Ten Iconic Movie Posters

THE standard by which all movie posters are judged.  For a film which was bigger than life, Reynold Brown created an iconic panorama which would burn into the viewer's mind.  A feast for the eyes almost as fulfilling as the movie it was advertising.Noted space artist Robert McCall created a handful of posters for the 1968 Kubrick film.  As Kubrick did on the screen, McCall would concentrate on the effects of technology upon the modern man, and the age of the modern science-fiction film is born.People who know and appreciate movie poster art will tell you it seldom gets better than this.  The entire essence of the film boiled down into an unforgettable image.  Even if you've never seen the movie you immediately recognize the image.View the list »
poster for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

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Back during my tirades concerning the recent Academy Awards I mentioned a special appreciation for the poster artwork employed for Tom Hooper's "Les Miserables". To my way of thinking (which, when all is said and done, admittedly a dust bunny in the great abandoned high-rise of Life), the poster did everything it was supposed to do: present a image which would entice the viewer into purchasing a ticket for seeing the movie.

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Movies are expensive enough propositions as it is, so selling them to the public not only has to be an art, but a science as well. But a good public-relations team can't afford to wander too far from Art. A well-executed public relations campaign can sometimes make all the difference in the world in the quest for box-office success, and finding just the right poster can be nine-tenths of the effort. You want to hook the audience at once, give them a taste of what the film is about, and perhaps present an image which still stick in the mind.

Connoisseurs of movie poster art can be as varied in their tastes as the most ardent visitors to the Louvre, and many opinions are out there considering which are the best. To provide something of an introduction into the field I herein present a list of particularly iconic promotional film art:

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  • People who know and appreciate movie poster art will tell you it seldom gets better than this.  The entire essence of the film boiled down into an unforgettable image.  Even if you've never seen the movie you immediately recognize the image.
  • Noted space artist Robert McCall created a handful of posters for the 1968 Kubrick film.  As Kubrick did on the screen, McCall would concentrate on the effects of technology upon the modern man, and the age of the modern science-fiction film is born.
  • THE standard by which all movie posters are judged.  For a film which was bigger than life, Reynold Brown created an iconic panorama which would burn into the viewer's mind.  A feast for the eyes almost as fulfilling as the movie it was advertising.
  • In comparison to the lushness of "Ben-Hur", here we see an example of grabbing an audience through Minimalism.  Of course by the time the movie came out most people had been familiar with Puzo's novel, so there was really no need to gild the lily with excessive imagery.  But the unique typography of the title . . . combined with the puppeteer logo . . . would go far to fix the film in the minds of people.
  • Speaking of iconic.  Some images would outlast the films they were advertising (e.g. the poster for "Gone with the Wind").  Here Howard Terpning finds an image of Julie Andrews that would live forever in the memories of her fans.
  • In terms of motion picture iconography we have here the 1970s answer to "Gone with the Wind" and "Ben-Hur".  Ralph McQuarrie would become for the "Star Wars" franchise what Saul Bass was to Hitchcock and Preminger.  Every important element of the franchise . . . both spiritual and visual . . . are firmly locked into this initial effort (up to and including the tagline: "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away"). 
  • Frank McCarthy's classic poster art would become as important to James Bond as the Walther PPK.  Along with Robert McGinnis he would define the world of the atomic age urbane spy throughout the 60s, leaving enormous jet packs for others to follow (and seldom exceed).
  • Speaking of images designed to draw an audience in. Ahem!The technical term for this is "good girl art", but Jane Russell's "goodness" in this poster is admittedly up to the personal interpretation of the viewer.  Bluenoses of the time (and long afterwards) would loudly ask if Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks knew what they were doing when they helped engineer this ad campaign.Take it from me, they knew exactly what they were doing.
  • A modern example of "the tease".  Minimalist imagery, an interestingly vague title and that eye-catching little stick figure.  This poster sold the movie.
  • Of course if you're going to employ minimalism it certainly doesn't hurt to be able to throw Hitchcock's name onto your poster.  But Saul Bass could create masterpieces without resorting to celebrities.  His poster art . . . simple almost to the point of being painful . . . nonetheless employed images which were arresting in their starkness.  Looking at a Bass poster wouldn't exactly explain what the movie was about, but it was even money you'd never forget what you saw.
  • And here we have an example of that most peculiar of creatures: the movie where the poster art was much better than the film.  In this case: Tom Kennedy's 1982 B-feature.
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, Charleston Movie Examiner

Michael Wolff is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications as varied as Starlog magazine and Action Comics. He occasionally plays well with others and may be reached at michaeljwolff@comcast.net.

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