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The Sea Wolves / quad / UK

17.04.15

Poster Poster
Title
The Sea Wolves
AKA
--
Year of Film
1980
Director
Andrew V. McLaglen
Starring
Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Trevor Howard, Barbara Kellerman, Patrick Macnee, Kenneth Griffith, Patrick Allen
Origin of Film
Switzerland | UK | USA
Genre(s) of Film
Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Trevor Howard, Barbara Kellerman, Patrick Macnee, Kenneth Griffith, Patrick Allen,
Type of Poster
Quad
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
UK
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Vic Fair
Artist
Arnaldo Putzu
Size (inches)
30 1/16" x 39 15/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
The last charge of the Calcutta Light Horse.

Featuring great art by Arnaldo Putzu, this is the UK quad for the 1980 action film The Sea Wolves, which is based on real events that occurred during the Second World War. As mentioned on the poster, the story is based on the exploits of ex-members of the Calcutta Light Horse, a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army that was formed in 1872 and was disbanded a couple of years after the end of WWII. The plot sees British intelligence discovering that a Nazi radio ship is broadcasting the coordinates of allied ships from a harbour in Portuguese Goa, which was neutral during the war, so an all out assault cannot be launched by the Navy because of this.

British Intelligence officers Col. Lewis Pugh (Gregory Peck) and Capt. Gavin Stewart (Roger Moore) lead the operation and covertly enlist retired officer Col. Bill Grice (David Niven) of the Calcutta Light Horse & some of his former soldiers. The gang sneak into Goa and arrange a diversion on the evening of a planned raid, before making their way to the radio ship carrying enough explosives to sink it and put a stop any more transmissions. The film reunited much of the creative team behind an earlier OAPs on a mission film, 1978’s The Wild Geese, including director Andrew V. McLaglen, screenwriter Reginald Rose, producer Euan Lloyd and several of the stars.

Arnaldo Putzu was born in Rome in 1927 and began painting from a very early age and in 1948 he got involved with the world of film publicity under the guidance of the famous artist Enrico De Seta. Eventually Putzu would gain enough confidence in his abilities to set up his own agency and it was this move that saw him getting involved in work for the British studio Rank. Eric Pulford was so impressed with his work that he brought him over to London to work at Downtons in 1967.

The artist worked on many quads whilst over here and also gained notoriety for lending his talents to the popular children’s magazine Look-in, for which he painted almost every cover during its publication lifetime. His best-known quad is undoubtedly the one he painted for the Michael Caine gangster classic Get Carter in 1971. My friend, and author of the must-own British Film Posters, Sim Branaghan met Putzu during the making of his book and describes it as a very memorable experience in the interview I published in 2012. Putzu sadly passed away the same year, aged 85, and Sim wrote an excellent obituary for The Guardian newspaper, which can be read here.

The poster was designed by the British designer and artist Vic Fair who is one the most important people ever to work on British film marketing. He is responsible for several iconic posters, including The Man Who Fell To Earth, posters for Hammer horrors like Vampire Circus, and the withdrawn advance one sheet for A View to a Kill. I interviewed Vic for this site and that article can be viewed by clicking here.

The Killer / Thailand

21.01.15

Poster Poster
Title
The Killer
AKA
Dip huet seung hung (Hong Kong - original title) | Bloodshed of Two Heroes (International - literal title) | Blast Killer (West Germany)
Year of Film
1989
Director
John Woo
Starring
Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kenneth Tsang, Paul Chu Kong
Origin of Film
Hong Kong
Genre(s) of Film
Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kenneth Tsang, Paul Chu Kong,
Type of Poster
Thai
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Thailand
Year of Poster
1990
Designer
Tongdee Panumas
Artist
Tongdee Panumas
Size (inches)
21.5" x 30 12/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

This is the original Thai poster for the release of legendary Hong Kong director John Woo‘s landmark action-fest The Killer, which was the film that launched both him and lead actor Chow Yun-Fat onto the international stage. Although Woo had garnered acclaim for A Better Tomorrow (1986) and its sequel, both featuring Yun-Fat, it was The Killer’s perfect blend of hyper-kinetic violence, well-written characters and action spectacle that set it apart from Woo’s earlier films. The film would be followed by the spectacular Hard Boiled (1992), after which Woo’s career in Hollywood was launched, to somewhat mixed success. The Killer’s impact on other Western filmmakers cannot be denied, with the likes of Luc Besson clearly borrowing plot points and action beats for both Nikita and Léon: The Professional (1994), whilst both Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, Desperado) and Quentin Tarantino were clearly huge fans.

