“Cleopatra, Cecil B. DeMille, 1934”
Technicolor began to produce films with characters that had unobtainable characteristics; this was then reflected in the posters they produced. Whether the intent was to create several films around characters like this is questionable.
Audrey Hepburn is portrayed as a slinky feline with a fantastic figure and money to die for. Well dressed, well groomed, and just about as thin as her cigarette holder all these are things that are considered to make a ‘perfect’ woman, embodies an image as irresistible as it is unattainable.
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Blake Edwards, 1961”
This is jumping forward a bit though, go back a decade or so and musicals hit the cinema. In 1933 42nd Street, a big musical about musicals, glamour lifestyles and the one thing that binds all musicals, love.
The poster focuses on one of the main things in the show, the dancers. The show is famous for its songs and dance routines, now when we see the poster it sparks memories of the songs and dances. At the time of release it showed that glitz and glamour were going to be the main features. This poster is painted like many before it and though the body is slightly out of proportion with the arms, it literally painted a scene which set off the whole show.
“42nd Street, Hubbard G. Robinson and Joseph Tisman, 1933”
Posters for musicals depicted what you would find, as shown is the previous 42nd street and in ‘Singin’ in the Rain.’ It shows the three main characters singing and dancing in the rain, simplicity at its best. Musicals were instantly glamorous, so the posters did not need to depict this, the majority of musical promotional posters show the stars and the name of the film. The one which best depicts this is ‘Gigi.’ This was a famous stage show and due to its fame and well renowned nature it was decided to make it into a cinematic production so they could reach more audiences.
One exception to this rule is ‘singin’ in the rain,’ this went straight to cinema but mimicked the layout of other musical posters. Because Gene Kelly starred in the picture then this is what pulled the audiences, he was famous for his musicals and audiences could be guaranteed a good show just by seeing him on a poster.
‘Singin’ in the Rain, Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952.’
In the late 40’s early 50’s the camera was invented. This was to revolutionise the way movie posters looked for lifetimes to come. Previously posters had been painted or drawn; now producers and publicists had the means to show their audiences what their actors looked like before they saw the film.
Previously posters had portrayed a stylised image of the stars, perhaps making them thinner, taller or more desirable than they are to suit the character instead of a means of advertising the star.
It took a while before there was a total use of this method however, for a while publicists experimented with keeping the old methods and adding in photographs of the stars to highlight important moments and story plots. A good example of this layout is the poster to ‘The Big Sleep,’ the characters are depicted by black and white photographs in various moments from the film, this is then set against a very colourful painted background.
“The Big Sleep, (Le Grand Sommeil), Howard Hawks, Vincent Cristellys, 1946.”
Howard Hawk also used this method in his film ‘Bringing up Baby.’ The compromise between photographs and illustration shows the two sides to the film. The photographs show the beauty of the films lead roles and the illustrative nature shows the oddity of the films comedy.
“Bringing up Baby, Howard Hawks, 1948.”
After the war there was a drop in the amount of blockbuster American films which hit our screens. It did however give way to British studios to show what they could do. It didn’t last for long however, once blockbuster movies began producing again they could not cope with the pressure so in 1955 its assets were sold.
Ronald Searle created the poster for the 1951 Ealing Studios film ‘The Lavender Hill Mob,’ Searle was a cartoonist and captured the essence of the characters in cartoons which play as a background. These scratchy inky drawings are vibrant and full of life, equally reflected by the colour wash over them. It shows part of the story from the film and also has school girls which aren’t that far from Searle’s St Trinians Mob. This is offset with a photograph of the two main actors with faces as jovial and that of the caricatures.
“The Lavender Hill Mob, Ronald Searle, 1951.”
Pink String and Sealing Wax was another production from Ealing studios, it told the story of murder and adultery set in Victorian Brighton. The poster reflects this wonderfully, a mixture of photography and illustration again shows bright and decorative facades to the buildings which wait in the darkness of the streets. It suggests that there is an unpleasantness lurking around the illustrations.
“Pink String and Sealing Wax, John Minton, 1954.”
West Side Story hit the screens in 1961, bringing the modern day Romeo and Juliet off the stages and onto the cinema screens of the world. Saul Bass designed the poster and captured with a few basic images the essence of the film. The red poster shows the bloodshed and the anger within the film the black shows the hidden perils and the darker side of what happens. The imperfect writing reflects the run-down tenement blocks of New York City that the families would live in.
“West Side Story, Saul Bass, 1961.”
Alfred Hitchcock created another blood chilling film in 1963 called ‘The Birds,’ the poster for this is rather simple but reflects a scene from the film. He takes the polish word for bird, ptaki, and repeats it over and over again till it falls apart and begins to overlap and the audience is then faced by a winged skull. This image is equivalent to the scene of the chattering flock in the film and was designed to create suspense and dread in the hearts of the audience.
“The Birds, Bronislaw Zelek, 1963.”
