36 Amazing Film Stills From the Set of ‘Goodfellas’ (1990)

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”

Martin Scorsese’s woozy, dizzy adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi’s slice-of-Mafia-life book Wiseguy is many things: a social anthropology study, an epic look at the American Dream, a coked-up nightmare, a nostalgic look back at an age when made men were made men, a head-spinning display of virtuosic filmmaking, the blueprint for the modern organized-crime saga and a peerless look at a world where you might be slapped on the back or shot in the face.

“Mob guys love it, because it’s the real thing,” Pileggi told GQ. “They say, ‘It’s like a home movie.’” And as you watch Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill go from up-and-coming crook to cosa nostra bigwig to Witness-Protection-Plan “average nobody,” you realize you’re getting a funhouse-mirror reflection of an old-fashioned U.S. of A. bootstrap success story, complete with bespoke Italian suits, bulging cashrolls and Bolivian-marching-powder meltdowns.

Every performance, from the holy trinity of Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to the round-the-way guys in the background, feels pitch-perfect. Its movie-mad references run the gamut from The Godfather to The Great Train Robbery; its soundtrack incorporates everything from Bobby Darin to Donovan, the Stones to Sid Vicious. Its influence is incalculable – you don’t get a million moving-camera showstoppers without that Copacabana tour, and you definitely don’t get the Tarantino, et al., mix of black humor and horrifying violence without Goodfellas’ getting that combination down to a science first.

And though Scorsese had made great movies before and would make great ones after this, this Mob-flick hit feels like a summation of his culturally specific, universally thrilling cinema about men on the edge. There are movies that may be more emblematic of the Nineties, but this was the one that set the pace for the entire decade – a high mark that left most other contenders to the throne looking like schnooks.

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Stunning Photos of Linda Ronstadt on Stage in the 1970s

Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin.

Ronstadt became the first female “arena class” rock star after the release of chart-topping albums such as Heart Like a Wheel, Simple Dreams, and Living in the USA. She set records as one of the top-grossing concert artists of the decade. Referred to as the “First Lady of Rock” and the “Queen of Rock”, Ronstadt was voted the Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s.

She has released 24 studio albums and 15 compilation or greatest hits albums. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. Many of her albums have been certified gold, platinum or multiplatinum in the United States and internationally. She has also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2014.

Take a look back at Ronstadt performing on stage in the seventies through these 17 stunning photos:

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35 Beautiful Photos of Marta Kristen in the 1960s and ’70s

Born 1945 as Birgit Annalisa Rusanen in Oslo, Norway, Norwegian-American actress Marta Kristen first appeared in a 1961 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Bang! You’re Dead”. Her first film role was in the 1963 Walt Disney production of Savage Sam. She played the role of Lorelei in the 1965 movie Beach Blanket Bingo.

Kristen is best known for her role as Judy Robinson, the oldest child of Professor John Robinson and his wife, Maureen, in the television series Lost in Space (1965–1968). Her character was a young adult, around 20 years of age. She also made the occasional film appearance in movies such as Terminal Island (1973), Once (1974), appearing as a bare breasted ‘Humanity’, and the science-fiction film Battle Beyond the Stars (1980); and had a cameo role in the 1998 movie Lost in Space.

Kristen also provided voice work for the 2009 animated theatrical short “The Bolt Who Screwed Christmas” which also included voice work from her Lost in Space co-stars Harris, Mumy, and Angela Cartwright.

Take a look at these beautiful photos to see portraits of young Marta Kristen in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Vintage Photos of Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams in the TV Show ‘The Addams Family’

Lisa Loring, best known as the first actress to play Wednesday Addams in the original The Addams Family sitcom, has died at the age of 64. Loring “passed away on Saturday surrounded by her family,” longtime agent Chris Carbaugh told CNN in a statement on Monday.

“She brought to life one of the most iconic characters in Hollywood history that is still celebrated today,” Carbaugh said. “Lisa loved sharing her memories and meeting all her fans across the world.”

Loring’s personal friend, the author Laurie Jacobson, wrote on Facebook that Loring had “suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure” and had been on life support for three days before her family decided to remove it on the weekend.

