Tom Chantrell was a prolific British illustrator who did one of the more legendary Star Wars posters as well as the infamous Raquel Welch stunner for One Million Years BC and a whole slew of others. And judging by his obit, he seemed like one heckuva charmer!
Author Archives: russ
John Berkey (1932-2008)
Considering yesterday’s tragic killer whale attack at SeaWorld, it brought to mind the work of John Berkey, a fantastic sci-fi illustrator who specialized in Star Wars concept art and disaster movies. Unfortunately, Mr. Berkey passed away in 2008, but his terrific terrifying images will live on to terrorize us all…
I Hop Movie Posters!
In honor of National Pancake Day, I have a very special treat for you…
Meet Albert Kallis, the man who was not only one of the founding fathers of IHOP (International House of Pancakes), he also happens to be a distinguished designer of movie posters. Back in the late 50’s, he was hand-picked by Roger Corman to be the art director of AIP and do all of the advertising and posters for their low-budg flicks. This guy was so busy that he even hired Reynold Brown to finish the job on the classic Attack of the 50 Foot Woman one-sheet.
But that’s not all. This one man flipping crew now devotes most of his time to producing non-profit documentaries and many other charitable works not involving maple syrup. What a colossal stud!
Casaro the Barbarian!
The Italian-born Renato Casaro has worked with his fair share of auteurs, including Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola and yes, even Kevin Costner.
Having sketched out a distinguished career of painting epic scenes and classic Hollywood spoofs, he has since moved onto do portraits of the American West and African wildlife, much like his fellow contemporaries, John Solie, Robert Tanenbaum, and Howard Terpning.
The Picasso of Film Titles
Uncovered Films sent me a cool video about Pablo Ferro, the originator of the title sequences for Dr. Strangelove, Beetlejuice, and L.A. Confidential, to name just a few. So here’s a few more gems from the man that was once called a genius by Stanley Kubrick…
Boris In Love
I’ve seen illustrator partners (Huyssen & Huerta) and illustrator siblings (The Brothers Hildebrandt), but never an illustrated couple…Let me introduce you to the Mr. and Mrs. Smith of the design world — Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, a married couple with equally excellent drawing skills.
Boris was the hitman behind the awesome Barbarella and Vacation one-sheets, but these two lovebirds teamed up to do the recent Aqua Teen Hunger Force poster. What I also love about The Vallejo-Bell’s is that although they are super serious sci-fi/fantasy artists, they aren’t afraid to make fun of themselves and parody their own artwork.
Keep On Druckin!
Along with Jack Davis and Jack Rickard, Mort Drucker came from The Mad Magazine School of Art. Drucker’s cartoony style and celebrity caricatures have made him one of the “funniest” illustrators in the history of the movie/comics business!
Mad About Jack Rickard (1922-1983)
Jack Rickard may not have been as well-known as Jack Davis at MAD Magazine, but he was just as important to the wise-cracking weekly. No famous movie star or TV personality got away from the wrath of his wicked pen…
Huyssen & Huerta
Abbott & Costello…Martin & Lewis…Harold & Kumar…Barats & Bereta…
Now meet the movie poster world’s most dynamic duo, Roger Huyssen and Gerard Huerta, the lettermaking wonderboy who created the infamous AC/DC logo, among many others. They may not be as well-known as some of their contemporaries, but these guys go together like peanut butter and jelly with Huyssen doing the illustrations and Huerta providing the killer fonts. From candy bars and cereal boxes to album covers and Swiss Army watches, Huyssen and Huerta’s Art Deco-meets-Rock N’Roll designs have indeed made the world a much better-looking place.
Movie Poster Museum 
