Fun Finds: Movie Stars Magazine, March 1968

This edition of Fun Finds was made possible by a grant from one of our loyal readers. A surprise care package arrived in the mail with several vintage magazines and this was one of them! On the cover are Miss Nancy Sinatra and the four popular Lennon Sisters. (This is one rare time in which I actually prefer Peggy's hairdo to Kathy's - and look how dark Dianne's is! I wonder if someone colorized it incorrectly...) Let's dig in and see what we find within its covers.

There's nothing at all unusual about a feminine protection advertisement in a magazine of this sort, but usually the models aren't wearing huge sanitary napkins themselves! LOL I hope the poor dear doesn't spill any red wine on this dress at dinner (though it will probably soak right into the "soft impressions" and no one would notice...)

This gossip section, authored by famous columnist Army Archerd, touches on the then-fresh split between Tony Curtis and his second wife Christine Kaufmann (the girl he left Janet Leigh for.) He would wed four more times before his death in 2010. Army refers to Sonny Bono's "high-powered" music! James Coburn's wife Beverly hung in there until 1979. What about the "date" between Lainie Kazan and Richard Chamberlain (in mime makeup)? 

Interesting to note that Frank Sinatra offered Candice Bergen the Mia Farrow role in The Detective (after he fired - and divorced - her for not leaving Rosemary's Baby to report to his movie.) The part was ultimately fulfilled by Jacqueline Bisset. Interesting that Roman Polanski's name is misspelled with a "y" on the end. Susan Hayward actually didn't make another movie until 1972, five years after Dolls. The previous owner of the magazine filled out this contest entry chit, but didn't clip and mail it in!

It's interesting to read the take on Lee Marvin and Michelle Triola's live-in arrangement when you know that six years after they broke up in 1970, she sued him, in a landmark case, for what became known in slang as "palimony." She wanted $1.8 million as well as $104K for "rehabilitation purposes," but wound up with $0.00.  It remains a tough row to hoe for those who pursue it with "cohabitation agreements" a common bit of advice to unmarried couples living together. Marlo Thomas never did marry this man. She wed for the first time in 1980 (at age 43) to Phil Donahue, who she'd met on his talk show three years prior.

This chatty section is far cattier than Archerd's column, picking at celebrity relatives who aren't as successful as their kin and taking Debbie Reynolds to task for her style choices. The wedding referred to in the caption for George Hamilton's photo was that of President Lyndon Johnson's daughter Lynda Bird Johnson, who Hamilton dated for a time.

The column continues onto this page, with another feature "Talk to the Stars" beginning as well. Pics include the kids from Family Affair and a trio of Kings (thus representing but a fraction of The King Family!) The Q&A section kicks off with a couple intended for then-hot Sajid Khan (whose Hollywood career only extended a few years after this, though he continued to act sporadically up to the millennium.) Incidentally, if you're curious about Barbara Bain's answer, she said that they had a pact to always work together and held out for the opportunity. Also, that the difficulty came in trying to keep up with his marvelous talent.

As "Talk to the Stars" continues, there's a question for Roger Ewing, an actor I'd never even heard of. After looking him up, I see he was a recurring cast member on Gunsmoke, appeared on several other shows and in some movies before concentrating on photography from the early-'70s on. He was reportedly a contender for the title role in Midnight Cowboy before Jon Voight won the part.

This periodical is big on slipping the text in-between columns of ads versus the more common method of lumping ads together on whole pages. For those that enjoy the vintage advertisements, this is a plus in your book! This continuation of the earlier gossip column reflects on Miss Dina Merrill's loss of social standing when she married an actor and has a Star Trek era pic of Leonard Nimoy, minus the pointed ears. Interesting that as early as 1968 Newman and McQueen were debating billing should they ever team up (which they memorably did in 1974's The Towering Inferno.) Donna Reed's husband at this time only lasted until 1971. Three years after that, she wed for a third and final time.

Ending on this page, we read about Eve Arden's children who may be pursuing show business careers. Connie doesn't appear to have gone on to much, but her youngest son (Douglas Brooks West) did a fair amount of writing, directing and producing as an adult. On a happy note, Mark Slade did indeed marry Melissa in 1968 and they remain together still today!

