We are always on the lookout for great books about cinema posters. It is a relatively sparse field of study by today’s standards. Nevertheless, there are some excellent books in circulation discussing the subject of moive posters. With collectors very much in mind, they have wonderful images and discussions about the history of our beloved pastime/enterprise. The following books are some of our favourites.
Selling the Movie (Ian Haydn Smith)
Ian Haydn Smith is as UK-based film journalist, editor of Curzon and BFI Filmmakers magazine, and somewhat prolific writer of top-quality books on Film and Cinema. ‘Selling the Movie’ is his offering on cinema posters and we have yet to find a better book outlining a complete history of the subject. The book is roughly a 50:50 split between text and pictures of our favourite cinema poster.
The book begins with the origins of the ‘art posters’ in France produced by Jules Cheret in 1858. This is a good starting point. These posters were the forebearers of posters for the ‘image projection’ shows produced by organisations such as the Edison Group at the turn of the 20th Century. From the ‘image projection’ shows sprang ‘Hollywood’ which really started to grow from 1910 onwards. By then it had become the norm to produce posters alongside movies.
The chapters in this are split by decades of the 20th Century. Each chapter looks at key movements, artists or directors from that decade. The 70s dedicates at least 2 pages to the Horror, New Hollywood and Martial Arts genres. It also looks at posters produced for Stanley Kubrick and Robert Altman movies and. The chapter also looks at the artwork and design of Richard Amsel and Bob Peak.
James Bond – 50 years of Movie Posters
Measuring 25 x 34 cm, this book is a stunning collection of James Bond Movie Posters. While we have noticed some omissions, this book is the most complete catalogue of every Bond poster we have managed to find. Thankfully the non-Eon-produced movies are included and we were particularly happy to see some great Japanese 1970s re-release posters we hold in stock included.
The book is compiled by Dennis Gassner, a highly influential Production Designer. This may explain why this Dorling Kindersley published book focuses more on producing excellent images than written content. Having said that the poster’s descriptions are excellent. We were able to pick up a used copy relatively cheaply and we continuously use it as a reference.
Star Wars Poster Book (Stephen J. Sansweet & Peter Vilmur)
With only 6 movies to covers, this book is more narrative in style than the James Bond book discussed above. In addition to theatrical posters, the book also includes some advertising and promotional posters and indexes all of the authorised posters that have been printed at the back.
It will surprise no Star Wars fans to learn how hands-on George Lucas was/is in selecting the cinema posters used by the franchise. Amongst other things, the book explains how the 4 styles (A, B, C and D) for the original Star Wars movie came to be. If you have are interested in knowing why the Style C poster has been referred to as the ‘Dirty Dozen poster’ (because it was similar in style to the Dirty Dozen poster with a group pointing out at the audience) or why the bodies of Luke and Leia are on a poster within a poster on the Style D/ Cinema Poster (to enable the credits to fit below), this is the book for you.
