Teenage Monster (1958)
British postcard by Moviedrome, no. M23. Image: British poster of Teenage Monster (Jacques R. Marquette, 1958). Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
Teenage Monster is a 1958 horror movie. I like those slogans “A teenage titan of terror on a lustful binge!” and “The year’s shock suspense sensation!” I had a feeling the makers were outshouting themselves. Yet, I read the story and it is scary. A student turns into a kind of Chewbacca after he has seen a meteorite crash in the desert. He becomes a psychopath that scares the village. The girl we see on the poster is not a nice girl. She blackmails the student-monster’s mother and tells him to kill for her. It does not end well…
Iris (2001)
Dutch postcard by John v.d. Burg Indoor Media. Image: French poster for Iris (Richard Eyre, 2001) with Judi Dench and Kate Winslet. nd Kate Winslet. Caption: A memoire of Iris Murdoch. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
Iris (2001) is a biographical film about the writer Iris Murdoch. I am a fan of her books. Unfortunately, I have not seen the film. Yet. However, I did read the books John Bayley wrote about his wife. (He wrote three books about her.) Apparently, it is based on his 'Elegy for Iris' and I am curious whether the film follows his writing. Iris received an Oscar and two Oscar nominations, so it should be a good movie. (Judi Dench even resembles Iris.)
Tommy (1975)
French postcard by Editions Humour à la Carte, Paris, no. A-C 70. Image: French poster for Tommy (Ken Russell, 1975) with Roger Daltrey. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
Tommy is a 1975 musical film based on the rock opera album 'Tommy' (1969) by the British rock group The Who. To me, this poster is retro seventies. Colours, shapes, design, and the whole cast. In that respect, it can be compared to A Clockwork Orange, Yellow Submarine, and Lisztomania. I am no expert, but I just like those designs from the sixties and seventies.
Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle/L'énigme de Kaspar Hauser (1974)
French postcard by Editions La Cicogne / Presse Diffusion SAM, Monaco, no. A 115 / A 3. Image: French poster for Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle/The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Werner Herzog, 1974) with Bruno S.. The French release title is L'énigme de Kaspar Hauser. Caption: Grand Prix Special de Jury - Cannes 1975. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
This poster immediately drew my attention: a blue background from which a man in white is appearing or receding into with some of the blue background shining through him. As far as I am concerned this is what a film poster is intended for. I looked up everything I could find about this film and now I want to see it.
The movie is based on a true story: in 1828 a German teenage boy, Kaspar Hauser, was found in the streets of Nuremberg. He claimed he grew up in a cellar in total isolation. The film is a rather romanticized story about this boy.
The poster became even more interesting when I looked up information about the actor playing Kaspar Hauser: Bruno Schleinstein or Bruno S. Schleinstein was born in 1932 in Berlin to a prostitute. He spent his childhood in mental institutions. The Nazis considered him “unfit for society” and decided he should be put to death. Fortunately, Bruno S. could escape.
Werner Herzog saw a documentary about him and immediately knew that this man was Kaspar Hauser. The poster shows Bruno S. with staring eyes, holding out a letter; the real Kaspar had a letter with him that said he wanted to join the army. On the other hand, he has two books: theologians and scientists were interested in the teenager as he was considered to be an original person, possessing an uninformed empty mind and they were curious what his opinions on science and God were. He seems to appear from the clouds: Kaspar seemed to have appeared out of nothing in Nuremberg. At the same time the clouds, this nothingness seem to be one with him; Hauser died (some say he was murdered, others are convinced he killed himself) and still nothing was known about him.
When I read all those stories I was struck by the similarities between the two. Both are misfits and had difficulties surviving in a civilized society. Yet, Kaspar Hauser was, or is, considered a fraud by many people whereas Bruno S. was original and did not have to act to be a convincing Kaspar Hauser. To Herzog, Bruno Schleinstein was “the Unknown Soldier of Cinema”. All this information, it is impossible to tell all I want, it just is too much, was triggered by this postcard.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968)
British postcard by Moviedrome, no. M 31. Image: American book cover for 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' by Michael Avallone, based on the American TV Series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968) with Robert Vaughn. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
Some years ago I collected paperbacks that were movie tie-ins. I was merely attracted by the covers which were movie-related. I cannot remember I read them. This card, however, is the cover of a paperback that is based on a TV series that was broadcasted on television from 1964 until 1968. I always assumed a movie was based on a book, but in this case, it is the other way round: the book was based on a TV series. You immediately notice it is about action: a well-dressed man with a gun chasing a villain, I think. Well, if I had seen it, I certainly would have bought the book. And not read it.
Once Upon a Time in America/Il etait une Fois en Amerique (1984)
French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, no. E 180. Image: French poster for Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984). The French release title is Il etait une fois en Amerique. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
This is a French card/movie poster of Once Upon a Time in America. I don’t know whether this is the original poster. The one I saw, and thought was the original, is much lighter. However, I like this one more: a dark, rather depressing image with five very small persons in the front and Brooklyn Bridge in the back. It conveys the atmosphere of the movie better.
St. Louis Blues (1958)
British postcard in the Magic of the Movies Series by Mayfair Postcards, no. FP 864. Image: Italian poster for St. Louis Blues (Allen Reisner, 1958) by Sandro Symeoni. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
This postcard drew my attention because it immediately makes clear what the movie is about: music. Eartha Kitt dominates and looks as if she is singing passionately. She wears a dress that draws attention too. Behind her, a band is playing. My first thought was that they are a Dixieland band: they wear clothes and play instruments which I link to Dixieland music. The film is about W.C. Handy, “The Father of the Blues”. I don’t know whether the Dixieland notion is justified, but the card certainly draws attention. The title St. Louis Blues and actors, Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, make clear the movie is about music … blues.
Dracula/Horror of Dracula (1958)
French postcard by François Nugeron, Neuilly, no. E 19. Image: French poster for Dracula (Terence Fisher, 1958). Le cauchemar de Dracula is the French release title. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
I have a weakness for vampire movies. There are many different movies about Dracula. I do like most of them, but to me, Christopher Lee remains the one and only Dracula. This is the only card I could find with Christopher Lee as Dracula. It is a French movie poster and tells us what Dracula is about: it is about darkness, a beautiful woman in white and Dracula in black clothing. His ruined castle is in the background and in the foreground, the title is in a bat.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull/Jonathan Livingston Le Goeland (1973)
French postcard by Humour à la Carte, Paris, no. A-C 11. Image: French poster for Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Hall Bartlett, 1973). The French release title is Jonathan Livingston Le Goeland. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
My father used to give the story about Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach as a present to all the people he knew. Most people he knew received it as a birthday present, a promotional gift, a reward, or for no reason at all. He was also a fan of Neil Diamond. He did not see the movie by Hall Bartlett with music by Neil Diamond. I like this card with its colours and seagull. And it reminds me of my father.
Emmanuelle (1974)
French postcard by Editions F. Nugeron, Paris, no E 162. Image: French poster by René Ferracci for Emmanuelle (Just Jaeckin, 1974), starring Sylvia Kristel. Collection: Carla Bosch (Meiter).
To my great surprise, I saw I own a card with Sylvia Kristel as Emmanuelle. I immediately said it would be in this list with a bullet. And here it is. I don’t have much to say about it. Except that I remember Sylvia Kristel as Emmanuelle.
Text and postcards by Carla Bosch a.k.a. Meiter.
Collector Carla Bosch is a guest contributor of EFSP. Last year, she wrote this delicious post 'Let the sun shine in!'. Also, check out What Carla Bosch found in the attic and Collecting Marilyn.
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