by Felicia Feaster

n 1958 toothsome blonde Yvette Vickers appeared in the film that would make her a cult movie legend, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman. Classic Fifties drive-in fare, Attack starred Playmate Vickers (Miss July 1959) as Honey Parker, a dangerous sexpot who finds herself with a jealous 50-foot wife on her trail after tangling with the wrong -- married -- man.

Attack of the 50 ft. Woman (1958 version)

It was the first role in what would become a career niche for the Los Angeles beatnik-turned-Playmate. Vickers went on to play the proverbial "vamp," token tease and mantrap in film role after film role.

"I felt like they were good movie parts and I did a good job with it," she told Playboy.com. "I have no regrets."

Playmate Ellen Stratton's image was of a far different sort -- a good girl to Vickers' bad, she used Playboy's girl-next-door mystique to get a leg up in the entertainment industry. But, unlike Vickers, Stratton had to keep her cheesecake past under wraps.

"If you were known to be a nude model, they wouldn't use you," says Miss December 1959. "I didn't want to be categorized or classified. I enjoyed my sexuality and the attention, but I never went for that image."

Since Playboy's inception in 1953, Hugh Hefner's pioneering men's magazine has been a launching pad for Playmates yearning for movie stardom. From the Fifties to the present day, "actress" ranks as the job most Playmates would like to have. In a bargain first struck in the Atomic Age, Playmates provide movie executives with the commodity they crave: sex appeal. In return, films have given Playmates a chance to press their handprints into the cement sidewalk of cinematic history. Since the very beginning, an appearance in Playboy has served as a highly visible calling card, displaying the Playmate's movie-ready charms to great advantage.

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