Chow Yun-Fat stars as a hired assassin who accidentally blinds a nightclub singer called Jennie (Sally Yeh) during the course of a hit, and after the pair strike up a relationship he decides to take one last job to pay for an operation to restore her sight. After being double-crossed by his Triad clients Ah Jong manages to escape from a group of hired guns, but not before coming to the attention of police detective Li Ying (Danny Lee). At first the hot-shot cop aims to take Ah Jong into custody but when he realises that he’s no ordinary hitman and sees the predicament he’s in, Detective Li decides to team up with the killer to take down the mobsters. This was the first film in which Woo used his trademark white doves taking flight in the middle of action scenes.

This Thai poster was painted by the artist Tongdee Panumas (he signs his posters with just his first name) whowas an incredibly prolific Thai film poster artist during the 70s, 80s and 90s but I’ve been unable to find out much about him, other than that he was born in 1947. If anyone has any more information please get in touch. A knowledgeable collector of Thai posters told me that the artists would rarely if ever see the film they were creating the poster for and would instead paint images based on still photos or posters from other countries. This led to some wild designs and even some artwork with characters and elements that didn’t even appear in the actual film!

The artwork for this Thai poster was actually re-used (and slightly cropped) for the US one sheet when the film was released there. The sniper rifle-toting gunman also features on the UK quad.

Borderline / one sheet / USA

09.12.13

Poster Poster
Title
Borderline
AKA
--
Year of Film
1980
Director
Jerrold Freedman
Starring
Charles Bronson, Bruno Kirby, Bert Remsen, Michael Lerner, Kenneth McMillan, Ed Harris, Karmin Murcelo, Enrique Castillo, Wilford Brimley, Norman Alden
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Charles Bronson, Bruno Kirby, Bert Remsen, Michael Lerner, Kenneth McMillan, Ed Harris, Karmin Murcelo, Enrique Castillo, Wilford Brimley, Norman Alden,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Drew Struan
Size (inches)
27 1/16" x 40 15/16"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
800098
Tagline
Somewhere along a thousand miles of barbed wire border the American dream has become a nightmare.

An excellent portrait of Charles Bronson by the great Drew Struzan features on this poster for Borderline (1980), a film that, quite frankly, probably didn’t deserve it. This was one of a number of films that were released in the early 1980s dealing with the issue of illegal immigrants on the USA/Mexico border, including the Jack Nicholson starring The Border (1982), and it was filmed in and around actual border crossing locations. Bronson appears as patrolman Jeb Maynard whose colleague, veteran senior agent Scooter (Wilford Brimley), is brutally murdered along with a Mexican boy by Hotchkiss, an American people smuggler played by Ed Harris in his first notable film role. The FBI are brought into help with the investigation and their assertion is that drug smugglers were responsible, but Jeb and the boy’s mother believe differently so he sets out to discover the truth and bring Hotchkiss to justice.

These two reviews on IMDb appear to sum up most views on the film:

‘I love Charles Bronson, and I really wanted to love Borderline, but it’s about as exciting as a trip to the grocery store.’

‘This was the third turkey in a row for Charles Bronson, after “The White Buffalo” and “Love and Bullets”. It’s so utterly, extraordinarily dull that you may not quite make to the end. There is little plot, no action, no emotion, no humour and generally nothing to engage your interest in any way; even the supporting characters are colourless.’

Drew Struzan is an artist that needs no introduction since he worked on many of the most iconic film posters over the past 35 years. This one sheet for Borderline was one of his earlier efforts and it appeared before classic pieces like The Thing and Back to the Future. The other posters I’ve collected by Drew can be seen here.

The Killer / quad / UK

02.08.13

Poster Poster
Title
The Killer
AKA
Dip huet seung hung (Hong Kong - original title) | Bloodshed of Two Heroes (International - literal title) | Blast Killer (West Germany)
Year of Film
1989
Director
John Woo
Starring
Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kenneth Tsang, Paul Chu Kong
Origin of Film
Hong Kong
Genre(s) of Film
Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kenneth Tsang, Paul Chu Kong,
Type of Poster
Quad
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
UK
Year of Poster
1990
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
30 2/16" x 40"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

This is the scarce UK quad for the release of legendary Hong Kong director John Woo‘s landmark action-fest The Killer, which was the film that launched both him and lead actor Chow Yun-Fat onto the international stage. Although Woo had garnered acclaim for A Better Tomorrow (1986) and its sequel, both featuring Yun-Fat, it was The Killer’s perfect blend of hyper-kinetic violence, well-written characters and action spectacle that set it apart from Woo’s earlier films. The film would be followed by the spectacular Hard Boiled (1992), after which Woo’s career in Hollywood was launched, to somewhat mixed success. The Killer’s impact on other Western filmmakers cannot be denied, with the likes of Luc Besson clearly borrowing plot points and action beats for both Nikita and Léon: The Professional (1994), whilst both Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, Desperado) and Quentin Tarantino were clearly huge fans.

