Above: Italian 4-foglio for The Joker is Wild (Charles Vidor, USA, 1957). Art by Enzo Nistri.
Frank Sinatra, arguably the most important entertainer of the 20th century, was born 100 years ago today. I’ve become a little obsessed with him over the past week after watching Alex Gibney’s terrific 2-part, 4-hour HBO portrait Sinatra: All or Nothing at All. This of course got me thinking about Frank in movie posters, and I realized that I could barely come up with images of Sinatra posters in my head. While his best album covers are indelible and iconic, his movie posters tend to be less so. Scrolling through his filmography I realized that part of the problem is that his greatest films—On the Town, From Here to Eternity, Guys and Dolls, Some Came Running, Ocean’s 11—were almost always ensemble films in which Sinatra was never the standalone star, and so the posters for those films are usually jumbles of faces and bodies, never really showcasing Sinatra in any memorable way. And the films in which he was the main attraction—films like Johnny Concho, The Joker Is Wild, Tony Rome and The Lady in Cement—are just less well known. What is undoubtedly the most iconic poster for a Frank Sinatra film—Saul Bass’s jazzed-up abstract for The Man with the Golden Arm—wasn’t supposed to feature Sinatra at all. Though, as you can see below, the studio eventually got their way, and, against Otto Preminger’s wishes, had Bass insert small photos of the film’s stars into his design.
That said, I’ve managed to assemble a number of terrific Sinatra posters in which he is front and center. They are presented here in chronological order: nearly 40 years from twinkly eyed pop star to dour patriarch. Happy birthday Frank!
Above: US half sheet for Higher and Higher (Tim Whelan, USA, 1943).
Above: Italian locandina for Meet Danny Wilson (Joseph Pevney, USA, 1951). Art by Silvano “Nano” Campeggi.
Above: Italian 4-foglio for From Here to Eternity (Fred Zinnemann, USA, 1953). Art by Sandro Simeoni.
Above: US six sheet for Suddenly (Lewis Allen, USA, 1954).
Above: US one sheet for Suddenly (Lewis Allen, USA, 1954).
Above: US one sheet for The Man with the Golden Arm (Otto Preminger, USA, 1955). Designed by Saul Bass.
Above: US three sheet for Johnny Concho (Don McGuire, USA, 1956).
Above: UK quad for Johnny Concho (Don McGuire, USA, 1956).
Above: UK quad for The Joker is Wild (Charles Vidor, USA, 1957).
Above: US one sheet for The Joker is Wild (Charles Vidor, USA, 1957).
Above: French affiche for Pal Joey (George Sidney, USA, 1957).
Above: Danish poster for Some Came Running (Vincente Minnelli, USA, 1958).
Above: US one sheet for Some Came Running (Vincente Minnelli, USA, 1958).
Above: Italian 2-foglio for Can Can (Walter Lang, USA, 1960).
Above: French affiche for Ocean’s 11 (Lewis Milestone, USA, 1960). Art by Jean Mascii.
Above: German poster for Ocean’s 11 (Lewis Milestone, USA, 1960). Art by Rolf Goetze.
Above: US one sheet for The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, USA, 1962).
Above: Italian 4-foglio for 4 From Texas (Robert Aldrich, USA, 1963). Art by Averardo Ciriello.
Above: US one sheet for Come Blow Your Horn (Bud Yorkin, USA, 1963).
Above: French grande for None But the Brave (Frank Sinatra, USA, 1965). Art by Jean Mascii.
Above: US one sheet for Tony Rome (Gordon Douglas, USA, 1967).
Above: US one sheet for The Detective (Gordon Douglas, USA, 1968).
Above: French affiche for Lady in Cement (Gordon Douglas, USA, 1968). Art by Boris Grinsson.
Above: Italian locandina for Lady in Cement (Gordon Douglas, USA, 1968). Art by Enzo Nistri.
Above: US one sheet for Lady in Cement (Gordon Douglas, USA, 1968).
Above: US one sheet for Dirty Dingus Magee (Burt Kennedy, USA, 1970).
Above: Italian 4-foglio for The First Deadly Sin (Brian G. Hutton, USA, 1980).