Get In The Halloween Spirit With 'Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders'

Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders or Valerie A Týden Divů is a cult-erotic-fantasy-horror made in Czechoslovakia in 1969 (released in '70). Valerie, played by Jaroslava 'Jarka' Schallerova, is a young girl whose entrance into womanhood (after her magic earrings of innocence are stolen) is accompanied by surreality, eccentric carnivals and mystical rituals along with scary vampires and witches. At the time of its release, the film created a lot of controversy, especially with its daring sexuality (Jaroslava was only 14, then). Fortunately, unlike so many other great Czech films, this one is available on DVD even in America (with English subtitles). You can find it on Amazon or eBay.

Little bit of trivia: Petr Kopriva plays Orlik (Czech for Eagle), the young man who steals Valerie's earrings. Petr would eventually become Jarka's husband in real life. Despite their age difference when they met (he was 22, 8 years older than her), they became friends during filming, started dating later on and then married when Jarka was 20 in 1976. They are still together and have two sons.

The following are some promotional photos Jarka took while filming this European cult classic.

Faye Dunaway - Blonde With A Difference

MM...is for MARISA MELL

Suzy Kendall: Now She's ENSUZYASTIC!

Outdoor Girl Raquel Welch

Anjanette Comer

One of my favorite things about being a fan of Sixties Cinema is finding out about new movies and actors/actresses I didn't pay much attention to before. Anjanette Comer is my latest discovery. I dig her look and am looking forward to seeing more of her films.

Jean Shrimpton...She Hates To Be Fancy

THE WORLD'S most beautiful model, London's Jean Shrimpton, is off on a new career: The cinema, ducks. She makes her film debut in Privilege, directed by 31-year-old Peter Watkins, who rushed to fame with The War Game. Felice Gordon, the agent who handled her modeling, stopped to talk about The Shrimp's new and old careers. Like this: "Jean was making outrageous, just outrageous sums of money. She could make $3,000 a day with a single assignment. She's 24, though, and that's old for the youth-oriented market, so of course she has to be replaced, the public is fickle. She's incredibly beautiful, but then so was Suzy Parker--such a gorgeous face in her day. Jean's bought a house, and she wants nothing more than to putter around in it and be with her own little friends. She hates parties, and rarely will go, only if it's a special friend, and then she wears just what she happens to have on that day. Hates to be fancy. Twiggy is popular now because she's only 17 and the public is demanding youth now. But she's really a bit ordinary to stay for long: I mean, one can't respect that face too long." Felice, not Feline.
-Ladies Home Journal, July 1967