Chow Yun-Fat stars as a hired assassin who accidentally blinds a nightclub singer called Jennie (Sally Yeh) during the course of a hit, and after the pair strike up a relationship he decides to take one last job to pay for an operation to restore her sight. After being double-crossed by his Triad clients Ah Jong manages to escape from a group of hired guns, but not before coming to the attention of police detective Li Ying (Danny Lee). At first the hot-shot cop aims to take Ah Jong into custody but when he realises that he’s no ordinary hitman and sees the predicament he’s in, Detective Li decides to team up with the killer to take down the mobsters. This was the first film in which Woo used his trademark white doves taking flight in the middle of action scenes.

This quad features the same image of Yun-Fat holding the Dragunov sniper-rifle as seen on the American one sheet (although that image is illustrated) and this page on the Internet Firearms Database features gives a lengthy run-down of all the guns featured in the film (hint: a lot). The quote from the Time Out reviewer deserves special mention as you have to applaud anyone who uses the phrase ‘dementedly elegiac thriller’ and gets away with it.

The House by the Cemetery / quad / UK

01.11.12

Poster Poster

Nicknamed The Godfather of Gore, the late Italian director Lucio Fulci is responsible for several memorable entries in the horror genre and The House by the Cemetery is one of what I consider to be the big four Fulci films (the others being Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond and City of the Living Dead), which were all made within two years of each other. The director tried his hand at various genres, including westerns and comedies, but it was horror where he found the greatest success and for which he is best remembered.

The House by the Cemetery is the third film in the unofficial ‘Gates of Hell’ trilogy of Fulci films that began with 1980s City of the Living Dead and was followed by The Beyond. It stars British actress Catriona MacColl (credited on the poster as Katherine MacColl) who had collaborated with Fulci on the previous two entries. The story sees Dr Norman Boyle (Paolo Malco), a professor at a New York University, being sent on research trip to New Whitby, Boston, taking his wife (MacColl) and young son with him. Their base is a big old house situated, as the title suggests, in the grounds of an old graveyard. After moving in and meeting a few of the locals, it soon becomes clear to the family that they aren’t the only ones living in the house and slowly but surely the dark secret of the previous occupant is revealed.

As was typical with all of Fulci’s output during this period, the film features several scenes of brutal, graphic gore and there’s one death scene in particular that would fall foul of the BBFC, the folks responsible for passing the film for release in the UK. This page on IMDB details the various cuts the UK release of the film was given over the years; in 1984 the film was caught up in the infamous Video Nasties situation and the VHS was banned outright. When it was re-released on tape in 1988 there were almost five minutes cut from its running time and it wasn’t until 2009 that a fully uncut version was available.

This is the UK quad poster for the first release of the film in British cinemas in 1982. It features artwork that is based on the Italian poster that was painted by the great artist Enzo Sciotti who has painted countless fantastic horror, sci-fi and exploitation posters over the years. As anyone who has seen the film will know, the knife-wielding character that dominates the poster doesn’t actually feature in the film itself. It’s said that the decision was taken to depict a psychotic killer that resembled Jack Nicholson’s character in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining after that film had proven such an international success only a year previously.

It is my belief that this artwork has been adapted from Sciotti’s original by a British artist, quite possibly Ted Baldwin who is thought to be responsible for the art on the quad for Zombie Creeping Flesh. Note the clear differences between the Italian poster and the details seen on this quad, particularly the evil character, the orientation and size of the house, and the layout of the graveyard. Obviously the original poster is in a portrait format so the decision may well have been taken to redraw it to better fit the landscape format of the quad.

Enzo Sciotti‘s official site has galleries of his work, some of which is for sale. Wrong Side of the Art has a selection of some of his work, and Eatbrie.com also features several of his designs. The other posters I’ve collected by him can be seen here.

Carny / one sheet / USA

18.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Carny
AKA
Carny - un corpo per due uomini [A Body for Two Men] (Italy)
Year of Film
1980
Director
Robert Kaylor
Starring
Gary Busey, Jodie Foster, Robbie Robertson, Meg Foster, Kenneth McMillan, Elisha Cook Jr., Tim Thomerson, Teddy Wilson, John Lehne, Bill McKinney, Bert Remsen, Woodrow Parfrey
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Gary Busey, Jodie Foster, Robbie Robertson, Meg Foster, Kenneth McMillan, Elisha Cook Jr., Tim Thomerson, Teddy Wilson, John Lehne, Bill McKinney, Bert Remsen, Woodrow Parfrey,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
27 2/16" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
800081
Tagline
When you're young and going nowhere... the Carny looks like a good way out.

