The Story Behind the Pictures of Jim Morrison ‘Levitating’ Young Girls During a Photo Session in 1968

Around July of 1968, photographer Frank Bez took two series of photos of Jim ‘levitating’, his longtime lover Pamela Courson and another brunette model named Cathy Cristiansen at the Hollywood Bowl.

Frank Bez recalled he had the idea of this photoshooting after reading an interview Jim had given for Ladies Home Journal, where he said that he “had a way to talk to girls that made them levitate.” The photographer then contacted Jim and suggested him that they could make a photoshooting picturing Jim ‘levitating’ girls.

Frank hired someone from the Magic Castle to help them to make the levitation trick, and Jim posed for two series of shots. One with the model, that had been hired that day for the shoot, Cathy Cristiansen and another one with Pamela, who had come with him for the photoshooting and enthusiastic about the whole concept was happy to be taken in photo with Jim for another series.

“There’s a place in L.A. called the Magic Castle,” Frank Bez told Esquire in an interview. “It’s what you’d call a mansion, up in the hills in Hollywood. It’s a club for magicians. So I came up and said, ‘Can you direct me to someone who specializes in levitation?’ They put me in touch with a guy, and he said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you how to do it, but I’ll kill you if you tell anyone else.’”

According to Bez the reason the pictures were taken with Courson was because “Pam was just tagging along with Jim and wanted to try the trick.” But the pictures of Courson ‘levitating’ almost didn’t work out because Courson was “quite a bit larger than Cathy, she did a good job of balancing on the rig.” Jim was in his attire for rehearsing the Hollywood Bowl, and Pamela was wearing her own clothing during the same photo session for Esquire magazine.

“He was a little skeptical when we did the levitation thing, because he felt he was pushed in the corner for making that comment. But once we solved the problem, he was into it. He was more outgoing, and I never saw the difficult part of his life because we just had good times.”

Frank Bez was a photographer in Hollywood and his work includes artistic portraits of people from Hollywood in the 1960s. He captured a young Jane Fonda, Raquel Welch, Jimmy Stewart, as well as more artistic works.

One of the wilder claims that have been made about Jim Morrison and the picture is that Morrison could actually levitate people.

Here’s the photos series of Jim Morrison ‘levitating’ Pamela Courson:

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Beautiful Photos of Anna Karina in the ‘60s

An icon of 1960s cinema, Danish-French actress Anna Karina came to prominence as French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard’s muse during this period. Altogether, Karina appeared in eight films directed by Godard: A Woman is a Woman (1961), My Life to Live (1962), The Little Soldier (1963), Band of Outsiders (1964), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), Made in USA (1966), and The Oldest Profession (1967). She won the Golden Bear Award for Best Actress for her performance as an exotic dancer in A Woman is a Woman. Godard and Karina’s collaboration and relationship made them one of the most celebrated pairings of the 1960s, according to The Independent.

Below are 25 beautiful vintage photographs capture the icon during the ‘60s:

Anna Karina in a bar in Paris, France, 1960. Photo by REPORTERS ASSOCIES/Gamma-Rapho.

Anna Karina about to kiss her husband Jean-Luc Godard on their wedding day in Geneva, Switzerland, March 1961. Photo by Jean-Claude Sauer/Paris Match.

Anna Karina, who has just married Jean-Luc Godard, smiling with a rose in her hair, Geneva, Switzerland, March 1961. Photo by Jean-Claude Sauer/Paris Match.

Anna Karina at the San Sebastian Film Festival, 1962, Guipuzcoa, Spain. Photo by Gianni Ferrari/Cover.

Studio portrait of Anna Karina, bare shoulders, wearing a bun, December 1962. Photo by Walter Carone/Paris Match.

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50 Glamorous Photos of Virginia Bruce in the 1930s and ’40s

Born 1909 as Helen Virginia Briggs in Minneapolis, Minnesota, American actress and singer Virginia Bruce had her first screen work was in 1929 as an extra for Paramount in Why Bring That Up?

In 1930, Bruce appeared on Broadway in the musical Smiles at the Ziegfeld Theatre, followed by another Broadway production, America's Sweetheart, in 1931.

Bruce returned to Hollywood in 1932, where at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in early August she began work on the film Kongo starring Walter Huston. She retired briefly from acting after the birth of her daughter Susan Ann, and returned to a hectic schedule of film appearances in 1934.

Bruce is credited with introducing the Cole Porter standard "I've Got You Under My Skin" in the 1936 film Born to Dance. That same year she costarred in the MGM musical The Great Ziegfeld.

In 1949, Bruce starred in Make Believe Town, a 30-minute afternoon drama broadcast daily on CBS Radio. Much later, in the early 1960s, the veteran actress retired from films but emerged from retirement in 1981 for a final screen appearance, portraying the title character in Madame Wang's, a "bizarre" production directed by Paul Morrissey in association with Andy Warhol.

Bruce died of cancer at age 72 in 1982, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.


Take a look at these glamorous photos to see the beauty of young Virginia Bruce in the 1930s and 1940s.

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The “Queen of Funk”: 35 Cool Pics Show Unique Styles of Chaka Khan in the 1970s

Born 1953 as Yvette Marie Stevens in Chicago, Illinois, American singer and songwriter Chaka Khan has her career spanned nearly five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus.

Khan received public attention for her vocals and image. Known as the “Queen of Funk”, Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with "I Feel for You" in 1984. She has won ten Grammy Awards and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.

In the course of her solo career, Khan has achieved three gold singles, three gold albums and one platinum album with I Feel for You. With Rufus, she achieved four gold singles, four gold albums, and two platinum albums. She has collaborated with Ry Cooder, Robert Palmer, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Guru, Chicago, De la Soul, Mary J. Blige, among others.

