Movie Poster Collecting

Lucien Bernhard Maquettes

2008-08-05T17:48:00.003-04:00

From a 4 August Antiques Road Show; appraisal by Nicholas Lowry

19th Century Bicycle Posters

2008-07-20T08:50:00.003-04:00

From the 14 July Antiques Road Show; Appraisal by Nicholas Lowry

Egyptian Poster Variations

2008-07-14T05:04:00.016-04:00

Documenting Egyptian Poster Varieties

People collect things for a variety of reasons. They collect film posters sometimes because they need to make affordable investments. Sometimes they collect them because they like the graphic art, and sometimes these two motivations are combined. I like to collect Egyptian posters because they are beautiful but fragile remnants of a colorful history.

Whatever the reason for its existence, a film poster collection has more meaning if the collector is aware of the subtle variations that often exist for posters advertising the same film title. Film posters can vary because they were made for different reasons, made at different times, made in different locations, made with different equipment, or made with different designs.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of owning a film poster
collection is the research that goes into documenting and understanding these variations.

In Egypt, film posters sometimes change because the companies that distribute the films change. This may involve only a minor change in poster appearance such as blocking out the name of the old distributor in the bottom border and overprinting the name of the new one. This would happen in cases where the lithograph plates used by a former distributor are still available to the new distributor.

In other cases, if the new distributor no longer has access to the old distributor's printing plates (this seems to be the most common case), he will have a new plate made that resembles the old one as closely as possible. In both cases, artists draw the poster designs directly on the printing plate. Often the signed names of the artist or artists will be different for the old and new versions, but obviously at least one of the artists is a copyist.

Here is an example of a poster variation for an Egyptian film:

Version A

Version B

Posters for the 1967 Zoheir Bekir film A Crazy Man's Love Affairs, starring Farid Shawqi and Nadia Lutfi

Information printed on the posters tells us that this transition involved changes in distributor, printer and artist. The distributor for Version A was The General Company for Film Marketing and Distribution, while the distributor for version B was The General Egyptian Institute for Cinema. The printer of the style A poster was The H.H. Gasour Arabic Cinema Printing Company, the printer for the Style B poster was the Al-Nasr Printing Company. The artist for the Style A poster was Gasour himself, the owner of the printing company. The Style B poster is not signed by an artist. Based on the loss of detail in the Style B version, I conclude that the Style A is the earlier version, but no printing dates are given on either poster so I don't know exactly how much time passed between the two versions.

Here is a similar pair of poster variations for an Egyptian film:

Version A

Version B

Posters for the 1996 Samir Seif film Of Days and Dogs, starring Nour El-Sherif and Dalal Abdel Aziz

In this case the distributor did not change. The same distributor may have needed to print more posters after reusing his first litho plate for something else. Style A is signed by the artist Sami, and Style B is signed by the artist Walid Wahig. Neither poster tells us the printer name. Distribution was done by two companies, Farid Shawqi's Artists Union Company and Mohammad Hassan Ramzi's Nasr Films Company. The fact that two distribution companies were involved may explain the existence of two poster types, but if so I do not know how or why.

These varieties have nothing to do with anything that would be called a "rerelease." They were apparently brought about because of a change in distributor in one case and a poster stocking and printing requirement in the other.

I don't think "rereleases" as we know them in the US play much of a role in the Egyptian film industry. Once a film is put out for distribution, there are usually no end dates or renewal dates for that distribution, but there are exceptions. I've seen distribution contracts where these dates were specified, but distributors usually just keep the films and the posters in stock and distribute them to cinemas as long as demand exists.

There is plenty of variation in these Egyptian film
posters, but it seems to be more more complex, small-scale and unpredictable than what I've seen in other countries.

Visit the Movie Poster Page!

WPA Posters

2008-07-07T21:15:00.002-04:00

Appraisal by Nicholas Lowry

Al-Helal's Egyptian Cinema Retrospective

2008-06-25T22:49:00.004-04:00

The volume shown above is a 100-year retrospective on Egyptian film, published last December by Cairo's Al-Helal magazine. It is an anthology of articles covering various aspects of film and the making of films in Egypt during that period.

In looking it over about a week ago I noticed that over 70 images from my Egyptian film posters website had been included, with no acknowledgment of source!

