PULP FICTION THURSDAY: DEATH DOES NOT TAKE A HOLIDAY

An early movie memory of mine is watching Death Takes A Holiday on tevee. It's a 1934 film starring Fredric March as <ahem> death. I thought that it was odd that death was so handsome: why didn't death resemble Jimmy Durante? But the movies keep doing it: Max von Sydown was the chess playing version of death in the Seventh Seal and Brad Pitt was the grim reaper in Meet Joe Black. The pulps are, not surprisingly, full of deadly (deathly?) imagery, which struck me as appropriate for this week since the holiday weekend was punctuated by the bloody and horrific events in Mumbai. Death clearly did NOT take a holiday this year. Bastard.

My favorite of the group is I Married A Dead Man. How did that happen? Shouldn't there have been the tell tale aroma of embalming fluid? I'm as broadminded as the next guy but I think  zombies should stick to their own kind. Are Danny Boyle and George Romero aware of this? Of course, this sounds more like a job for Ray Dennis Steckler aka Cash Flagg...

Finally, it's time for a spot of holiday jeer from the Adrastos Virtual Cafe. For some reason, it's hard to find holiday themed pulp covers featuring a variation on the death theme but I dug one up that could serve as a cautionary note for anyone who's part of the war on Christmas:

tags: pft  pulps  movies  holidays  

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