Robert Culp's marriage to France Nuyen lasted less than three years. He wed two more times while she remained single after 1970. At the bottom is a pic of Lynda Bird Johnson and her groom Chuck Robb. They remain wed to this day.

Having wed in 1960, Sammy Davis Jr. and Swedish actress May Britt faced a considerable uphill battle. (In fact, interracial marriage was forbidden by law in 31 states, eventually being accepted in 14 of them until 1967 when a Supreme Court ruling allowed for them countrywide.)

Having created one child and adopted two more, one might think they had a chance for enduring happiness, but it all fell apart in 1968 (Davis had become involved with frequent co-performer Lola Falana, though May gets all the blame in this article.) Britt (who had been wed once before him and did marry again after Davis) is still alive today at eighty-three. Davis had a successful third marriage in 1970 which lasted until his death in 1990 at age sixty-four. As for the bottom of the sidebar, Dean Martin rather foolishly ended his marriage to Jeanne in 1973 and married once more directly after, but it was over in three years. Joey Bishop stayed with his wife until her death in 1999.

Most folks, especially those who've read this blog (or as noted above!), know that the biggest fissure in Frank Sinatra & Mia Farrow's marriage came when she failed to report to The Detective because Rosemary's Baby was running over schedule and she (rightly, in retrospect) sensed it was going to be a landmark film while her part in The Detective could have been done by virtually anybody. 

The angle in this piece is that both Frank and Sammy were facing down divorce at virtually the same time. She had actually taken time during Baby to visit him on Detective, trying to keep their union alive, but when she missed the start date for her supporting role, she was served with divorce papers almost immediately after.

Say it isn't so? Cissy from Family Affair a slut?

Of course it's not true. One of the guys was a man she was paired with on The Dating Game and the other two were her brother (!) and his friend. Typical bait & switch headline.

Actor Frank Converse

Converse had been the lead on a failed amnesia-centered series called Coronet Blue before doing the show referenced in this article, N.Y.P.D., which focused on three police detectives: Jack Warden, Converse and Robert Hooks. He arguably became better known from the mid-'70s trucker series Movin' On with Claude Akins, but enjoyed a long career that extended to 2012. He's seventy-nine today.

Who knew that at one point Davy Jones and Sally Field enjoyed a series of dates together!?

The angle on this story is that he was the guest brought in to crown a Miss Teen International during a pageant in which she was taking part (but didn't win) and gave her a kiss then. But later during The Flying Nun they went on some dates. It didn't last terribly long because she wed first husband Steve Craig in 1968. Jones also wed in '68, but it was kept under wraps to avoid upsetting his teen fans from The Monkees. He had been married three times by the time of his death in 2012 at only age sixty-six.

Here's Davy Jones sidled up to two of Dean Martin's daughters!

Dean was proud of all his children, but Dean Paul Martin (who, for a time went by Dino and was in the music act Dino, Desi & Billy) was a particular favorite. Dean Paul had been married and divorced from both Olivia Hussey and Dorothy Hamel when he died in a National Guard-related plane crash at only age thirty-five. His father was never the same after that. Deana Martin had a thriving music/acting career in the 1960s, later turning to live performance (in Branson, MO, for example) and then recordings produced by her husband.

Here we find a splashy, two-page spread of paparazzi photos featuring Peter O'Toole and then-wife Sian Phillips.

The text refers to her as "ex-actress" though she wasn't exactly idle! She was raising their two children, but still worked occasionally and, in fact, had two films released in 1969. In 1976 came her most striking work, likely, as Livia in I, Claudius on the BBC. They divorced in 1979 after two decades of marriage and Ms. Phillips is eighty-four now. (After O'Toole, she was wed for a dozen years to actor Robin Sachs.)

Now, the cover story, about Nancy Sinatra and The Lennon Sisters (two acts you typically don't associate with one another!) "leaving the men they love. Though it is carefully done, Nancy was NOT in the middle of the sisters during this photo. She's been sneakily cut and pasted in!