The Wild Geese / B2 / style B / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster

The Mercenaries / B2 / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Mercenaries
AKA
Dark of the Sun (USA)
Year of Film
1968
Director
Jack Cardiff
Starring
Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Peter Carsten, Jim Brown, Kenneth More, André Morell, Olivier Despax, Guy Deghy, Bloke Modisane, Calvin Lockhart
Origin of Film
UK | USA
Genre(s) of Film
Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Peter Carsten, Jim Brown, Kenneth More, André Morell, Olivier Despax, Guy Deghy, Bloke Modisane, Calvin Lockhart,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1968
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Frank McCarthy
Size (inches)
20 4/16" x 28 12/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

The Killer / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Killer
AKA
Dip huet seung hung (Hong Kong - original title) | Bloodshed of Two Heroes (International - literal title) | Blast Killer (West Germany)
Year of Film
1989
Director
John Woo
Starring
Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kenneth Tsang, Paul Chu Kong
Origin of Film
Hong Kong
Genre(s) of Film
Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kenneth Tsang, Paul Chu Kong,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1990
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Tongdee Panumas
Size (inches)
27" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
--

Short Circuit 2 / one sheet / teaser / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Short Circuit 2
AKA
--
Year of Film
1988
Director
Kenneth Johnson
Starring
Tim Blaney, Fisher Stevens, Michael McKean, Cynthia Gibb, Jack Weston
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Tim Blaney, Fisher Stevens, Michael McKean, Cynthia Gibb, Jack Weston,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
Teaser
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1988
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Unknown
Size (inches)
27.5" x 41 1/16"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
Success will never spoil Number Five. America's most electric leading man is back this summer with a new movie... and a tan.

Shadows And Fog / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster

Runaway Train / B2 / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Runaway Train
AKA
A 30 secondi dalla fine [30 seconds from the end] (Italy)
Year of Film
1985
Director
Andrei Konchalovsky
Starring
Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay, Kyle T. Heffner, John P. Ryan, T. K. Carter, Kenneth McMillan, Stacey Pickren, Walter Wyatt, Edward Bunker
Origin of Film
USA | Israel
Genre(s) of Film
Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay, Kyle T. Heffner, John P. Ryan, T. K. Carter, Kenneth McMillan, Stacey Pickren, Walter Wyatt, Edward Bunker,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
Artwork
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1986
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Noriyoshi Ohrai
Size (inches)
20 7/16" x 28 15/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Gangster No. 1 / B2 / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Gangster No. 1
AKA
--
Year of Film
2000
Director
Paul McGuigan
Starring
Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman, Eddie Marsan, Andrew Lincoln, Doug Allen
Origin of Film
UK | Germany | Ireland
Genre(s) of Film
Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman, Eddie Marsan, Andrew Lincoln, Doug Allen,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
2003
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 7/16" x 28 13/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Gangster No. 1 / special / artwork advance / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Gangster No. 1
AKA
--
Year of Film
2000
Director
Paul McGuigan
Starring
Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman, Eddie Marsan, Andrew Lincoln, Doug Allen
Origin of Film
UK | Germany | Ireland
Genre(s) of Film
Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman, Eddie Marsan, Andrew Lincoln, Doug Allen,
Type of Poster
Special
Style of Poster
Artwork advance
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
2000
Designer
Mike Kaplan
Artist
Philip Castle
Size (inches)
26 14/16" x 39 3/16"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
--

Gangster Number One / quad / UK

18.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Gangster Number One
AKA
Gangster No. 1 (Alt. spelling)
Year of Film
2000
Director
Paul McGuigan
Starring
Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman, Eddie Marsan, Andrew Lincoln, Doug Allen
Origin of Film
UK | Germany | Ireland
Genre(s) of Film
Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman, Eddie Marsan, Andrew Lincoln, Doug Allen,
Type of Poster
Quad
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
UK
Year of Poster
2000
Designer
Empire Design
Artist
--
Size (inches)
30" x 39 15/16"
SS or DS
DS
Tagline
It's not who you know, it's who you kill.

Fletch / one sheet / advance / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Fletch
AKA
Fletch, un colpo da prima pagina [A shot from the front page] (Italy)
Year of Film
1985
Director
Michael Ritchie
Starring
Chevy Chase, Joe Don Baker, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Richard Libertini, Tim Matheson, M. Emmet Walsh, George Wendt, Kenneth Mars, Geena Davis
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Chevy Chase, Joe Don Baker, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Richard Libertini, Tim Matheson, M. Emmet Walsh, George Wendt, Kenneth Mars, Geena Davis,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
Advance
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1985
Designer
Spiros Angelikas
Artist
--
Size (inches)
27" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
Meet the only guy who changes his identity more often than his underwear.

Erik the Viking / Thailand

17.07.17

Poster Poster

This Thai poster for Terry Jones’ 1989 fantasy film Erik the Viking features artwork by Tongdee Panumas. The prolific Jones (actor, director, author, screenwriter, poet, historian) is best known as a Monty Python member and director of the comedy group’s feature films. The film was inspired by Jones’ own 1983 children’s book The Saga of Erik the Viking but shares only character names; the plotline is completely different. Based largely on Norse mythology, Tim Robbins stars as the titular Viking who discovers in the opening scene that he has no taste for the usual Viking activities of raping and pillaging. He learns from a wise old woman that Fenrir the wolf has swallowed the sun and plunged the world into the chaotic age of Ragnarök. Erik resolves to gather a motley crew together to travel to Asgard and petition the gods to end Ragnarök and bring sunlight back to his people. First he must travel to Hy-Brasil and recover the ‘Horn Resounding’ and there he meets King Arnulf (Jones) and promptly falls in love with his daughter, Princess Aud (Imogen Stubbs).

