This isn’t really a fair fight considering the celebrated pedigree of the Marlon Brando classic, but here’s an ice hook smackdown between two International movie poster superstars: Anselmo Ballester (On The Waterfront) vs. Guy Gerard Noel (The Clouded Yellow)…
What do you know? Just last week, we featured the beautiful Italian movie posters by Symeoni and Gasparri from the 1960s spaghetti western, Django — and now comes word that Quentin Tarantino has just finished his latest script, Django Unchained, which will surely be a bloody, modern Southern-ized update on the much-heralded, though little-seen classic…
He is the man with no first name (at least one that I could find!) and goes by the nom de plume, P. Franco. But what’s more important is that this Italian illustrator mastered the movie poster art of the spaghetti western (no relation, of course, to Franco-American, maker of SpaghettiO’s).
Although Franco’s credits are chock full of Italian B-movie shoot ’em-ups, much like his poster buds, Symeoni and Gasparri — he also drew a few Hollywood classics, such as Dirty Harry and The Seven Year Itch.
Rodolfo Gasparri, the Italian stallion movie poster artist, was featured last year for his badass Django sheets — but this guy also had a softer side as he drew up many Italian romances and melodramas, as well.
But never trust an artist who likes guns because you never know when his/her dark side might come out!
Here’s your brain…on movie posters! Come to think of it, how come most brain-driven movies are horror/sci-fi stories (with the exception of Steve Martin’s brilliant comedy, The Man With Two Brains)? Aren’t big brains a good thing? We should be celebrating the mind — not running away in terror from them!
If French poster artist, Jean-Etienne Siry, hadn’t been employed in the movie studio art department, he could have easily gotten work doing fashion illustrations with his unique, stylish, colorful sketches.
However, luckily for us movie poster fans, his fun, light, witty designs — much like those of the great Clement Hurel — will always be in style! (via Dominique Besson)
In honor of the upcoming Easter holiday weekend, I thought I’d take this Good Friday to celebrate the works of legendary 1960s and 70s stop-motion/animation studio, Rankin-Bass.
No relation to design icon, Saul Bass (although I could swear the RB logo is done in his trademark style), Rankin-Bass produced a basket full of memorable holiday kidsy classics, including Here Comes Peter Cottontail…
Not to be confused with the 1980s foreign film, Cinema Paradiso, here are a couple movie posters celebrating some other Italian beauties (the one on the left is by Sandro Symeoni)…
SPOILER ALERT: The clip below features the touching ending of Cinema Paradiso, so in case you haven’t seen it, please be forewarned. On the other hand, it still is worth watching even if you haven’t seen the movie — but it just probably won’t be that touching.
Here’s a look at two similar-looking French posters: Truffuat’s Shoot The Piano Player by Jouineau Bourduge (which has nothing to do with They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?) and Robert Altman’s Hollywood classic, The Player…
Movie Poster Museum 