Above: Spanish poster for Serpico (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1973). Artist: Jano.
Al Pacino, who is currently being fêted by the Quad Cinema in a 33 film retrospective, came of age in the 1970s, a golden age of American poster design. The one sheet for his first major film, The Panic in Needle Park, though it doesn’t give you a good look at Pacino, is a classic of its time: an arresting black and white photo (taken, I would hope, by director Jerry Schatzberg who was an accomplished photographer before he was a filmmaker), a stop-you-in-your-tracks tagline (overwhleming the film’s title) and that very ’70s white border. He doesn’t appear on the posters for his second major film, The Godfather, but after that, throughout the 70s and into the early 80s his face (and especially those soulful eyes) and name became ubiquitous. And of course, the poster for Scarface has become one of the most widely reproduced movie posters of all-time (remember its prominence in the Jersey Shore house?)
I have selected my favorite Pacino posters below. I could have done an article featuring only posters for Serpico since there are so many great ones. And to be honest, the great ones run out shortly after Scarface since the 80s and 90s were not a glory age of American poster design. That said, I have included the posters for almost all the films in the retrospective at the end of the piece (and I threw in The Godfather: Part III, which is regrettably absent from the series) to give an idea of how Pacino was represented over his entire career.
Above: US poster for The Panic in Needle Park (Jerry Schatzberg, USA, 1971).
Above: US poster for Scarecrow (Jerry Schatzberg, USA, 1973).
Above: Detail from US poster for Scarecrow (Jerry Schatzberg, USA, 1973).
Above: US poster for Serpico (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1973).
Above: Czech poster for Serpico (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1973). Designer: Dimitrij Kadrnozka.
Above: Italian poster for Serpico (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1973).
Above: Japanese poster for Serpico (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1973).
Above: Polish poster for Serpico (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1973). Designer: Jakub Erol.
Above: Hungarian poster for The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, USA, 1974). Artist: Koppany Simon.
Above: International poster for Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1975).
Above: US review style poster for Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1975).
Above: Czech poster for Bobby Deerfield (Sydney Pollack, USA, 1977). Designer: Alexej Jaros.
Above: Polish poster for Bobby Deerfield (Sydney Pollack, USA, 1977). Designer: Jakub Erol.
Above: US poster for ...And Justice for All (Norman Jewish, USA, 1979).
Above: US poster for ...And Justice for All (Norman Jewish, USA, 1979).
Above: US poster for Cruising (William Friedkin, USA, 1980).
Above: Japan poster for Cruising (Wi lliam Friedkin, USA, 1980).
Above: Australian poster for Scarface (Brian de Palma, USA, 1983).
Above: US poster for Scarface (Brian de Palma, USA, 1983).
Posters courtesy of Heritage Auctions, Cinematerial and Posteritati. Pacino’s Way runs at the Quad Cinema through March 30.