Above: 1929 Swedish poster for THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (Richard Oswald, Germany, 1929). Designer uncredited.
It’s time once again for my countdown of the most popular (the most “liked” and “reblogged”) posters on my Movie Poster of the Day Tumblr over the past three months. The most popular by far, and deservedly so, was this extraordinary 1920s Swedish poster for an adaptation of Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, which looks like some modern Mondo marvel. I had never seen it before it showed up on Heritage Auctions in March, where it sold for over $5000 (a steal). I’m not sure how Heritage dated the poster or divined which version of Hound of the Baskervilles this was for, since there are no acting or directing credits on the poster. They claim it for Richard Oswald’s 1929 German version though IMDb has a variant of the poster attached to a 1914 German adaptation. Whichever is correct, it is a remarkable design for the silent era and I would love to discover more by the same artist, though the poster is, sadly, unsigned.
Nipping at its heels is Jen Davies’ dreamy re-release poster for Blue Velvet, followed by Barbara Baranowska’s stunning 1981 French poster for Possession, which I posted to commemorate the tragic passing of director Andrzej Żuławski. And then there is a gorgeous Japanese Funny Face, proof that people love Audrey Hepburn in movie posters.
These and much more graphic goodness below, presented in descending order (though all gained at least 200 likes or reblogs).
2016 re-release poster for BLUE VELVET (David Lynch, USA, 1986). Designer: Jen Davies.
Above: French grande for POSSESSION (Andrzej Żuławski, France/W. Germany, 1981). Artist: Barbara “Basha” Baranowska.
Above: 1966 Japanese re-release poster for FUNNY FACE (Stanley Donen, USA, 1957). Designer unknown.
Above: Mylar one-sheet for ALTERED STATES (Ken Russell, USA, 1980). Designer unknown.
Above: 1968 German poster for QUI ÊTES-VOUS, POLLY MAGGOO? (William Klein, France, 1966). Designer unknown.
Above: Japanese poster for AKIRA KUROSAWA’S DREAMS (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1990). Designer unknown.
Above: Mondo poster for MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (Jeff Nichols, USA, 2016). Artist: Tomer Hanuka.
Above: Festival poster for OBIT (Vanessa Gould, USA, 2016). Designer TBD.
Above: Official poster for the 69th Cannes Film Festival. Designer TBD.
Above: US one sheet for SIGN ‘O’ THE TIMES (Prince, USA, 1987). Designer: unknown.
Above: US vertical half-sheet for THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (Jacques Demy, France, 1964). Designer uncredited.
Russian poster for SOLARIS (Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR, 1972). Designer: Bezruchenkov.
Above: 1961 US one sheet for SHADOWS (John Cassavetes, USA, 1959). Designer unknown.
Japanese poster for EVIL OF DRACULA (Michio Yamamoto, Japan, 1974). Designer unknown.
Above: 1975 Czech poster for I KILLED (Stanislaw Lenartowicz, Poland, 1975). Designer: Karel Teissig.
Above: US one sheet for RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN (Hong Sang-soo, S. Korea, 2015). Designer: Propaganda.
Above: 1965 Czech poster for THREE FABLES OF LOVE (Blasetti, Bromberger, Clair, Berlanga, Italy/Spain, 1962). Designer: Karel Teissig.
Above: US one sheet for BONJOUR TRISTESSE (Otto Preminger, USA, 1958). Designer: Saul Bass.
Above: 1987 Polish poster for MASQUERADE (Janusz Kijowski, Poland, 1987). Artist: Andrzej Pagowski.
Poster sources are all credited on Movie Poster of the Day; click on the titles above for more information.
You can see an index of all my Movie Poster of the Week posts here, and if you want to see more of Movie Poster of the Day and you’re not on Tumblr, you can follow me on Twitter and get daily updates there.