Europe's New Sex Sirens

One year ago, the late Marilyn Monroe discussed her deification as an acetate love goddess in these forthright words: "I never quite understood it -- this sex symbol -- I always thought symbols were those things you clash together! ... But if I'm going to be a symbol of something I'd rather have it sex than some other things they've got symbols of!" Sadly, Marilyn's untimely death brought with it the demise in America of her special brand of symbolism: the voluptuous child-woman who personifies the immemorial romantic dreams of men. No new American actress has swiveled forth to take her place or to claim her title -- nor are any apt to do so soon, for the current young U.S. screen stars are, by contrast, a disappointingly pallid and spindly lot. The situation in Europe, however, is dramatically different: over there, an uncommon market in sexy actresses who play sexy parts in sexy films has flourished during the past few years, a pleasant phenomenon which is leading the American male to regard foreign films -- and their decorative stars -- with steadily increasing enthusiasm. In France, Italy, Germany and England, a full-bodied corps of gifted actresses is gaining fame by speaking a language that has absolutely no need for subtitles. In recognition of these lovely attractions abroad, Playboy herewith presents a 14-page portfolio -- consisting in part of reprises from well-worth-remembering movie scenes, in part of portraits from exclusively-for-Playboy shootings -- featuring the freshest and most seductive of Europe's current crop of sexpot exports.