In the period between the late 50s and mid-70s, Europe supplied many beauties for appearance on the silver screen with portrayals as Greek goddesses, spy girls and eye-candy in giallo films. Mylene Demongeot was one of them. She played in precious few of our beloved genre films, but is nevertheless more than worthy of attention.
Perhaps her most popular role in this regard is playing Andromeda opposite Steve Reeves in the 1959 peplum film co-produced by France and Italy, THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS (La battaglia di Maratona).
Jaques Tourneur, who had directed a series of very effective horror films in the 1940s (CAT PEOPLE, etc.) bowed out in the middle of directing this film after declining a contract extension. Mario Bava, who was the cameraman, was asked to step in and finish the directorial duties. Galatea Film rewarded Bava's efforts by allowing him to develop his own project. The name of the film would be BLACK SUNDAY (1960).
In her biography, Miss Demongeot claimed that Steve Reeves was only making films to earn the money for a ranch and horses. She also said that Reeves physical appearance was "show muscle", and he barely had the strength to lift her. According to her, Tourneur seemed to be not interested in working on this film and gave most of the directorial work over to Bruno Vaïlati.
Shown below is a photo spread of the then very popular Mylene Demongeot from the October, 1965 issue of CONTINENTAL FILM REVIEW.
Born Constance Frances Marie Ockleman on November 14, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York, the sultry Veronica Lake was a popular actress and pin-up girl in the 1940s. The girl with the trademark "peek-a-boo do" was known for her roles in Preston Sturges' SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941), and film noir classics such as THE BLUE DAHLIA (1946), THE GLASS KEY (1942), and Graham Green's THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942), Miss Lake also appeared in a few genre films and TV Shows, including the fantasy/comedy, I MARRIED A WITCH (1942), an episode of the LIGHT'S OUT TV series (1950), and a TALES OF TOMORROW episode in 1952.
With the earnings from her autobiography, in 1970 Lake produced and cast herself in the embarrassing horror film, FLESH FEAST. Lensed in Miami Beach by Viking International Pictures, it is a story of a doctor who dabbles in youth experiments using maggots (!). A group of neo-Nazis catches wind of the miracle treatment and want to use it on, well, you-know-who.
Unfortunately, the beautiful Miss Lake suffered for years with alcoholism. She died on July 7, 1973 of liver and kidney disease.
Below is a unique depiction of Veronica Lake in the form of a French "Personality Poster" with artwork by Roger Soubie.
"Veronica Lake Personality Poster (Paramount, 1944). French Affiche (23.5" X 31.5"). Roger Soubie Artwork.
French artist Roger Soubie masterfully captures the radiant beauty of the ultimate femme fatale, Veronica Lake, "peek-a-boo" mane cascading softly across her eye and down her shoulder. Good looks weren't Ms. Lake's only asset - she was no slouch as an actress, delivering fine performances in important films such as Sullivan's Travels, The Glass Key, and This Gun for Hire. This arresting personality poster was created at the height of her 1940s popularity, and displays nicely after touchup to the folds with a tiny bit of paper loss at the center crossfold. There are some very faint scattered spots in the background and the poster shows light toning. Very Fine on Linen."
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