozen in June 1967 at the Loews Capitol. Continue reading to see vintage marquees for Steve McQueen's The War Lover and Requiem for a Heavyweight starring Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason.
Continue reading "THOSE GLORIOUS OLD VINTAGE MOVIE MARQUEES: "THE DIRTY DOZEN"; "THE WAR LOVER" AND "REQUIEM FOR HEAVYWEIGHT""
The feud between John Sturges and McQueen was tragic...he had made McQueen a star in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. However, McQueen's long-delayed plans to bring a racing movie to the screen culminated in the ill-conceived Le Mans. The two old friends feuded over the film's concept. After Sturges quit the project, "B" movie director Lee H. Katzen took over. The film was one of the few outright bombs of McQueen's career, consisting mostly of footage of speeding cars and virtually no plot. (Thanks to Cinema Retro contributing writer Steve Saragossi for sharing this rare photo).
Here's a blurb from a 1961 issue of Boxoffice magazine showcasing impressive signage at a New York state theater showing Tony Curtis as The Great Imposter.
Vintage trade photo of Paul Newman receiving the World Film Favorite award from the Hollywood Foreign Press, which is today known as the association that gives out the Golden Globe awards. Newman accepted the honor in March, 1964. In other movie news that week, it was reported that Becket was doing standing room only business in its engagement at the Loews State Theatre in New York and Patricia Neal and Paula Prentiss were signed as female leads for Otto Preminger's In Harm's Way. (If you enjoy vintage movie news such as this, don't miss our That Was the Week That Was column in every issue of Cinema Retro).
Steve McQueen with co-star Tuesday Weld on location in New Orleans in this rare behind the scenes photo for "The Cincinnati Kid". The film was directed by Norman Jewison, who stepped in after Sam Peckinpah had been fired after incurring artistic differences with producer Martin Ransohoff.
Director Guy Green with stars Elizabeth Hartman and Sidney Poitier on location in Los Angeles for "A Patch of Blue" in 1965. Note that the theater seen in the background is showing a double feature of British oldies-but-goodies: Peter Sellers in "Trial and Error" and Terry-Thomas in "Kill or Cure".
Here's a gem from the Cinema Retro archives. Robert Shaw on the set of the 1977 thriller "The Deep" with his 14 year-old son Colin. Did you know that Colin played his father's character as a young boy in the film? Look for extensive coverage of the film in an upcoming issue of Cinema Retro.
Thanks to reader Mark Jarman for sharing this image with us from the web site Picture Sheffield.
Here's a bizarre double feature that opened in England in 1968: the would-be epic WWII movie The Battle of Anzio starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Falk on the same bill as Jerry Lewis' Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River. Note: in the USA, the Mitchum film was released under the title Anzio.
A reader identified only as Mark from England has kindly donated this fabulous photo of the 1978 showing of producer Euan Lloyd's great adventure film The Wild Geese in London's Leicester Square. Those were the days, when you could see the likes of Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris Stewart Granger and Hardy Kruger in one movie!
Film book author Kim Holston provides an interesting original advertisement for Brian De Palma's "Sisters" (1973) starring Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt. Note that the film was double-billed with the grind house exploitation film "Rape Squad". The ad pertains to the Philadelphia region.
The year 1969 represented major breakthroughs in cinematic freedoms, as evidenced by the big crowds who swarmed theaters to see erotica as "Sweden, Heaven and Hell". Although such films could probably be shown on the Disney Channel today, back in the day the softcore flicks marked the first time that "X" rated films were accepted as mainstream fare instead of fodder for guys in long raincoats. Suddenly, couples could brag about seeing these movies, which shortly thereafter gave way to even more sexualized celluloid. A few years later, the hardcore classics "Deep Throat" and "The Devil in Miss Jones" played continuously for years in the same theaters on 42nd Street. Cinematic sex was now here to stay, to the disgust of many and the delight of many more. - Lee Pfeiffer
They were Hollywood's seemingly least compatible power couple. Charles Bronson was noted for avoiding interviews and publicity while Jill Ireland relished the opportunities to promote her films. The couple had a rather convoluted start to their relationship. Ireland was married to David McCallum when the up-and-coming British/Scottish couple moved to Hollywood to further their ambitions. It worked. McCallum would become a major star within a few years and his career helped give his wife exposure as well. However, behind the scenes the marriage was becoming strained. McCallum and Ireland had formed a close friendship with Charles Bronson when they filmed "The Great Escape" together. When the McCallums moved to Hollywood, Bronson did a lot of socializing with them. But behind the scenes, Bronson and Jill began a tempestuous affair that led to her divorce from McCallum, who went on to marry model Katherine Carpenter (they are still together today). Bronson and Jill married as well and began a long time collaboration of appearing in films together. Initially, Jill had minor roles but as Bronson's star power increased he used his influence to get his wife co-starring roles. In all, they would appear in over a dozen films together before her untimely death from cancer in 1990.
Here's another reminder of how great movie-going used to be in the era when a hot dog and Coke didn't require a home remortgage loan. In 1967, the Pasadena Theatre was showing a re-issue of John Wayne's "The Alamo" along with another United Artists classic reissue, "The Pink Panther". If that wasn't good enough for you, "In Like Flint" was the next feature! (Kudos to reader Mike Boldt for sharing the photo).