The film was largely critically panned and didn’t fare too well at the box-office. Over the years Jones and his son Bill have made a few edits to the film, with a VHS release chopping 18 minutes from the runtime, before a 2006 “Director’s Son’s Cut” saw it reduced down to just 75 minutes (from the original theatrical running time of 107 minutes).

This Thai poster features a repainted take on the figures falling out of the viking boat, as seen on the German poster (and painted by Renato Casaro), but adds more colour and a montage of action scenes as was typical of the artist responsible. Tongdee Panumas was an incredibly prolific film poster artist during the 70s, 80s and 90s. I’ve been unable to find out much about him, other than that he was born in 1947, so if anyone has any more details please get in touch.

Note that this particular copy of the poster has been hand-signed by Tongdee and I bought it from someone who had visited Thailand, met the artist and had him sign a few posters. I’ve seen photographic evidence that it’s a genuine signature.

Erik the Viking / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Erik the Viking
AKA
--
Year of Film
1989
Director
Terry Jones
Starring
Tim Robbins, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Gary Cady, Eartha Kitt, Mickey Rooney, Imogen Stubbs, John Gordon Sinclair, Samantha Bond, Antony Sher, Tim McInnerny
Origin of Film
UK | Sweden
Genre(s) of Film
Tim Robbins, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Gary Cady, Eartha Kitt, Mickey Rooney, Imogen Stubbs, John Gordon Sinclair, Samantha Bond, Antony Sher, Tim McInnerny,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1989
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Unknown
Size (inches)
27" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
890051
Tagline
A fun trip through the dark ages

Not Quite Hollywood / one sheet / Australia

25.09.13

Poster Poster
Title
Not Quite Hollywood
AKA
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (full title)
Year of Film
2008
Director
Mark Hartley
Starring
Steve Bisley, Jamie Blanks, Jamie Lee Curtis, Barry Humphries, John Jarratt, Barry Jones, Brian Jones, Stacy Keach, Ted Kotcheff, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Quentin Tarantino
Origin of Film
Australia
Genre(s) of Film
Steve Bisley, Jamie Blanks, Jamie Lee Curtis, Barry Humphries, John Jarratt, Barry Jones, Brian Jones, Stacy Keach, Ted Kotcheff, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Quentin Tarantino,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Australia
Year of Poster
2008
Designer
Marcus Cobbledick (Madman Entertainment)
Artist
Various (partially a montage of original poster images)
Size (inches)
26 10/16" x 39 7/16"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
Finally an Aussie film packed full of boobs, pubes, tubes... and a bit of kung fu.

Not Quite Hollywood is an excellent, raucous documentary looking at the Ozploitation genre of films – the low budget horror, action and comedies packed full of sex, violence and swearing that were made following the introduction of the adult ‘R’ rating by Australian censors in 1971. Featuring just about every surviving filmmaker and actor, the film intercuts new and archive interviews with footage from a huge list of titles that were made during the roughly 15 year period that the genre flourished. Writer/director Mark Hartley has a clear abiding love of the genre and wants to treat the viewer to as many clips and details as possible – you certainly won’t be bored watching this documentary.

Featuring films such as the action/horror Road Games, the dystopian horror Turkey Shoot, the telekinetic coma patient on rampage flick Patrick and the post-apocalyptic action classic Mad Max, it also has interviews with fans of the genre such as director Quentin Tarantino who admits to becoming obsessed with several of the films in the genre. He is interviewed both alone and alongside his friend the Anglo-Australian director Brian Trenchard-Smith (BMX Bandits, Dead End Drive-In) and these sections are particularly entertaining. I guarantee that you’ll come away from watching the documentary with a list of films to check out as soon as possible – I know I did!

This poster, which features several images from the original posters of the films, was put together by Marcus Cobbledick who is the ‘Theatrical Art Director’ at the film’s distributor Madman Entertainment. He is interviewed about his job in this article and mentions this particular poster:

‘Not Quite Hollywood was a special title as I was involved in the project before pre-production and worked many hours on the film itself. We had access to thousands of wonderful production stills and vintage posters from the archives so we were spoilt for choice when selecting images for the poster montage.’

