TRASHY TUESDAY: MOVIE STARS, FEMME FATALES AND DAMES – MORE MARC BRODY COVERS

In Australia one of the main rivals to Carter Brown was the series of Marc Brody books which appeared between 1955 and 1960.

Marc Brody was supposedly the author and main character in a series of tough novels written for Australia’s Horwitz Publishing. Like the Carter Brown and Larry Kent books, the Brody novels were inspired by the popular hardboiled American fiction of the time and were largely set in America. Brody was a crime reporter who managed to get himself in a wide range of troubles in the over 80 books he was featured in. In real life Marc Brody was W H (Bill) Williams an Australian novelist, journalist and editor of the tabloid newspaper Melbourne Truth.

The first Marc Brody novel released was Sensation On Sin Street (June 1955). The earliest I have in my collection (below) is the third one: Murder – Special Edition! (September 1955). The early books were not numbered and all of were published in digest format. The covers all featured the same style of colour tinted photographs of models on the covers, usually with an action backdrop or a smaller drawing or photo imposed on the model. The model’s photo was usually the centrepiece and the other photos/illustrations were used to suggest danger. The model photos varied from the relatively demure to the more provocative, but were never too explicit. Most of them also had a small silhouette of a man in a hat and coat, presumably Marc Brody.

Horwitz often commissioned photos for the covers, but they were also not above using uncredited stills of popular or emerging movie stars and hand tinting them or painting in details, particularly hair colour and eyes. Some of the well known actress to be found on the Brody covers include Joan Collins (see below), Jan Sterling and Joi Lansing, and popular female wrestler Ida May Matinez. Presumably none of whom were paid for the use of their image.

Set out below are some of the Brody covers from my collection. More can be seen here: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/trashy-tuesday-wantons-movie-stars-female-wrestlers-and-smoking-ladies-marc-brody-covers/

The first two Marc Brody books appeared in June 1955 and Murder – Special Edition was in the next September 1955 batch of three books, which also included Page Me A Pin-up (see previous post). Both books set the tone for the next fifty or so to follow, with a coloured-tinted photo of a model staring at the camera and a garish backdrop. In this case, in keeping the faux-American style of the books, the backdrop appears to be the lights and signs of a large American city.

The above three titles appeared in 1956. They stick pretty much to the cover formula established with the first books, with the exception of Carbon Copy Killer, which goes for a more provocative nude see-through nightie effect. The tagline of ‘A Crime Reporter’s Inside Story’ was introduced in mid-1956.

1957 brought an increase in price, but also some very good covers. The one for Deadline For A Dame, which was banned in Queensland, has a very attractive photographic cover featuring a young Joan Collins (I think). I also like the tinted blue eyes of the model on The Dames In His Death. The model looks familiar, but I can not think who she is.

Late 1957 also saw the introduction of blurbs on the front cover, as per the one for The Lady’s Out Of Circulation:

“So they were wild parties, but what’s wrong in asking a doll to step outside for a few minutes?
No steps! Brody!
You’ve got an invitation to murder, but look out for the dames … it’s a leap year!”

In 1958 Horwitz started numbering the Brody books and changed the format from digest to regular paperback size. They also introduced more painted covers, which can be seen in my earlier post: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/trashy-tuesday-baby-your-types-murder-by-marc-brody-horwitz-1958/

The Marc Brody books seem to have been popular at the time, although they did not achieve the international fame of Carter Brown. The late 1950s covers and wordy titles were very similar to the Carter Brown books, probably deliberately so, and sometimes similar models can be seen on both books.

Unfortunately the Marc Brody books are now hard to find in nice condition, but they are worth the effort.