In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 65th most successful dance artist of all time. Khan was ranked at number 17 in VH1's original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. She has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; and was first nominated as member of Rufus in 2011.

Take a look at these cool pics to see the unique styles of young Chaka Khan in the 1970s.

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Wonderful Photos of 1954 Chevrolet Corvair, Which Was Touted as a New Aerodynamic Design

The Corvair dream car was an experimental two-passenger fastback. It was built with a fiberglass body and was touted as a “new aerodynamic design” for the closed sports car class.

The streamlined roofline swept back into the jet exhaust-type rear opening. It was originally a ruby-red color for the New York City Motorama in January but had repainted in a lighter hue by the time of the Los Angeles show in March.

The roof of the car was interesting in a couple ways. First, it gave a glimpse of the quarter window and C-pillar treatment of the 1958 Chevrolet line, much like the Biscayne did a year later. Secondly, the addition of a fastback roof did not alter the Corvair’s interior layout.

One would have expected that it would have had a finished-off cargo area, perhaps even equipped with fitted luggage, as was a common practice with sports cars at the time. Instead, the body appeared to have the roof grafted right on to a production Corvette, as there is no storage area behind the seats.

The stock trunk area is used with a decklid contoured to the new roofline. The seats had the production fiberglass divider between them, just like a stock Corvette roadster. The area is even body-colored, which actually makes for a very attractive, albeit unusual interior layout for a closed coupe. The remainder of the interior is largely stock, with custom white seat covers and chromed interior C-pillar trim pieces.

Unfortunately for this particular machine, it was the only one of the three that did not reach production in some form. With Corvette sales becoming sluggish during the 1954 model year, it was seen by product planners as too high a gamble. The time for a Corvette fastback eventually did come, though nearly a decade later and on a new-generation machine.

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When Batman Isn't Saving Gotham, He's Helping These Adorable Kids Cross the Street!

Hopefully no supervillains were harmed in the making of this road safety video featuring “Batman” actor Adam West. It was filmed in London’s Kensington neighborhood in May, 1967.

This long-lost clip shows the Caped Crusader teaching young British kids how to cross the street. Adam West donned his cape and flew to London for the short film, which was never screened outside of the U.K.

“I’m taking a holiday from crime-fighting,” Batman says from the banks of the River Thames, with Big Ben over his shoulder. Naturally, he’s brought along his nifty Batcamera to capture some memories. “No rest from danger, though, because all around us is that deadly, daily danger — traffic!” Cue the “POW!” effect as a double-decker bus zooms by.

“I admire the way all you British children triumph over this danger,” West says in his inimitable voice.

Batman then gathers five young children and teaches them the Green Cross Code. “Look right, look left, look right again,” he instructs. Then he gets a little face time with a blond moppet.

The clip was screened for TV professionals and scholars this past weekend at Birmingham City University. Kaleidoscope surveyed 1,000 folks in the British television industry to compile a list of the most sought-after footage from bygone television. Episodes of Doctor Who, Top of the Pops and The Avengers.

Below are some photographs of Adam West dressed as “Batman” for the filming of a road safety advert for children on 7th May 1967.

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50 Black and White Photos Capture Everyday Life of Tallinn, Estonia in the Mid-1970s

Tallinn is the capital, primate and the most populous city of Estonia. Located in the northern part of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea.

Tallinn is the main financial, industrial, cultural, educational and research centre of Estonia. It is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Helsinki, Finland, 320 kilometres (200 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, 300 kilometres (190 mi) north of Riga, Latvia, and 380 kilometres (240 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and has close historical ties with these four cities.

Due to its strategic location, the city became a major trade hub, especially from the 14th to the 16th century, when it grew in importance as part of the Hanseatic League. Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tallinn is ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top ten digital cities in the world. The city was also a European Capital of Culture, along with Turku in Finland.

These fascinating black and white were taken by Timo Heinonen that show street scenes of Tallinn and its Old Town in July 1976.

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Beautiful Pics of Sharon Tate Taken by Jerry Schatzberg in 1966

Born 1927 in the Bronx, New York City, American photographer and film director Jerry Schatzberg photographed for magazines such as Vogue, Esquire and McCalls.

Schatzberg made his debut as a feature film director with 1970s Puzzle of a Downfall Child starring Faye Dunaway. He went on to direct films such as The Panic in Needle Park, which starred Al Pacino in 1971, Scarecrow, which shared the grand prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, Honeysuckle Rose with Willie Nelson, Misunderstood (based on a novel by Florence Montgomery) and Street Smart in 1987 which earned Morgan Freeman his first Oscar Nomination.

As a still photographer, one of Schatzberg's most famous images was the cover photo of the Bob Dylan album Blonde on Blonde, released in 1966. A collection of Schatzberg's images of Dylan was published by Genesis Publications in 2006, titled Thin Wild Mercury.

Schatzberg resides in New York City, where he is working on several film projects, including a sequel to Scarecrow, co-written with Bruce Springsteen's former publicist, Seth Cohen.

These beautiful pics are part of his work that Schatzberg photographed portrait of Sharon Tate in London in 1966.

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Amazing Photographs That Show Street Style of Young People in Mexico in the Late 1980s

These portraits of young people in Juarez, made by Mark Goebel in the late 1980s, contain elements of the sublime in their balance of light and form. Anticipating at points prominent work from more than a quarter century later.

At the same time, their insistence on the clothing and affect of anonymous subjects—momentary acquaintances of the cameraman, presumably—read almost as a brutalized vision for street fashion from an alternate present. Outfits are uncannily in dialogue with current trends, evidence of style’s cyclical routes and the cross-national meanderings of culture.

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