The Green Gang. Shanghai. Opium.

Shanghai was the original Sin City due to its association with Opium and vice. This image is about the Green Gang in old Shanghai which was under the leadership of Du Yuesheng [known as 'Big Ears'].
There's a bit of Art Deco again here as well as other influences [I watched Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express recently which was beautiful to look at-and a great film of course].
I'm trying different things out at the moment and this is a companion image to the one in the previous post. I hope to do more in this vein again.

Blokkhed

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Shanghai. Sin City. Poster. Glamour. Danger. Art Deco

Shanghai, the original Sin City. The 1920s and 30s was an era of turmoil with enormous social and political changes taking place. Shanghai had an aura of both glamour and danger which is so evocative of the period [the rule of the Green Gang is something I'll hopefully explore later]. Art Deco was again partial inspiration as was the imagery of Shanghai and China in the movies of the period like Lost Horizon and Shanghai Gesture.

Blokkhed

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Art Deco Poster. 1930s Radio Mystery.

The Stroller, Art Deco style. Who is he? Why does he stalk the streets at night? What mysteries does he explore?
It started as a Pulp style character but has now become more art deco, which is ok with me. I'll explore the Stroller again some other time, maybe even take a look at his face...maybe...

Blokkhed

Pulp Fiction. The Shadow. The Whistler. Fantomas. 1930s Radio Mystery. "The Stroller" in the Fog.

The Stroller in the Fog. Radio Mystery 1930s style. In the vein of The Shadow, Fantomas, The Whistler and all the Pulp Fiction mystery detectives/thieves/strange characters that proliferated then. The Stroller patrols the night and narrates strange stories of weirdness and danger. The Stroller lives in the fog and disappears like a thief in the night. Who is the Stroller?

Blokkhed

Art Deco. Poster. Suspense. Pulp Fiction. 1930s Radio mystery. "The Stroller"

"The Stroller" in The Night of Lost Souls. An enigmatic and ghostly character who introduces and narrates strange stories of mystery and suspense. The Stroller is in the same pulp style as The Whistler and the The Shadow. I really like the 'strange' stories of weird suspense and "The Stroller" is as enigmatic. The poster is in an art deco style and colours. Using a limited palette is interesting to do and Ludwig Hohlwein and Spanish deco were also inspirations.
Who is The Stroller? Where does he come from? All may be revealed at some time.

Blokkhed

Art Deco. Poster. 1930s. Mystery. Radio. Theatre

The MysteryLand Radio Theatre poster for the production of the 'Theatre of Lost Souls'.

Blokkhed

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Exotica. Kitsch. Les Baxter. 1950s. Safari on Saturn.

Safari on Saturn. The song that Les Baxter should have recorded. Exotica, Retro, Kitsch, there's nothing wrong with any of it as far as I'm concerned, so let's go on "Safari on Saturn".

Blokkhed

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Atomic Power. Nuclear. 1950s. Our friend Mr Atom.

When the oil finally runs out Mr Atom may well be our friend. The future is coming and Mr Atom will save us, or will he?

Blokkhed

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Las Vegas, Nevada. Sin City. Atomic Blast. Cocktails.

Las Vegas, Nevada. Personally I can't get enough of that Retro style , not because I think it's kitch, I actually really, really like it. Anything from 1951 to around 1982ish is good for me. Each decade has something to interest me, with this image it's the 50s. Not being around in that particular decade means it is distant enough to be a strange and exotic place for me. I'm gradually exploring some of these things in my work and there's a lot more to look at. So in this case its Las Vegas, Sin City and cocktails while the bombs explode. Imagine it, Las Vegas used to advertise that you could go there and see the Atomic tests going off in the desert, what a selling point!
An excellent book about America in the 1950s is Bill Brysons "The Life and times of the Thunderbolt Kid" , as good a book about a childhood as you'll ever read. I read it a couple of weeks ago in a weekend and it fitted perfectly with the Rock Shore 'Cody Jet' character I'm working on. A naive decade in some respects and no less charming for that, even if there was Cold War and nuclear bunkers were everywhere, but you knew that heroes like Captain Video [never saw this one here in England, but I'm watching the DVD as I write], Casey Jones and Roy Rogers would save us-either from aliens or commies or bandits.
Get yourself an Atomic Cocktail from Slim Gaillard and wait for the wind to blow...

Blokkhed

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HotRods and Horror. "The HotRod from Hell" 1959

The HotRod from Hell. 1959 An Epic/MotoRama production cashing in on the Hotrod, Rock and Roll and horror exploitation genres. This was Rocky in his late teens and trying to get away from potential typecasting as a child actor.
We hope to uncover more imagery from this time and Rockys earlier works in 1950s TV and film appearances-such as: Teenagers from Space [1954], Cowboy Cody Jet [1955]. . .

Blokkhed
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Sci-fi Movie Poster "Crash Landing"

Crash Landing. The first poster in the Kid from Space serial. It shows the space suited Cody having walked from his crashed ship. It was a bit of a teaser so they kept Rockies face a secret.


Blokkhed

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Robot, Metal Man, 1950s Sci-fi poster.

Another poster from the "Kid from Space". As you can see it's the second chapter "The Metal Man". Produced by Epic Pictures, the serial was made in twelve parts. Interestingly it stars Chad "Rocky" Shore, the Chad was dropped in the later posters [see previous post]. Actually the previous post shows the poster for the European release-which wasn't in serial form but put together as a full movie, this was quite common to edit together serials to make a complete movie.
This poster shows evidence of ageing, it's dis-coloured and creased. Still a good copy though and very, very rare. It looks like most of the series posters will become available to view in the near future, although a few episodes are missing presumed lost.
There's more material to come from the Cody Jet movies as well as more of Rocky Shore in his other movies in the 50s and 60s.

Blokkhed

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