Here's a photo of the Man With No Name skateboarding in Rome in 1964 during production of A Fistful of Dollars, the first in his trilogy of films with director Sergio Leone.
It remains one of the most iconic of all Hollywood photos: Jayne Mansfield upstaging Sophia Loren at a dinner party held in Loren's honor 57 years ago. For decades Loren has refused to comment on the photo, but in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she finally speaks briefly about the incident, saying that she was afraid that Mansfield's breasts could become unleashed at any moment. Click here to read.
There is a wonderful Facebook page titled "I Spy, Spy Shows" (search under that term) that pays homage to the great espionage heroes of the past. This gem of a rare photo was posted recently. It depicts Dean Martin on the set of the 1966 Matt Helm film "Murderer's Row" being visited by Derek Flint himself, James Coburn. If only there was a recording of whatever they discussed....
Can you remember when a major studio would premiere a major film at a mid-west drive-in? This was the case with Safe at Home, a 1962 film little-known outside the United States because it was cobbled together quickly to capitalize on New York Yankees teammates Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, who were both competing to be the home run king in baseball history. The competition between the sluggers galvanized the nation. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon and featured Mantle and Maris as themselves in a children's film about a young boy obsessed with baseball. When he can't deliver on his promise to have the legendary Mantle and Maris appear at his little league function, the two players take pity on him and show up at the event. The premiere of the film was held at the Pioneer Drive-In Theater to benefit the Des Moines Little League team. The photo shows theater management and little league coaches celebrating the event. Note that the second feature is John Ford's Two Rode Together starring James Stewart and Richard Widmark. Those were the days!
We've seen some pretty weird record albums tied in with celebrities. If you thought William Shatner's "Transformed Man" is the gold standard of bizarro ventures by actors into the realm of 331/3 records, Cinema Retro contributor Doug Gerbino spotted this gem that seems to beg for further investigation into its origins. Whatever possessed James Mason, one of Hollywood's most notorious cads both on screen and off, to delve into the world of Alvin and the Chipmunks, is a mystery destined to rank with debates about the origins of the pyramids. We also love the fact that Mason is seen on this children's album sleeve holding his omnipresent cigarette. This must have been a compromise on the part of Capitol Records in terms of Mason's presumed insistence that he be photographed swilling down a Martini! After all, the album does possess the highly-cherished Bozo Seal of Approval. We personally can't wait to locate a copy of this record so we can indulge in that snappy, toe-tapper "Backwards From 100" with James "Snoop Daddy" Mason on the lead.
It's not a common thing to see an article refer to Dame Helen Mirren as a "babe" but Buzzfeed utilizes that word to flatter one of the reigning queens of British cinema in a photo essay that shows the Oscar winner as a young actress. We have to agree, she is quite the "babe" and we know she's been acting in films since the 1960s...but do they have to say she's been around since "the dawn of time?". Click here to view
The Cinema Retro archives once again delves into its limitless images to present two great stars indulging in the Hollywood ritual of posing for cheesecake photos: Errol Flynn, seen here in an undated publicity photo at the height of his career and young Raquel Welch in the mid-1960s. Back in the day, stars and stars-in-the-making were subject to many glamour shoots designed to play up their images as sex symbols.
Audrey Hepburn would have been 85 years old this month. As a tribute to her special sense of class and style, the Huffington Post provides a series of photos illustrating Hepburn in the 1970s and 1980s as evidence that her beauty and elegance only became more impressive as she aged. Click here to view
Here's a real gem of a photo taken on the set of Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1963 chiller The Birds. Hitch was coming off a hot streak with North By Northwest (1959) and Psycho (1960). The Birds would be his last hit until his late career comeback with Frenzy in 1972.
The Star Ledger takes a brief break from covering the current crop of New Jersey political scandals to remind us about the state's rich history of great movie theaters. Click here for a wonderful trip back in time to relish photos of some great theaters, most of which are long gone.
RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES
In our never-ending quest to provide gratuitous thrills, Cinema Retro presents rare photos of Hollywood hunks and godesses.
Here's a couple of rare shots from the London premiere of What's New Pussycat? in 1965 showing Ursula Andress with Christopher Lee and Woody Allen.
Although Natalie Wood was regarded as a "serious" actress, having made the rare successful transition from child star, the custom of the day was for studio actors and actresses to pose for an endless amount of "cheesecake" photos. Wood was no exception as this rare photo for the promotion of "Gypsy" (1962) reveals.
We admit to not being among those who think Caddyshack is up there with the great Charlie Chaplin comedy classics. We might agree that it merits inclusion with the greatest work of nightclub comic/actor Charlie Callas, but there is no denying we're in the minority on this one. We actually prefer the comparative sophistication of Rodney Dangerfield's other starrers, Easy Money and Back to School. Yet, Caddyshack has spawned a fanatical following since its release in 1980 and the fan movement seems to only increase with every year. Count Tiger Woods among those who consider it their favorite comedy. Bill Murray's role as goofy groundskeeper Carl Spackler is probably his most popular screen character -though he is continuously upstaged by Mr. Gopher. The gopher scenes were ironically shot after most of the main photography had been completed. Director Harold Ramis experimented with using a live animal as Murray's on-screen nemesis but opted for a modular critter when the real gopher proved to be too unreliable (you know how actors are!) Special effects wizard John Dykstra built the immortal rodent who has earned his own place in the movie comedy hall of fame.
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