Movie Art

Original Polish Poster (22×32) for the Ken Annakin comedy, THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES/aka MONTE CARLO OR BUST (1969) starring Bourvil, Tony Curtis, Peter Cook, Gert Frobe, Susan Hampshire, Dudley Moore, Eric Sykes and Terry-Thomas. Director Annakin previously helmed the wildly popular THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES and attempted to recapture some of that film’s comedy, romance and adventure in this European road race comedy. The poster design is of a tweedy Brit driving a vintage car of the early 20th century. While directly representative of the film, the art has a modern, satirical take on the subject. Art on this poster is by Eryk Lipinsky. Condition is Very Fine.

Original Polish Poster (26×38) for the Claude Chabrol psychological thriller, THIS MAN MUST DIE (1969) starring Michel Duchaussoy, Caroline Cellier and Jean Yanne. Director Chabrol was in the golden age of his career with this revenge tale about a man whose son is killed in a hit and run car accident. After discovering the possibly identity of the driver, he insinuates himself into the life and family of an actress. She was in the death car and his urge for revenge is palpable. The poster design features a car and a tire crashing into a pair of frail hands, made to look like a bird in flight, innocent and defenseless. The background is of flocked wallpaper that might be in a setting like a salon or someone’s home-a typically banal location for the intensity of the emotions Chabrol is exploring. This original Polish poster is in very fine condition.

Original Polish Poster (27×38) for the Robert Aldrich western adventure, VERA CRUZ (1954) starring Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Denise Darcel, and Cesar Romero. The film takes place during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866, when a unsavory band of American mercenaries are hired by the forces of Emperor Maximilian to escort a countess to Vera Cruz. The film was very influential on the Italian filmmakers who would create the great “spaghetti” westerns. With artwork by Waldemar Swierzy, this original Polish poster is in very fine condition.

Original Polish Poster (23×33) for the Tony Richardson romantic comedy, TOM JONES (1963) starring Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, and Edith Evans. Jones (Finney), an incorrigible ne’er-do-well, goes on a quest for the love of his neighbor’s daughter (York) which takes him on a tumultuous adventure through fashionable London society in a series of comedic wrong-turns and misunderstandings. The film is well directed, well acted, beautifully photographed with a stunning soundtrack. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director to Richardson, Best Screenplay to John Osborn for his hilarious adaptation of the 18th century novel by Henry Fielding, and Best Original Music to John Addison. With artwork by Bronislaw Zelek, this original Polish poster is in very fine condition.

Original Polish Poster (23×32) for the Luis Bunuel surreal drama, TRISTANA (1970) starring Catherine Deneuve, Fernando Ray, and Franco Nero. This film is a well-crafted but sad tale about its characters as they grapple with life, love, loss, and regret. Denueve gives a totally convincing performance as she evolves from an innocent young girl to a bitter and cynical woman by the end of the film. With artwork by Maciej Zbikowski, this original Polish poster is in very fine condition.

Original Polish Poster (26×37) for the Ron Howard escapist fantasy, WILLOW (1988) starring Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, and Warwick Davis. Willow (Davis), a small farmer and apprentice magician, meets Madmartigan (Kilmer), a great swordsman. Together they journey through a war-torn land of magic and monsters to save a baby princess from death at the hands of an evil queen. With artwork by Wieslaw Walkuski, this original Polish poster is in very fine condition.

Original MGM six sheet poster for the Vincente Minnelli melodrama THE SANDPIPER, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton,Eva Marie Saint, and Charles Bronson. Taylor is a bohemian painter living gorgeously in the Big Sur area of the California Pacific Coast. Richard Burton is the schoolmaster of an (Episcopal!) school for boys, married to the the dutiful Eva Marie Saint. Mix the two and you have an illicit romance set against the driftwood and sea gulls. This one is a guilty pleasure. MGM’s idea seemed to be to exploit the white hot fame of moviedom’s most famous couple while at the same time trying to drag the Burton’s back somewhere near respectability. Bronson is Taylor’s hunky boyfriend. The poster has that sort of modernist look to the illustration. The six sheet is comprised of four separate panels. They are shown here contiguously but not fully butted together in order to give the viewer an accurate view of each panel. Condition is fine. This was a theater-used copy. There are some small tears, some minor missing paper, some fold distress and general use wear and tear. Color is good. This poster could be linen backed effectively. Ask us about poster conservation and linen backing.

This is an original Columbia Pictures Three Sheet Poster (41×81) for the Joseph L. Mankiewicz dramatic classic, SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959) starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, and Montgomery Clift. Based on a play by the very successful Broadway icon Tennessee Williams, the screenplay was skillfully adapted by Gore Vidal. Set in New Orleans in 1937, Hepburn plays a lady of means who is mourning the loss of her son. She wants to donate a million dollars to the hospital where Clift is a doctor if he will perform a lobotomy on her niece Taylor. The young woman seems to be totally traumatized by what she witnessed last summer. Tennessee Williams never forgave his own mother for letting his sister Rose have a lobotomy to “cure” her anxiety problems. The whole story turns on the character of the son Sebastian, but you never see his face or hear his voice in Taylor’s flashbacks. He is supposed to have died of a heart attack, but the audience finally discovers that it was a horribly cruel case of gay bashing. Both Taylor and Hepburn were nominated for Oscars. It was the eighth nomination for Hepburn and the third nomination for Taylor. This original three sheet poster is in very fine plus condition. This copy was never used and is about as good as it gets in terms of condition.