Mark Hartley was interviewed on the (now defunct Media & Culture Australia) site and mentions that Cobbledick also had a hand in the opening title sequence for the film:

‘I had collected, over the years, so much poster art, and we had amassed an amazing amount of stills when we were doing the research. I said to [our graphic designer] Marcus Cobbledick: We just need to keep a real 70s feel, because all the poster art was so great. It’s a lost art. So I wanted everything to have that sort of sensibility to it, and he ran with it. He was getting briefs that no-one really gets: We need to get a photo of such-and-such, and then vomit on her’

Bonus points if you can name each film featured on this poster!

A View To A Kill / one sheet / recalled / UK

25.11.11

Poster Poster

Sir Roger Moore‘s last outing as James Bond, A View to a Kill, was definitely not his finest hour, although it is memorable for a few reasons, including Christopher Walken‘s turn as the truly psychotic bad guy (Max Zorin), Duran Duran’s great title theme and the appearance of the incomparable Grace Jones as Mayday, Zorin’s accomplice. She may not be able to act very well but she’s never anything less than a striking presence and is definitely not a lady to mess with, as British chat show presenter Russell Harty infamously found out.

This poster is the UK one sheet that was designed by Vic Fair and illustrated by Brian Bysouth, a not insignificant pairing of two great English talents. Having been commissioned by the studio the poster was apparently then rejected and ultimately never used in cinemas to promote the film. Sim Branaghan, the man behind the must-own book ‘British Film Posters‘, interviewed Vic Fair who recalled that they were looking for a more conventional design, something that often frustrated the designer when working with clients:

‘Not very exciting are they, the Bond posters … always the same thing. So I had this idea of putting him in a white jacket, but they just threw their arms up in horror – “Ooh no, we can’t have that”. It was ridiculous really’

The poster is now known as the ‘recalled’ UK one sheet as, despite the poster having been printed, it was recalled by the studio and most copies were apparently pulped. Obviously, several did manage to escape destruction and made their way into the hands of poster dealers and collectors. I’d like to know a rough figure on how many did survive since it does show up at major auctions and on Ebay occasionally, so it’s certainly more than a tiny handful. If anyone has any more details on this please get in touch or leave a comment.

The artwork did end up being used for other countries, notably a Japanese B2 poster promoting the film.

For more information on Vic Fair and Brian Bysouth I highly recommend picking up a copy of ‘British Film Posters‘ as it features sections on both men. Here are the posters I’ve collected so far by Brian Bysouth and those by Vic Fair (with more to add over the coming months).

In 2012 I met and interviewed Brian Bysouth and this poster was discussed:

There are two specific collaborations you had with Vic Fair that I’d like to talk about. There was the UK one sheet for A View to a Kill, which you mentioned, and before I read Sim’s book I had no idea that it was one of yours. It’s quite different to others you’d worked on before then.
Ah yes, that poster was painted with a different technique than the one I’d typically work with. It has a very smooth look mostly done with an airbrush. The clients had started to require illustrations to have a less painted look and they were asking for much more photo-realistic illustrations. This requirement was because of falling sales in the video market.  The clients had concluded that the paying public had become more discerning and distrustful of what was portrayed on the video sleeves, and to some extent on film posters. The public had begun to realise that an exciting illustration could flatter what in reality would be a truly awful film.  So illustration had to take on a new, more highly-finished look, but this only worked for a short while before the use of photographs and the versatility of the computer took over completely.

Anyway, to continue, Vic asked me if I’d like to do the finished painting based on his rough; it was a really excellent and novel design, which required me to execute the painting in two stages. The first stage would be used as a teaser poster and this was just the image ofGrace Jones and Bond contained within a diamond motif. All I had to do was get the airbrush out and work up his design. I remember spending a while on the Grace Jones image, polishing and improving her look, as well as the pose of Bond. It went away to be printed but later we were disappointed to learn that it was going to be withdrawn because the clients were not happy with the legendary spy being portrayed in a white tuxedo; that being considered not very Bond-like!

For the second stage, Vic’s design included an exciting montage to fit either side of the central icon of the two characters. The preliminary painting was returned to me for completion and I continued by adding the montage of scenes from the film onto the artwork in a semi-drawn style, which I was experimenting with at the time. I was very pleased with the final results and Vic liked it too. That went off for approval but, for reasons unknown to me, the printing didn’t go ahead. I never saw the artwork again and pathetically, because it was not approved, I don’t even think a transparency was made. I entertain hopes that one day it will eventually re-appear and I will be able to establish my claim to ownership.

Here’s the film’s original trailer.

Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels / one sheet / USA

22.09.17

Poster Poster
Title
Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
AKA
Lock & Stock (Spain)
Year of Film
1998
Director
Guy Ritchie
Starring
Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh, Vinnie Jones, Sting
Origin of Film
UK
Genre(s) of Film
Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh, Vinnie Jones, Sting,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1999
Designer
New Wave Creative
Artist
--
Size (inches)
27 1/16" x 40"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
A disgrace to criminals everywhere

This is the US one sheet for the release of the feature debut of British director Guy Ritchie, 1998’s crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In addition to it being Ritchie’s first, it also introduced audiences to Jason Statham, best known for the Transporter films and recently the Fast and Furious franchise. It also marked the first appearance of British ex-footballer Vinnie Jones. Ritchie had come to attention with his short film The Hard Case which was seen by Trudie Styler and her husband Sting, leading to Styler executive producing Lock, Stock and Sting appearing in the film. Matthew Vaughan, a friend of Ritchie and now a successful director in his own right produced the film.

