Even though my pops loved ’em, I’m not really a super huge fan of Westerns. However, if you take that All-American genre and mix it up with the sometimes anti-American sentiments of the French, you get an artistically interesting movie poster art combination.
Jean Mascii is credited with The Dollars of Nebraska while Boris Grinsson did The Man From Laramie (style A) and Stage to Thunder Rock; She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and Cattle King are by Roger Soubie.
Here’s a Belgian movie poster and two Frenchies of The Last Sunset, a 1961 love triangle western starring Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson.
The far one on the right is by famed French horror poster artist, Guy Gérard Noël, and the middle version might be as well, too, but I could not officially confirm as of press time.
Every so often you see a creepy, but cool vintage movie poster of a movie that you’ve never heard of before and think…”Wow, what the hell is that? I’ve gotta see it!”
This one’s a 1968 Italian spaghetti western that was originally titled, All’Ultimo Sangue, aka Bury Them Deep.
From the school of McGinnis comes Ron Lesser, a celebrated illustrator of steamy pulp paperbacks and Civil War art, who is probably most famous in the movie poster world for his work on High Plains Drifter and Ryan’s Daughter.
Whichever of his many styles you prefer, his range is impressive as he seamlessly draws sexy babes, Confederate soldiers, cigar-chomping cowboys, soulful Indians and Impressionist landscapes with equal aplomb!
Now that The Expendables have blasted their way into our consciousness, it will only be a matter of time before these slew of action films get remade into something bigger and badder.
By the way, The Black Six featured a gang of ex-NFL players from the 70’s, so it would be interesting to see which current athletes/actors they would cast for that today…Hmm, how ’bout an NBA version with Shaq, LeBron, Kobe, Ray Allen, and Dennis Rodman to get the ball rolling?
One of our finest character actors, James Gammon, died last week at the age of 70. Like a poor man’s Sam Elliott or a rich man’s Nick Nolte, the grizzled vet often played whiskey-throated cowboys, ranchers, and alcoholic fathers, as well as starred in a number of Sam Shepard’s Broadway productions, including Buried Child and The Late Henry Moss. Although most filmgoers never knew his name, he had a face you couldn’t forget.
Most famous for his vivid, swirling paintings of Midwestern landscapes, farmers, and railroad workers, the regionalist American artist, Thomas Hart Benton, also did a few brief cameos as a movie poster illustrator.
Though not nearly as bold or dramatic as his paintings, his takes on the John Ford classic, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Kentuckian, starring Burt Lancaster, clearly showcase his unique style.
Bill Gold Advertising is undoubtedly one of the most successful poster design companies in the history of the movie business. This New Yorker was chiefly known for his productive relationships with Bob Peak and Clint Eastwood, with whom he worked with for over 30 years of his movies.
Speaking of Clint, there’s an excellent book out now called Clint Eastwood Icon: The Essential Film Art Collection…
Movie Poster Museum 