THE SAVAGE GIRL (1932)

Born March 6, 1916 in Oklahoma City, Rochelle Hudson was an American actress who had a long and successful movie career that began when she was just 13 years old. In her younger years she lived near Ventura Blvd. and the neighborhood of Tarzana, named after Edgar Rice Burroughs' most famous fictional character. She became close friends with the Burroughs family and even took vacations with them.

During World War II, her husband (who later would work as a story editor for Disney) was stationed in Hawaii and she suspended her acting career and went to work for Naval Intelligence in Mexico and Central and South America.

During her film career, she played in roles along such famous actors as James Dean, W.C. Fields, Cary Grant, Mae West, Natalie Wood, Joan Crawford and many others.

In 1932, she starred in the film, THE SAVAGE GIRL and played the typical "white jungle goddess" that was protected by a gorilla (played by Charlie Gemora in one of his many ape-man get-ups). It was fairly well-hyped and she was seen in a variety of photoshoots and articles at the time. It is a rather rough-looking production, but the theme of jungle beauties, savage animals and topless native women were popular during this period.

Ironic side-by-side images, since Rochelle Hudson
was good friends with the Burroughs family.

Rochelle Hudson's last film was in 1967. She passed away on January 17, 1972 at the age of 55 in Palm Desert, California from a heart attack brought on by a liver ailment (another source reports her dying of pneumonia).

EXTRA! Women half-clad in leopard skin outfits were all the rage for a time on the silver screen. The attire has never gone out of style and is still popular today for a touch of the wild and exotic.

This pictorial from EYE (March 1954) features Maria Stinger, a pinup model popular for--among her other attributes-- being able to be made up to look very much like Marilyn Monroe, only who posed for more provocative shots. She was a favorite of famous glamour photographer Bunny Yeager and by the fetish photographer Irving Klaw, who some may recognize as the man who made Bettie Page the most famous pinup girl of the 1950's.

Photographs by Bunny Yeager.

Maria Stinger Gallery

(WARNING! NSFW!)

Photographs attributed to Bunny Yeager:

ACCENT ON LUGOSI

Much has been discussed about Lugosi's heavy Hungarian accent and how he dealt with it after coming to America to pursue an acting career. Most agree that it worked to his advantage for his stage and screen roles as the mysterious and exotic Count Dracula. Unfortunately, on other occasions it was challenging to land parts because of it.

In the February 1932 issue of SCREENLAND, there was a feature article citing numerous actors and actresses that struggled and overcame their native language speaking barriers and the accents that came along with them. Lugosi was among those discussed. Interestingly, the picture chosen for him was his famous 47" x  61" painting by fellow-Hungarian Géza Kende.

OH, MAE! OH, HELEN!

What are the chances of two of Universal horror's leading ladies appearing in the same issue of a Hollywood fan magazine? Pretty good in 1932 it seems, when it came to Mae "Frankenstein" Clarke and Helen "Dracula" Chandler. Both were enjoying rising fame and popularity at the time and these two feature articles from SCREENLAND magazine (February 1932) tell about their personal lives and work in the best that Hollywood fan mag jargon could describe.

EXTRA! SCREENLAND also regularly printed a page with information on how fans could write to their favorite stars.