The film focuses on four lifelong friends who are small-time criminals, Eddy (Nick Moran), Tom (Jason Flemyng), Soap (Dexter Fletcher) and Bacon (Statham). At the start of the film Eddy has entered a high-stakes underground card game after the four put together the £100,000 entry fee. The game has been organised by local gangster Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty) and the quartet soon discover that the odds are rigged in Harry’s favour. Before they know it they are half a million pounds in debt and under pressure from one of Harry’s enforcers, Big Chris (Jones).

A desperate Eddy overhears his next door neighbours, a gang of robbers, discussing plans to hold-up a local cannabis farm which also has cash and valuables. Eddy relays the information to his friends and they decide to rob the gang once the heist has taken place. So begins a madcap caper that continues to spiral into violence and an increasing body count. The two barrels in the title refers to a pair of antique shotguns that also feature in the story.

The film was given only a limited release in the US in March of 1999 and this one sheet was designed by the Hollywood marketing agency New Wave Creative. The company has been working on campaigns for major studios for over 25 years and, as well as posters, they also work on trailers and other aspects of film and TV campaigns. Their page on IMPAwards indicates how prolific they were at creating posters and it appears their first one was for a 1998 re-release of Gone with the Wind. It also looks like they stopped working on posters around a decade later and presumably now only focus on other aspects of marketing campaigns. The other posters I have collected by New Wave can be seen here.

Flash Gordon / one sheet / USA

25.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Flash Gordon
AKA
Blixt Gordon (Sweden)
Year of Film
1980
Director
Mike Hodges
Starring
Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Chaim Topol, Timothy Dalton, Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti, Brian Blessed
Origin of Film
USA | UK
Genre(s) of Film
Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Chaim Topol, Timothy Dalton, Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti, Brian Blessed,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Richard Amsel
Size (inches)
27" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
Pathetic Earthlings... Who Can Save You Now?

This is the final release one sheet for Flash Gordon with artwork by the great Richard Amsel, who is responsible for probably my favourite Indiana Jones poster, the Raiders of the Lost Ark 1982 re-release one sheet. The advance was illustrated by Lawrence Noble and features a similarly menacing Ming the Merciless at the top of the poster.

It took me a long time to find a rolled version of the poster and even though this particular one is not in mint condition I’m still happy to add it to the collection.

The tagline and logo are notably great.

Flash Gordon / quad / UK

18.11.11

Poster Poster
Title
Flash Gordon
AKA
Blixt Gordon (Sweden)
Year of Film
1980
Director
Mike Hodges
Starring
Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Chaim Topol, Timothy Dalton, Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti, Brian Blessed
Origin of Film
USA | UK
Genre(s) of Film
Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Chaim Topol, Timothy Dalton, Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti, Brian Blessed,
Type of Poster
Quad
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
UK
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
FEREF
Artist
Renato Casaro
Size (inches)
30" x 39 15/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

There are few films quite like Flash Gordon and having re-watched it on blu-ray recently I was reminded how much of an impression it had on me when I first saw it as a child. I also listened to the excellent audio commentary with director Mike Hodges, who admits to being an unlikely choice to direct and confirms in no uncertain terms that they were making things up as they went along. It sounds like a typically chaotic Dino De Laurentiis production with scenes being written the night before filming and huge amounts of the budget going on the costume and set designs (though these are very impressive, even today).

There are several reasons the film remains one of my favourites of the 1980s:

Acting
Topol is insanely over the top as Dr Hans Zarkov with an accent that changes from scene to scene. It’s not hard to see why Sam J. Jones never hit the big time, although you can’t say he doesn’t give the role his all. Max Von Sydow is clearly having fun playing Ming and Brian Blessed is spectacular as Vultan the Hawksman; no one else could deliver the simple line ‘pass me the remote control’ with such unbridled gusto. A pre-Bond Timothy Dalton is also rather memorable, sporting a spectacular moustache.

The woodbeast
This infamous scene (featuring Peter Duncan) terrified me as a child, and not just ‘wow, that’s a bit weird’, I’m talking more like ‘I’m never going near a tree stump ever again’. Scarred. For. Life. There’s also an odd ‘black whoopee-cushion with tendrils’ creature that attacks Flash and is seared into my memory, even if it looks like a painted balloon when you watch it again today.

The costumes and set designs
As mentioned, a serious amount of budget was spent on costumes and sets by Danilo Donati and it shows. You only have to watch this brief clip to get an idea of the amount of work that went into them – very impressive stuff.