Jacobson paid tribute to Loring’s “legacy in the world of entertainment”, writing: “She is embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”

To people of a certain age, Lisa Loring will be known as playing the younger sister that every boy wanted, mainly because of her hobbies. She had pet spiders, including her favorite, Homer; a host of headless dolls and she showed a truly macabre fascination with death, all perfectly acceptable due to her being Wednesday Addams in the 1960’s television series, The Addams Family.

Strangely, after playing the part from 1964 to 1966, she turned her back on her acting career aged only eight and stated that she would never act again. Keeping this promise until 1981, Loring returned to the screen when she played a part in the daytime soap As The World Turns for three years.

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40 Vintage Cover Photos of Black Mask Magazine in the 1930s and ’40s

Black Mask was a pulp magazine first published in April 1920 by the journalist H. L. Mencken and the drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine was one of several money-making publishing ventures to support the prestigious literary magazine The Smart Set, which Mencken edited, and which had operated at a loss since at least 1917.

Covers of Black Mask magazine in the 1930s and 1940s

Under their editorial hand, the magazine was not exclusively a publisher of crime fiction, offering, according to the magazine, “the best stories available of adventure, the best mystery and detective stories, the best romances, the best love stories, and the best stories of the occult.”

The magazine’s first editor was Florence Osborne (credited as F. M. Osborne). Here below is a set of vintage photos that shows covers of Black Mask magazine in the 1930s and 1940s.

Black Mask cover, March 1930

Black Mask cover, May 1930

Black Mask cover, December 1931

Black Mask cover, April 1932

Black Mask cover, February 1932

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Slam Dunk ’88: The Story Behind Michael Jordan’s Iconic Free-Throw Dunk Photo

It’s one of the most famous photos in basketball: an iconic shot of Chicago Bulls’ superstar Michael Jordan appearing to defy gravity during the 1988 Slam Dunk contest in Chicago. The image of Jordan lifting off from the free throw line on his way to a colossal dunk was captured by renowned sports photographer Walter Iooss Jr.

For Walter Iooss, who at that time had a resume including some of the most memorable sports images of heroes such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Montana, Wilt Chamberlain and many more, it was his relationship with Michael dating back to several previous photoshoots that helped him get the perfect shot. He revealed a little backstory about the photo:

“The problem with shooting the NBA slam-dunk contest was that you never knew how the players were going to dunk, especially Jordan. In 1987, he had twirled and dunked with his back to me. But by this time I knew him a little better. As he sat in the stands three hours before the contest, I said, ‘Michael, can you tell me which way you're going to go, so I can move and get your face in the picture?’ He looked at me as if I were crazy, but then said, ‘Sure. Before I go out to dunk I’ll put my index finger on my knee and point which way I’m going.’ I said, ‘You’re going to remember that?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’

“So later, when they announced his name [for his turn to dunk], I looked over to him on the bench and there was his finger pointing left. I got up and moved to the right side of the basket so I could see his face. He went left every time he dunked. On his last two dunks, he ran the length of the court, took off from the foul line and slammed the ball through. On the next-to-last one he landed in my lap. On the last one I set up in the same spot. He looked at me as if to say, ‘Go left a little, give me some room this time.’ And that was it, the picture was made: 1000th of a second frozen in time.”

The result was among the most ubiquitous photos of Jordan.

Walter Iooss Jr., shown alongside Michael Jordan, 1988.

Elegant Found Photos of a ’50s Young and Beautiful Lady in Her Wedding Gown

After the shortages of World War II, women were ready for a little luxury. And brides didn’t want to skimp on the lace or fabric.

In 1947, French designer Christian Dior caused a sensation when he introduced his “new look,” hour-glass dresses with long, flowing skirts - skirts made of yards and yards of cloth.

The billowing skirts and wasp-waist designs evolved in the 1950s and may have peaked around 1956. There are also many other notable designs in this period.

These elegant found photos captured portraits of a young lady in her beautiful wedding gown in the 1950s.

