Maybe it’s that face, but it seems like Buster Keaton has been the subject of more great posters over the past century than almost any other actor. I’ve featured a number of them over the years (like this and this and this) and one of these days I’ll try to collect them all together, but for now we have these marvelous new posters for Kino Lorber’s release of four Keaton restorations. Created by Dylan Haley, a Californian artist and designer now based in New Zealand, these whimsical mixtures of black and white stills, multi-colored hand-lettering (a Haley specialty) and simple hand-drawn backgrounds are intended to bring Keaton a younger, hipper audience than might normally be attracted to silent movies (though Buster, as we all know, is the hippest cat of all).
The films have been restored in France by Serge Bromberg and Lobster Films and Kino Lorber will be showing them at the Metrograph in New York in March, as well as around the United States.
Haley has also created posters in a similar mode for two recent Agnès Varda re-releases for new distributor Cinelicious Pics, as well as a lovely poster and button for Belladonna of Sadness. You can see those below and see more of his work on his website (he is also an excellent web designer).
Many thanks to Jonathan Hertzberg of Kino Lorber.