Ornella Muti
Just like Jane Seymour in Live and Let Die, Ornella (playing Princess Aura) was responsible for putting more than a few hairs on my chest. Her costumes are the very definition of figure-hugging. The infamous interrogation scene has to be seen to be believed.

The music
An awesome soundtrack by Brit rockers Queen that still sounds superb today. I almost tried to persuade my wife to walk down the aisle to the sound of Ming’s wedding march; it’s that good. The 2011 remaster is available on Spotify.

This British quad was illustrated by one of my favourite artists, Renato Casaro (check out the incredible amount of work here), and the design can be seen on several of the film’s international posters, including the slightly different Japanese ones. Interestingly the logo on the poster is also seen throughout the film (Flash has it on his t-shirt at one point for example), which is a crossover that very rarely happens.

You can see more of Casaro’s posters that I’ve collected here.

The great original trailer can be seen here.

The Elephant Man / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Elephant Man
AKA
--
Year of Film
1980
Director
David Lynch
Starring
Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Freddie Jones
Origin of Film
UK | USA
Genre(s) of Film
Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Freddie Jones,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Spiros Angelikas
Artist
Spiros Angelikas
Size (inches)
27 2/16" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
800138
Tagline
I am not an animal! I am a human being! I...am...a man!

The poster was designed by Spiros Angelikas who was a prolific designer and artist of film posters during the 1970s and 1980s. He owned a design agency called Spiros Associates. Some of his most famous work includes the poster he designed for Friday the 13th, with artist Alex Ebel, his work on the Indiana Jones series, and for his collaborations with the legendary artist Richard Amsel. They worked on Raiders of the Lost Ark and Nijinsky together and there’s a great article on the late artist’s website about their efforts. He also worked on several of the posters for the original Star Trek films, including the gorgeous Bob Peak original. There’s an interesting article by Angelikas’ son Harry on the Trek Core website which has photographs of concepts for the posters by Spiros that never made it to the print stage.

For this poster, not only did Spiros design the layout and type but he also put together the central stylised photographic image.

The Sword And The Sorcerer / one sheet / style A / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Sword And The Sorcerer
AKA
La spada a tre lame [The sword of three blades] (Italy)
Year of Film
1982
Director
Albert Pyun
Starring
Lee Horsley, Shelley Taylor Morgan, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, Richard Lynch, Richard Moll, Anthony De Longis, Robert Tessier, Nina Van Pallandt, Anna Bjorn, Jeff Corey, Joe Regalbuto, Christina Nigra, Earl Maynard, Russ Marin
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Lee Horsley, Shelley Taylor Morgan, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, Richard Lynch, Richard Moll, Anthony De Longis, Robert Tessier, Nina Van Pallandt, Anna Bjorn, Jeff Corey, Joe Regalbuto, Christina Nigra, Earl Maynard, Russ Marin,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
Style A
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1982
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Peter Andrew Jones
Size (inches)
27" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
A lusty epic of revenge and magic, dungeons and dragons, wizards and witches, damsels and desire, and a warrior caught between.

The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 fantasy film directed by Albert Pyun (in his debut) and was one of several entries in the genre that were released the same year, including Conan the Barbarian and The Beastmaster. Lee Horsley appears in his first film role as Prince Talon the song of a King and Queen who are slain by the evil King Cromwell (Richard Lynch) after he uses the black magic of a sorcerer named Xusia (Richard Moll) to overthrow their kingdom.

Over a decade later, Talon returns to the kingdom as a mercenary leading a band of men on a mission to help rebels overthrow Cromwell. Talon is asked to help free Mikah (Simon MacCorkindale), Cromwell’s war chancellor, who is secretly a double agent and is captured and imprisoned. His sister Alana (Kathleen Beller) begs for help from Talon and the mercenary sets out to Cromwell’s castle where the final showdown with his parents’ murderer takes place.

The film was critically derided at the time but still proved a popular box-office draw, easily recouping its relatively low budget and ending up as the most profitable independent film of 1982.

The artwork on this style A one sheet features the signature PAJ and this belongs to Peter Andrew Jones, a British artist who was born in North London in 1951 and studied at Central St. Martins art school. After graduating in 1974 he began working on book covers for the likes of Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. He also painted artwork for the Fighting Fantasy series of books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, including the cover of the first one published in 1982, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Andrews created covers for video games published by the likes of US Gold and Psygnosis and also worked on magazine covers for Games Workshop that led to him to work on game art for several releases for the company. He only worked on a handful of film posters, which included one for Alligator II and the two one sheets for The Sword and the Sorcerer (style A and style B). These posters were adapted by the artist Brian Bysouth for the UK quad. Andrews continues to paint to this day from his home studio in Shropshire. His official site contains plenty of galleries of his work and links to buy books, prints and more.