The gist of the story is that The Lennon Sisters were departing The Lawrence Welk Show, where they began, to star on Jimmy Durante Presents The Lennon Sisters. The variety show was marred by the uneasy combination of costars, compounded by the horrifying murder of their father by a deranged fan in 1969. And as it turns out, Nancy wasn't leaving anyone! Her collaborator Lee Hazlewood was striking out on his own and moving to Sweden. After many 1960s hits, they reunited in the early-'70s to less fanfare.

Maureen O'Hara kicks off a two-part feature about her life and beliefs.

I thought it was fascinating that in 1968 she says about too much idle time for young people: "There are many, many conveniences, too. What it used to take hours to do, it now takes only minutes." Good lord, it must be seconds now! I've seen sweeping changes since I came along in 1967! She later goes into how she won a screen test at age sixteen and eventually came to Hollywood.

This feature, a continuing series "Complete Pocket Guide to Hollywood," offers photos and little thumbnail bios of any and all stars of movies and TV at that time. Equal weight is given to people whether they were Oscar-winning legends or regulars on a TV show.

As this installment only goes from Kellerman to Knotts and appeared in a monthly magazine, one assumes it took quite a while to amass the entire "pocket" guide! (They must have had bigger pockets than me...!)

Lynn Loring was a child soap actress (on Search for Tomorrow) who grew up and found much work on television. Thinnes also began on a soap (General Hospital) and later starred in the short-lived shows The Long, Hot Summer and The Invaders. And, of course, had a role in Airport 1975, making him a member of our "Disaster Movie Club."

The couple (who, according to the text met in 1964, though Thinnes was married until 1967 to his first wife!) seemed to have a successful union, working together often in the late-'60s and 1970s, divorced in 1984. She didn't remarry, but he did two more times.

I'm sorta doubting it...

I have to say I've never seen either of the movies featuring these two stars together. Anyway, all the text is just a bunch of gibberish to provide a reason for these press shots taken upon Rock's arrival in Rome for filming.

Wrapping up, I close with a couple of ads and one page that had more writing on it from our magazine's original owner. Again, he didn't clip and send it in, but maybe he was ashamed of his mess-up and scratch-outs. LOL

Kicky, '60s bargain fashions.

Finally, this lunatic ad that promises to increase cleavage to an eye-popping degree with Mark Eden exercises using a clamshell-like device... The company was indicted for mail fraud and these ads (and the "product") were withdrawn by the early-1970s.

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I'm in the midst of learning a new position at work (after 17 years in the same one!), so it's been tough to gather time for posting. I hope that I'll be able to keep everything rolling as 2018 dawns, though it may result in some briefer, less-involved postings. I'll be back as soon as it's feasible!  Thanks.

It's Still Comic-al!

The last gap between posts was one of my longest and I do apologize about that. What with many holiday events and an avalanche of work (including the roll out of a new program that took up most of my work days – imagine that!), I wasn’t able to squeeze in very much time at The Underworld. With that in mind, and with the weekend fast approaching, I’m gonna pop out a quick novelty posting to keep the ball in the air until I can return early next week with another tribute.

I did a posting on amusing or appealing or otherwise intriguing vintage comic book covers quite a while back and have since amassed a few more to share. This whole topic begins and ends with one of the classic notorious covers, one for a book on the western TV series The Rifleman. About the adventures of reformed gunman Chuck Connors and his young son Johnny Crawford, this cover placed a hilariously phallic log into little Crawford’s hands that was right at crotch level on Connors. What tops it off is their hilarious expressions, which were likely meant to demonstrate a father’s pride in his son, but comes off like a father’s pride in his massive tool that the song has to help carry around! That’s not enough… The copy writers felt the need to add this blurb to the cover: “A mysterious bag holds the secret…” Does it now?

