Karin Dor in "Topaz"

Was watching the awesome 1969 Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller Topaz the other night, and was simply blown away by how unbelievably gorgeous actress Karin Dor was in it! She was SO achingly beautiful in every scene she was in, I could hardly stand it!


This is kind of funny in that I’m a HUGE James Bond fan, and yet for all the times I’ve watched “You Only Live Twice”, Karin (as agent Helga Brandt) never seemed to me to be more than another one of those agent-babe-who’s-going-to-get-killed-early-on-in-the-film throwaway characters. Little did I know how she’d set my senses on fire later!

TOPAZ was an espionage movie centered around the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 60’s, and Karin plays Juanita de Cordoba, a beloved widow of a famous hero of the people who is secretly working with the French to keep tabs on the Russian going-ons in Cuba. Karin (a German actress who easily slips into other ethnicities like Indian and Latino) breathes lush life into the very “Evita-Peron”-ish Juanita character, making her both feminine, refined and strong hearted. When Juanita is first introduced, you are IMMEDIATELY captivated by those EYES of hers- sensual AND commanding at the same time!

My attraction for her only grew as the scenes went by- MAN! I'm ALL about 60's fashion, and she displayed it very well. Looking so classy, I didn’t think things could get any better, then suddenly there she was in front of me with her luscious hair down, looking ALL KINDS OF SEDUCTIVE in this smoking, sexy, lacey nightgown!!!!

YE GODS, I couldn’t TAKE IT! I had severe Babe-Overload!!!


Ah, yet ANOTHER actress falling into my category of “Distractingly Beautiful”, Karin Dor really DOES IT for ME, at least in THIS movie!

*  *  *  *  Addendum, *Spoiler Alert*  *  *  *  *

Thought I’d said all I had to say on the subject, but just HAD to mention this one INCREDIBLE scene in Topaz that I just can’t stop thinking about.

Working as an undercover spy in Cuba is, as one would suspect, a deadly occupation with a high mortality rate, and in the end Juanita is one of the many who end up sacrificing her life for the cause, and here Hitchcock directs probably one of the most beautifully shot deaths ever put to celluloid- Juanita is held in an embrace and is shot at close range. As she slowly slumps down to the ground, her velvety purple gown pools out across the floor like blood pouring out of her, this is such a haunting and MESMERIZING scene to behold!!

My Herb Trimpe Commission!

As readers of this blog know well, when I was a wee lad growing up, my favorite, favorite comic was Marvel Comics’ take on the Toho Productions Japanese monster series GODZILLA. Godzilla was the very first comic I started collecting, and it was through this strip that I was first introduced to the world of the Marvel Universe. It was here I first met Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones and S.H.I.E.L.D., The Fantastic Four, The Avengers and even other monsters like Devil Dinosaur!

Out of the entire run of the strip, my all-time favorite story has to be the arc where Dum Dum and his gang get Henry Pym (AKA Yellowjacket) to create a gas that will shrink Godzilla to the more easy to handle size of a household pet! This epic storyline started in issue #17 and in fact ran the entire remainder of the series, which concluded with Issue #24.

I’ve always loved all the covers in that run, and even had fun illustrator Fred Hembeck recreate the cover of Issue #17 for me, and he did in true Hembeck flair! But the one thing I always wanted was a recreation of issue #18, my very favorite Godzilla cover of them all!

On this cover, a shrunken Godzilla is beneath the streets of New York and is battling one of the Big Apple’s own style of monster: that of a huge sewer rat! This to me was always the quintessential Godzilla Cover, and I knew who I wanted to recreate it for me: The man himself, Godzilla Artist Herb Trimpe!

I didn’t know quite how to go about getting this done, til I was directed by an original art collector to Jeff Jaworski’s site, COMICBOOK-ART.COM. Jeff hosts a BUNCH of artists from that magic time called the Bronze Age, including (among many others) Keith Pollard, Bob Budanski, Ron Wilson and YES!!! Herb Trimpe!

