Category Archives: 1980s posters

You Say Dorero, I Say Obrero!

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Last month, I wrote about an “unknown” artist named R. Dorero who did the Never Say Never Again one-sheet. Well, the reason this Dorero character was such a mystery is because he doesn’t exist!

The real artist who did this James Bond classic happens to be a very accomplished illustrator named Rudy Obrero who has done a whole slew of other movie posters, including The Postman Always Rings Twice, Oh God You Devil, A Fish Called Wanda as well as work on more recent pics such as The Cat In The Hat and Russell Crowe’s Master and Commander.

But I wasn’t the only one fooled — it appears that LearnAboutMoviePosters and EMoviePoster also made the same mistake. My best guess is that someone misread Obrero’s signature on the original Never Say Never Again poster and the search engines ran with it, thus the confusion. Anyway, the truth is that Rudy Obrero is the real creator behind 007’s NSNA and is still doing great work. So sorry, Rudy. I will never again mistake a Dorero for an Obrero!

Fatal Abstraction

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When I first started looking at Polish movie posters, I’ve gotta be honest: they kinda made me sick. I mean, not physically sick. But more that feeling you get when you walk into a freaky video exhibit at a contemporary art museum and immediately want to dash for the nearest exit.

Well, I’ve gotten more comfy in my own skin since then and couldn’t be happier looking at these Polish takes on our 80’s Hollywood classics…

Bugsy & Hooch!

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No, this is not a sequel to the Tom Hanks dog buddy comedy. I’m talking movies about Prohibition! I finally got around to seeing Public Enemies with Johnny Depp and started getting a little nostalgic about some other gangster/moonshiney movie posters of yore…

But if you literally want to get into the Prohibitive spirits, check out the Speakeasy Ales brewery in San Francisco. And The Atlantic also recently published an article about Hipster Moonshine.

Wow, after all this liquor talk, I need a drink!

Flashback: Poster Lawsuit!

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Hollywood lawsuits are common…even in the world of movie posters. And famous artists are no exception. Back in 1987, Saul Steinberg sued Columbia Pictures for filching his classic 1976 New Yorker mag cover (“View of the World From 9th Avenue”) to use for their 80’s Robin Williams immigrant comedy, Moscow On The Hudson. And it looks like Steinberg had a pretty good case.

Noblety

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If life were fair, you would have already heard of Larry Noble a long time ago (in fact, maybe some of you Star Wars fans have)…

IMHO, Larry Noble is probably one of the more underrated movie poster artists of the 70’s and 80’s. (Actually, I guess he goes by Lawrence nowadays!) And if you agree, he’s still out there working today — although he has since moved onto sculpture as his preferred medium and you can check out some of his highly collectible Yoda figures here.

The Clash Is Back!

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I guess this weekend’s box office numbers left little doubt that remakes make money. Here’s the innocent little original 80’s posters (by Gouzee and The Hildebrandt Bros, respectively) compared to the amped-up 2010 version.

The Great McGinty

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Most movie fans think Mick McGinty created the original Jaws poster — but in fact, he created the Jaws II poster. And even though the sequel was not as good as the Spielberg classic, his one-sheet artwork was just as splendid, as were many of McGinty’s other 80’s pieces. And luckily for us, he’s still working away today, illustrating entertainment promos and still-lifes.

The Seiniger Rules

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Tony Seiniger once led a team called “The New York Yankees of the movie advertising world” and dominated the 80’s with posters for Field of Dreams, Born on the Fourth of July, and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles — and employed some of the best posters artists around, including Drew Struzan and Dan Gouzee. But their most famous design was undoubtedly that for Jaws, which featured the shark-art of Roger Kastel.

Also, here’s an interesting website by an ex-Seiniger employee who recounts the 80’s glory days and also some movie poster designs that never saw the light of day…until now.