On the animation front (which I don’t usually feature here, but will this once) is another screamer that has become legendary. One of the countless number of Archie comics, this one called Betty and Me, it has the stalwart redheaded hero rescuing blonde Betty from a near drowning. But the caption is the kicker. Betty asks, “Archie, did you have any trouble rescuing me?” to which her replies, “I sure did, Betty. I had to BEAT OFF three other guys!” And the words are emphasized just that way. That’s the kind of lifeguard job I could have used in my summers of yore.

These Dell and Gold Key comics were produced as tie-ins for so many television shows and motion pictures. True, the artwork inside might range from rudimentary to barely average, but the color photo covers gave kids the opportunity to obtain a keepsake of their favorite show or star. Now, years later, these books have become highly collectible, though not to the extent that I would have thought they’d be. After all, so many of these things were crumpled up, tossed out by mom on cleaning day or otherwise disintegrated, never to be made, or perhaps even seen, again. Take The Munsters, a two-season black and white sitcom that featured distilled versions of The Frankenstein Monster, Dracula and The Wolfman fashioned into a suburban family. A comic like this was the only way to see the actors/characters in color (though, arresting as they are, I must admit I always preferred seeing them in black and white, maybe because that’s how I am used to seeing those old Universal Studios horror movies.)

There might even be a comic for a show that barely caught on and which was rarely ever seen again. Take It’s About Time, a Sherwood Schwartz sitcom about astronauts that wind up stuck in The Stone Age, with one of the cave dwellers being a bug-eyed Imogene Coca! Seeing the limited possibilities of the concept, the producers decided to flip the scenario around, bringing the astronauts home, but with two prehistoric people in tow! Almost no one knows about this show, but to a select few who do, this comic is a great find. Reportedly, the theme song for the show was a jaunty and memorable one, which isn’t hard to believe when you realize that Schwartz produced Gilligan’s Island and, thus, knew the importance of such things (even if this time the show didn’t last.)

Did you know that there were also I Love Lucy comic books? I don’t know how well her brand of physical comedy, accented by that legendary wacky voice, translated to the page, but there were more than a few issues printed, all of them featuring the famous redhead in color shots that allowed one to actually see the color (keep in mind, TV sets were almost exclusively black and white, at least in the American homes, until the mid ‘60s.)

Some of these comic books offer up beautiful portraits of the stars. Hugh O’Brian, the handsome and elegant star of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, was the subject of many comic books, but this one eschewed the usual action pose and focused on his pleasing face. (Again, his show being black and white, it was a nice opportunity to see him in color.) And look at that big ol’ gun! Actually, a whole article could be written about the placement of guns and rifles in promotional photos and comic covers… For the girls (I suppose… Do you see many 1950s-‘60s teen boys heading up to the drug store counter to pay for their copy of a book like this?), there was the dreamy Ricky Nelson. America watched him grow up on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a show that was unusual in that it was a sitcom about a family in which the actors really all were a true family, not just performers brought together and pretending! They had begun on radio way back in 1944 and about five years in, the boys began to play themselves. (And there had been a comic book about them even way back then.) Then the show moved to TV in 1952 and stayed on the air until 1966. Even the wives, once the time came for that, were scripted in to play scripted versions of themselves, making this an almost quasi-reality TV show long before the term was coined! (Admittedly, the Nelsons were not exactly the same off screen as on, but you get my drift…) Incidentally, this was the longest running sitcom for ages until The Simpsons came along and broke its fourteen-year record.

Sometimes a close-up would have the added bonus of featuring the star shirtless, as in this cover for Sea Hunt, starring Lloyd Bridges (later of Airplane! fame.) How burly to have such a furry subject on the cover of a kid’s comic book. (The last time I mused about comic covers, Jeff Bridges had won an Oscar the evening before. This time, I have just come from seeing True Grit, for which he is almost surely going to be nominated again! Lloyd would be proud.)

Occasionally, a cover might sport an unusual shot, such as this one for Gunsmoke, with Marshal Matt Dillon (played by James Arness) on his back with his legs spread, offering a glimpse of his rounded crotch, gently tugging at the fabric of his tan trousers. (Ha ha! And they say the Marquis de Sade was sexually descriptive in his writings. He’s got nothin’ on me!)

