When people think of Norman Rockwell, they typically think of his old Saturday Evening Post covers of Americana and the Four Freedoms series. But he also did a few movie posters back in the day.
What I also love, too, is that you can see his signature on each one!
If you’re into really big, oversized movie posters, you might wanna check out the auction that expires today around 5pm PST over at EMoviePoster.com. You can spend anywhere from $1 to $1,000+ (plus shipping, of course). Here’s a few of my funkier favorites…
Ever wondered who created the posters for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and Ben Hur? Reynold Brown, that’s who! Most people remember him as one of Roger Corman’s go-to-guys doing cheesy monster movie posters for AIP back in the day — but this fella drew more than just teenage werewolves and killer sea creatures. From Cat On A Hot Tin Roof to Spartacus to, yes, Love Slaves of the Amazon, this popular artist will be remembered for many years to come.
You can preview his book here at The Illustrated Press…
And here’s part 2 from his PBS documentary, The Man Who Drew Bug-Eyed Monsters (you can watch the whole thing on YouTube, but I started at part 2 when he arrives in Hollywood)…
Named one of AdAge’s People of the Century as well as being inducted into The Art Directors Hall of Fame, Steve Frankfurt has conquered both Madison Avenue and Hollywood. His title designs for Downhill Racer and Rosemary’s Baby are both routinely listed in the Top 100 posters of all-time. Not content though to merely dominate the worlds of legit entertainment, he once even did a remarkable campaign for a porno (Emmanuelle).
Here’s the nominees for Best Poster Picture for this year’s 82nd Annual Academy Awards…
The Auteurs recently did an exclusive interview with Akiko Stehrenberger, the illustrator who conceived the poster for Funny Games and many others I hadn’t seen before.
I couldn’t help but notice the strong resemblance between the posters for Mel Gibson’s new thriller, Edge of Darkness, and a 1956 movie called Edge of the City starring Sidney Poitier, which was dreamt up by everyone’s favorite design legend, Saul Bass.
I don’t usually do book covers, but I couldn’t help it with the news of JD Salinger’s death. Like screenwriters who write spec scripts, I guess graphic artists do spec book covers. See if you can tell the “real” The Catcher In The Rye covers above from the “fakes”.
Recently, there was even a proposed sequel and a mock movie poster.
Like many poster artists of the 70’s and 80’s, Steven Chorney paid the bills doing illustration work for the likes of TV Guide and Reader’s Digest. Similar in style to Drew Struzan, his slick, shiny, starry-eyed one-sheets often stand out from the pack.
The Sundance Film Festival has had its share of winners and losers over the years…(Although any movie that gets made is a victory in my book!)
Which ones do you remember?