For only a modest fee I was able to request a Pencil reproduction of my favorite cover, and in less than a month, I had the AWESOME Godzilla #18 cover commission in my hands!!!! WOW!!! Will you look at that sketch!!! Ah, Truly a dream come true!!!

Barbie Collection, Debbie Harry Style!

Mattel recently released a limited editon BARBE series entitled “Ladie Of The 80’s”, where they fashioned Barbie with the style and look of several famous icons of the eighties, including Cyndi Lauper, Joan Jett, and, unbelievably, a PLASTIC LETTERS era Debbie Harry!

Plastic Letters has long been my favorite album from Blondie, and the look that Debbie was rockin’ during this time is my hands down favorite look from her as well (feathered, billowy two-toned hair- blonde with black streaks), so you can BET I was THRILLED to see this album honored like this!

It’s kind of unusual that they’d choose Plastic Letters to recreate, one would think that they would have chosen one of Blondie’s more well-known releases like “Eat To The Beat” , or “Parallel Lines”… perhaps they wanted to dress Debbie’s Barbie likeness with a more “extravagant” dress than the white dresses she wore on Eat To The Beat or Parallel lines. What’s even more unusual is the fact that while this series is called “Ladies Of The 80’s”, “Plastic Letters” came out in 1978! HAHAHA

In any case, as soon as I saw that Debbie Harry doll, I IMMEDIATELY got on the ball and ordered myself a copy! The package just arrived today, and I have to say it looks even better than I thought! Look at the detail in that dress, the transparent heels, etc- they even got the two-toned feathred hair right! And it’s so cute how they really managed to get Debbie’s sexy and smouldering features onto the doll’s face!

Looking at the back of the box, they even managed to get ahold of an exciting alternative shot of the famed Plastic Letters album cover, a picture that not even the digital release of the album included!

Barbie Doll Liner Notes:

“The Platinum, Punk Goddess of a decade, Debbie Harry is singer, songwriter, and frontwoman for Blondie. She took her band away from the Bowery to Superstardom with her tough and pretty persona, beautiful voice, and witty, ironic music. Mixing New Wave, Reggae, Rap and Disco, Debbie created an unforgettable landmark of pop culture. The Debbie Harry Doll captures the singer’s sassy spirit and famed beauty. This is the first doll in the Ladies of the 80’s collection.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Traffic "John Barleycorn Must Die" Deluxe Edition!

Also re-released this past month is the latest in the awesome Universal Music DELUXE EDITION series- the Classic Album JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE by Steve Winwood group TRAFFIC.

Booklet

I’ve always loved these DELUXE EDITION releases (other albums I’ve picked up have been releases from the Who and Moody Blues, among others) because besides  the beautiful packaging and sonic remastering, they always manage to dig up a whole slew of interesting rarities for their Bonus disc, and this release is no different!

John Barleycorn Must Die has always been my favorite TRAFFIC album, and I couldn’t wait once I found out it was FINALLY getting the Deluxe Edition Treatment!

Gatefold 1

Gatefold 2

The remastered disc is great- crisp pinging highs and droning lows (especially in the opening track GLAD), but the treat of this disc is the BONUS stuff- from alternate takes of songs like STRANGER TO HIMSELF, JOHN BARLEYCORN and EVERY MOTHER’S SON to selections from the legendary live 1970 FILLMORE EAST concert sets:

Medicated Goo

Empty Pages

Forty Thousand Headmen

Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring?

Every Mother’s Son

Glad

Freedom Rider

Booklet liner notes

Been playing this disc in the car the past few days and have been subjecting all who ride along with me the wonder of Traffic, including one friend who commented (when hearing Freedom Rider), “I thought this was Blind Faith”. HAHAHAHA, seems he’d gotten his Steve Winwood groups mixed, and it’s kind of funny in that this was a guy whose favorite single in 1980 was “While You See A Chance”! LOL

PS: One thing different about this Deluxe Edition is that unlike earlier releases, this one didn’t come with a plastic slipcase, and instead had the “Deluxe Edition” banner stuck directly onto the packaging! YIKES! I had to carefully peel THAT one off, fearful that I’d tear the cover!