A Round-Bottomed Pin-Up, typical of the cheeky cheesecake that cheered the servicemen of World War II, plays an important part in a new submarine swashbuckler starring Burt Lancaster and Clark Gable, and a contest being sponsored by the film's producers links her to the most popular pin-up of today, the Playboy Playmate.
Run Silent, Run Deep is a story of submarine combat action based on the best-selling novel by Commander Edward L. Beach; the Hecht-Hill-Lancaster production is a kind of up-to-date Moby Dick in which Lancaster plays Starbuck to the Ahab of Gable. A prominent, if inanimate, member of the cast is a pictorial pretty posted on the bulkhead of the submarine Nerka and affectionately patted on the stern for luck by members of the crew whenever they are moving into combat. "Don't go wasting it," one crewman chides another for patting the pin-up's posterior indiscriminately. "Her luck's reserved for battles, friend. She almost got worn out on the last patrol."
To help publicize the movie, the producers are sponsoring a contest to find the real-life girl of 1958 who most resembles the Nerka's World War II-type pin-up — most resembles her in figure, that is, for the girl in the pin-up is masked. Any girl in the U.S. is eligible and you are invited to submit photographs of local lovelies whom you feel qualify. Photographs should be good and clear and a pose similar to that of the pin-up is, of course, preferable.
Five girls will be chosen from their photographs and all five will be sent to Hollywood with all expenses paid. A panel of judges will select the final winner, and she will receive a screen test and a contract with Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, plus the opportunity to become Playboy's Playmate of the Month. The panel of judges will include producer Harold Hecht, film star Rita Hayworth, columnist Earl Wilson, Fritz Willis, the nationally known artist who created the pin-up girl used in the film, and Hugh M. Hefner, editor-publisher of Playboy.
Photos should be submitted on or before March 15, 1958, to Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, "The Girl They Left Behind" Contest, 202 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, California. All photographs become the property of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster and none can be returned.
When the submarine Nerka moves into battle, the pin-up is patted...
At flick's end, exec officer Burt Lancaster is persuaded to pat the lady for luck, too.
...on her lower deck by the able-bodied crew members...
...who are careful to conserve her for only the most crucial times.