If more blatant beefcake is your cup of tea, you need look no further than Tarzan. Gordon Scott, one of the most muscular vine-swingers and also one of the handsomest, was featured on the front of many comics. It’s not hard to imagine him completely naked in this portrait as he stands behind a fallen tree. Though the skimpiest loincloth of the classic Tarzan’s probably belonged to Johnny Weissmuller in the first film (with Buster Crabbe’s bun-revealing one a close second), TV Tarzan Ron Ely surely seems to have been given the shortest! It gave more side coverage, but rode low and was cut high, fully exposing him to every conceivable twig, bramble and thorn (and, trust me, he was positively ravaged by nature during the harried, get-it-in-the-can shooting schedule of the show!) Later, he would become the host of Face the Music, a TV game show and a far safer manner of occupation.
Vera Miles was married to Gordon Scott and she was also married to Keith Larsen, the star of several short-lived TV shows including Brave Eagle, the first series ever to have an American Indian as the primary focus. The show also strove to present Indians in a positive, intelligent light (this despite the fact that Larsen, as Brave Eagle, was a Caucasian of Norwegian descent, born in Salt lake City, Utah!) In any case, Miss Vera got to head home to some decent looking men in her day! "A Ride for Life," indeed!

We all know Lassie and most of us are aware of her days living with June Lockhart, Hugh Reilly and little blonde six-year old Jon Provost. Note the possible implications of the hysterical, unintentional (?) pedophilia and bestiality present in the caption "Desperate men lead Timmy and Lassie to an old empty barn...!" (As an aside, and why I reveal these things, I still don’t know… I was watching Lassie once as a kid in a rerun on a UHF channel. The print was old and creaky. As the announcer was running down the cast members’ names – something I have always loved – the film crackled when it got to June Lockhart’s and it came out “Jockhart!” Thus, dear June will always be Jockhart to me. But anyway…) Here is a cover of Lassie with “her new masters.” I’d say she traded up! She went from the dusty old farm with The Martins and the kid who was always tumbling into trouble into a new life with two grown men, one so-so and the other rather handsome! The downside is that she probably got store-bought canned dog food instead of the scraps from Jockhart’s table.
Speaking of male twosomes that pique interest, check out this snap of Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, used for the cover of an issue of an I Spy comic book. They are supposed to be secret agents (the show being the first to feature a black actor with equal billing and social standing as the Caucasian counterpart), but from this you’d think they were an interracial gay couple posing for a picture between tennis rounds while on a vacation to Catalina!

Frequently, a one-shot issue would be published in order to promote a certain project or to capitalize on the hot career of a relative newcomer. Such was the case of David Ladd. David, the son of major film actor Alan Ladd, became a sensation for a while after having a significant role in his father’s film The Proud Rebel. He continued to act, with moderate frequency, until the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, and was married to a young actress who took (and kept) his name, Cheryl Ladd. He eventually became a highly successful executive at MGM, though none of this would be found in this comic book, published when he was still a sprite. Anyway, the REALLY difficult story belonged to his older half-brother Alan Ladd Jr., but there was no comic book about him! The product of Ladd’s first marriage, he was kept a virtual secret from the fans, being forced into the shadows for all of his pre-adult life, only emerging later as a young man to a mystified public. Much to his credit, he also grew into a respected and highly successful executive in the motion picture business.

Other comic books, usually one-shot deals, were adaptations of important movies, or, in the case of this one, movies that have since taken on reputations as hopelessly miscast camp spectacles! John Wayne as Atilla the Hun in The Conqueror, a notorious slice of cinematic craziness produced by Howard Hughes. These things were often written and drawn before the film came out in an effort to coincide with the release and capitalize on it or help promote the movie (this is also why sometimes the inside storyline varies from the finished product, because they were based on scripts that may have been revised during shooting.)

Speaking of conquerors, here is another hooty classic: an adaptation of the hilariously bad Santa Claus Conquers the Martians! The rotten film, featuring a pre-teen Pia Zadora and made for $2.73, now has a significant cult following. There are probably quite a few fans of the movie who would like to have a copy of this gem, most of which, sadly, have probably been tossed out or otherwise lost/destroyed over the years.