When Barbarella was released the poster mimicked the colours within fashion and lifestyles. It harks back to comic book sketches and formats with its combination of images and use of speech bubbles. It’s a simple but effective way of portraying a science fiction character, the bright colours attract the viewers and the speech bubbles keep the eye moving around.
“Barbarella, Robin Ray, 1968.”
Dirty Harry was a character not to be messed with, and undoubtedly his gun held all the power. This is clearly shown in the movie posters of Magnum Force, with the grey to black tones of Clint Eastwood set against an off white background. The gun has been fired and this is illustrated with the use of different tones and gun positions, yet the character remains steely eyed and cold, but still second to the gun.
“Magnum Force, Bill Gold, 1973.”
In ‘One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest,’ Jack Nicholson plays a psychiatric patient; the poster for this film depicts him leaning casually on a barbed wire and mesh fence. Although his face has a look of a pleasant grin, his eyes cast to the heavens his expression suggest mental freedom yet there are clear barriers to this suggestion. The fence keeps him closed, though it hides in the background and the padlock through the ‘o’ is red, making it clear that there is no way out.
“One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, Milos Forman, 1975.”
An Illustrator, Bob Peak, was commissioned to produce some artwork to the film ‘Apocalypse Now,’ the five images that he created was to be used in the films promotion. The one that was used for the film was one of Peaks favourites; typical of his style it included montages of the films scenes. To keep with outside demands upon him he concentrated on the star in the middle of the image, surrounded by all the chaos.
“Apocalypse Now, Bob Peak, 1979.”
When Empire Strikes Back hit the cinema the company wanted to bring a broader audience to see it, particularly women. The poster would be the thing to attract new audiences, and word of mouth and experiences of the first. They glamorised the romance aspects in the film, playing up its importance in the film by having it in the centre of the poster, surrounded by the other goings on. This montage showed that despite what was going on, it didn’t stop them falling in love.
“The Empire Strikes Back, Roger Kastel, 1980.”
The most famous scene from ET has to be the fingers touching, it’s the one thing everyone knows and is how the film is recognised on posters.
These just meeting fingertips refer to Michelangelo’s ‘Creation of Man,’ compared to the original composition ET’s hand is in the position of Adam, and the child is in that of God’s.
“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, John Alvin, 1982.”
The poster for ‘Belly of an Architect,’ is a piece of art in itself. Martin Huxford is the designer of this poster, he built the wooden frame that is shown and placed three dimensional objects in the spaces. Each of these objects reflected something within the film, perhaps even the fine art background of the director himself. The way the photograph of the piece is combined with text makes it look almost 3D; this of course would attract more attention making the poster more successful.
“The Belly of an Architect, Martin Huxford, 1987.”
Perhaps the simplest movie poster was that of ‘Malcolm X,’ by Spike Lee. It was a plain giant X across a black page with just the release date. Something so simple was very effective as it stirred so many hearts and brought so many emotions to the surface. Malcolm X was a black American political activist and that X stands for everything he stood for. It’s a very powerful symbol.
“Malcolm X, Spike Lee, 1993.”
The creation of the ‘Trainspotting,’ poster combined the efforts of two units, firstly Stylorouge for design and Lorenzo Agius, a photographer.
The obvious choice of design was a train ticket, however I feel it worked a lot better than anyone perhaps intended.
It lets the audience know the films date of release and introduce the characters. The black and white photographs show off the nitty-gritty, the mimic the journalistic styles of the time emphasising more the attitude than the conventional good looks. This is where the poster is especially important as often when taking a book to screen the characters aren’t correctly portrayed, yet here it gave the audiences chance to get used to the individuals before seeing them on screen.
“Trainspotting, Stylorouge, Lorenzo Agius, 1996.”
‘The Truman Show,’ was a film about an ordinary man, doing ordinary things who had been on television since he was born, though he did not know it.
This character was played by Jim Carey and it’s his face on the movie poster, looking skyward with a smile across his face. It’s very simplistic, yet complex, the image is built of hundreds of photographs of ordinary people doing everyday things. It is used to emphasise the status of the character at the beginning of the film, he is a ‘celebrity everyman,’ he is a reassuring icon of normality.
“The Truman Show, Roger Silver, 1998.”
Several images and posters were created for ‘Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring.’ The first in what has turned out to be a fantastic piece of cinematic history.
It contains everything it needs to in order for the audience familiar with the story to identify the characters. The classic black for evil and white for goodness come into play here. The ring wraiths are in black, and surrounded by black shadow and mist to the bottom third, yet as it moves upwards to the other characters they are displayed in a softer more sympathetic light. All the characters hold eye contact with the audience, brining them into the story, making them feel like a part of it. Especially as it is something which has been long awaited and much appreciated.
“The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Peter Jackson, 2001.”
Movies will continue to come and go from box office, and movie posters will always exist. Nowadays there are many avid collectors of posters from all genres and eras. These people won’t stop collecting and many more will start. I have already begun mine as it is something I am passionate about. Not only is it film merchandise but a piece of entertainment history and a memory.
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