Odd Playground Gate Bars Older Children, 1937

Cut out of a high, galvanized-iron fence and roughly resembling a keyhole, a silhouette of an average ten-year-old child serves as an entrance gate to a new playground for small children in an eastern city, in 1937. Only those boys and girls who can pass through the silhouette opening without stooping or squeezing through sidewise are allowed to enter the play area.

The photograph shows a playground instructor halting a girl who is too tall to enter without stooping.

Amazing Photos of 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt Concept

The Chrysler Thunderbolt Concept introduced a new wave of designs and industry technological accomplishments. The body was comprised of aluminum and the roof was a retractable, electrically controlled hardtop. There were no door handles; rather they were operated by the push of a button. The windows were controlled by hydraulic power. The headlights were also carefully concealed in the bodywork. The aerodynamic design continued to the fully enclosed wheel wells. There were no A pillars.

The design was courtesy of Alex Tremulis, an individual who introduced many inspirational industry designs such as the Tucker. The retractable top was so revolutionary; it would not be until 1957 before another manufacturer had a similar feature. The vehicle was the Ford Skyliner.

The interior of the Thunderbolt was adorned in leather. The two-seater was powered by a 323.5 cubic-inch straight-eight engine capable of producing 143 horsepower. Power was sent to the rear wheels courtesy of a Chrysler Fluid Drive transmission.

A total of five examples were produced with four existing in modern time, one residing at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Each Thunderbolt was given their own unique color scheme.

Here below is a set of beautiful photos of 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt Concept.

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A Young & Wild Gia Carangi

Gia Carangi took the modeling world by storm with her edgy looks and tough-as-nails attitude. But Gia was deeply troubled, and her brash behavior would become her demise. Gia was in high demand, and if it weren’t for her drug addiction and other self-destructive habits, her career would have cemented her legacy alongside famous supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Cindy Crawford. But what Gia is perhaps best known for is her rapid self-destruction, which ultimately led to her untimely death.

On the surface, Gia Carangi seemed to have it all. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Carangi owned the spotlight and had droves of adoring fans from her high fashion work and appeared on the runways of Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Versace.

The supermodel would go from a $10,000 photo shoot to a “shooting gallery,” or seedy locale where one can shoot up heroin, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Gia Carangi had blackballed herself from New York’s agencies and although magazines gave her several last chances, the model could not pull herself together. One of her final shoots appeared in Vogue in 1982.

By the end of that year, Carangi had become so volatile that she couldn’t get booked for jobs. No one wanted to work with the tough-as-nails wild child any longer. In the fall of 1986, Gia Carangi was hospitalized after being found on the street badly beaten and raped. She died of AIDS-related complications on November 18, 1986, at the age of 26 becoming one of the first famous women to die of the disease.

Today she is remembered as a cautionary tale and as one of the world’s first supermodels of her generation.

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The First Ever Disneyland Ticket Ever Sold for $1, 1955

The year is 1955. Walt Disney, a man with a million dreams, had conjured up a theme park of gargantuan proportions. Walt and his brother Roy O. Disney, whom oversaw the finances of WED Enterprises, were getting ready for their park to open up. Roy decided that he would do Walt a solid and purchase the first ticket to Disneyland, as it was thought to be remembered as a historical occasion. On opening day July 17, 1955, the two brothers went to ticket booth No.2 and Walt saw Roy purchase the very first ticket to Disneyland.

The ticket reads “Disneyland Adult ADMIT ONE No. 00001 Est. Price 91¢ Fed Tax 9¢ TOTAL $1.00”

A historical moment indeed, one of which we all wished we could’ve witnessed. Roy seemed to have thought it was a very special item because when he passed away, this weathered paper ticket was found in his personal desk drawer at Walt Disney Studios.

You could purchase an adult ticket to Disneyland on opening day for one single dollar. That’s shocking considering the price for admission for a one day ticket nowadays is upwards of $125. Another thing to consider about the price of park admission in 1955 is how you would also have to buy separate tickets for each ride/attraction. You could buy a ticket book for $2.50 filled with tickets ranging from “A” type attractions to “E” attractions, with “E” being the more thrilling, exciting rides. Or purchase a single ticket anywhere from 10¢-35¢.