Then there’s Lord Jim starring Peter O’Toole, an ostensibly adult story based on a novel by Joseph Conrad, and a seemingly odd choice. Perhaps the makers wanted to obtain a certain level of Classics Illustrated credence to their line or maybe they just wanted to try to cash-in on an upcoming Hollywood movie. In any case, the movie tanked and critics thought pretty little of it, too. Hopefully, the adventuresome aspects of the tale lent themselves to some good reading material for the kids who bought it.

Even harder to understand is the comic version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips (also starring Peter O’Toole), not that the story isn’t appealing to boys of a certain age, but this was the MUSICAL remake! How on earth does one convey the art of music to a comic book?! On the other hand, this major flopperoonie was considered by many to be devoid of any aural artistic qualities and would surely have succeeded better as a straight drama. The reviews upon release contain some of my favorite scathing remarks. The National Review critic John Simon said, "The music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse conquer new depths of ineptitude, and having these nonsongs done mostly in voice-over as interior monologues adds pretentiousness to their basic awfulness.” Then ever-snarky Rex Reed chimed in with, “to insinuate that Leslie Bricusse's plodding score is merely dreadful would be an act of charity,” though to be honest, the musical “score” was actually done by John Williams. Vincent Canby said of the songs, “Like unbeaten egg whites in a soufflé, they do nothing for the cause of levitation” while Rogert Ebert called them, “sublimely unforgettable.” By the way, do any of my fellow fortysomethings and beyond out there think that Mr. O'Toole, on the upper right of this cover, resembles the professor on the old Yahtzee scorecards?

The project had been kicking around for a while, initially meant as a reunion for Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews (though it would have been their first pairing on a movie screen.) It then morphed into a Richard Burton/Samantha Eggar vehicle, but she was replaced by Lee Remick, then she was dumped for Petula Clark! This angered Burton and he fled the project only to be replaced by O’Toole. At least the leads O’Toole and Clark were granted good notices for their acting. Miss Clark undoubtedly should have had a more substantial Hollywood career, in my opinion.

These movie-oriented comics make wonderful additions to the memorablilia of collectors of classic Hollywood. Neverheless, it would have been quite cool for a kid in 1966 to get to read the adaptation of Fantastic Voyage, the Stephen Boyd/Raquel Welch movie about a team of scientists shrunken down to microscopic size and injected into the bloodstream of a man. The fantasy aspects of the story would have translated well to the medium.

Less cool would have been the rendition of 1960’s The Story of Ruth! Can you imagine?! “Where’s Eldon, dear?” “Oh, the last time I saw him, he was curled up on his bed upstairs reading his Story of Ruth comic book…” LOL! Good Lord. Literally! At least there was a (not so great) photo of yummy Tom Tryon on the cover. If I remember right, Stuart Whitman got a lot more screen time in the actual movie, though.

Finally, I give you another movie adaptation. I know times have changed and many people now seem to instantly apply a perverse or sexual connotation to the word “naked” when it used to be used in a lot of cases to simply indicate bare-ness, but I think I would have been a little embarrassed to totter up to the counter and plunk down my dime and two pennies for a book called The Naked Prey, only because of what I feared the clerk might think, rather than from any sense of shame of my own. Think about it. I once had to ask a video store rental person if they had The Naked Jungle (a perfectly clean and upstanding film about a plantation overrun by army ants) and was looked at like I was requesting pornography! And I think my grandma would have sharted if I dragged a comic book into her house called The Naked Prey! She once informed me that “comic books should be comic. That’s what comic means… comedy!” So, I’m doubting that this one would have gotten the stamp of her approval! Ha! That said, the movie does contain a couple of truly vicious killings in the beginning. I wonder if they were rendered in the comic book. Not to mention the fact that star Cornel Wilde was implied to be actually naked (though he really was covered in a fleshtoned thong) for a stretch of the action! Surely that was handled tastefully in the book. Besides, how many people really even opened it with a cover like that one?!

I hope you found this post diverting. I will be back soon with more from The Underworld!