I sent them an email (helalmag@yahoo.com) suggesting it would have been nice if they had thanked me for doing all that work for them, but got no reply. This is because in Egypt publications apparently do not credit sources for published images. They were probably puzzled that they heard from me. I looked at a few other journals and saw the same practice was being followed in them too, on all images. They just print, sometimes have a caption, but never mention the source. A couple of examples of images taken from my site as they appeared in the Al-Helal anthology:

Hercules Unchained R89 Egypt

2008-06-24T08:47:00.002-04:00

The artist's name is Moaty

Son of King Kong

2008-06-22T13:39:00.001-04:00

But Which "Son of King Kong"? I'm mystified and can't find any information about this one.

"For a Fistful of Dollars"

2008-01-31T13:24:00.000-05:00

The Egyptian distributor who made this poster got the title wrong, confusing it a little with "For a Few Dollars More," or he may have just used "For a Fistful of Dollars" as a translation for the Italian title Per un pugno di dollari, but even though he used the incorrect English title, we are sure he used the poster to promote the film known in English as "A Fistful of Dollars." Thanks to Ed Poole of Learn About Movie Posters for pointing this out.

Shafiqa the Copt

2008-01-12T05:08:00.000-05:00

A popular 1963 film by Egyptian director Hassan Al-Imam is titled Shafiqa the Copt, starring Hind Rostom. This is the poster:

This video from the opening sequence shows Rostom doing the famous candelabra dance

Visit the Movie Poster Page!

Unorthodox "15 Minutes"

2007-11-14T15:36:00.000-05:00

This poster looks like a standard theater poster, but with the help of close analysis by Ed Poole of learnaboutmovieposters.com, I've come to the conclusion that this is a cleverly assembled ad hoc one-sheet. The image differs from US and European official posters for this film, and some of the conventional ratings and logos are changed or eliminated. There are also several spelling errors, beginning with the work "Youk" in the title area and including two of the names in the credits. This suggests that the text on the poster was arranged to resemble a US or European one-sheet (size of the poster is 22.5" x 38.5"), but typed in manually without careful proofreading. Here's a close-up of the credits:

Here's an image Ed provided of the credits on the US one-sheet:

The differences in the way the credits are laid out, the non-standard image on the poster, the misspelled names for Edward Burns and the name of the director of photography, the absence of the ratings box on the left, the absence of the logo on the AOL keyword line and the distributor name "New Line Cinema" (which distributes only in the US), all suggest that this poster is a clever imitation done by a film distributor in Egypt (where I found the poster) who had the film but no posters!

Ed Poole sent me this picture of the still from the film that was modified to make the graphic in the poster design:

Most people collect what are called standard theater posters, but there are other interesting movie posters that don't fit that category!

Visit the Movie Poster Page!

Abel Salazar's 1957 "El Vampiro" French Poster

2007-11-06T16:45:00.000-05:00

The French title means "The Vampire's Prey."

The size is 46.5" x 62"

Egyptian Political Movie Poster

2007-11-03T17:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry We Are Being Tortured [maalesh ehna benetbahdel] (2005, directed by Sherif Mansour)

The poster is provocative, but not quite self-explanatory. I need to see the film.

Similar Designs--Coincidence?

2007-11-01T20:03:00.000-04:00

The Man Who Loved Woman (dir: Truffaut) (1977) French poster

Forest of Thighs [ghaba min al-siqan] Mahmoud Yassine) (1974) Egyptian poster

Mystery Persian Poster

2007-11-01T13:00:00.000-04:00

Mystery Poster

The language on this poster is Persian, but there is very little written information. The top line says "When my father returns" [vaqti pedaram bar migardad]. I take this as both a caption for the painting and the title of the film. In the painting the girl seems to be saying this to the boy. The characters in red on the right side say "Eastman color" and the black characters on the source line at the bottom left say "Product of Turkman Films" [mahsul torkman film]. The poster measures 26.5" x 38.5".

The painting and the source line suggest to me that this poster did not come from Iran, or at least represents a film that was not about anything that happened in Iran, which is the country of origin of every other Persian movie poster I've seen. The people by the railroad tracks at the bottom don't look Iranian, and they are in a cold climate on flat terrain. This might be Tajikistan, Kazakhistan, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, some other part of Central Asia or the Caucasus. These are all places with cold plains areas where Persian is spoken by parts of the population and they are also places with Persian-speaking Turkoman minorities.

My hunch is that this is a poster for a film that was made in or about Tajikistan or Afghanistan.

Since I can't get much information from the written text (no cast or crew names, no director, no film location) I have to speculate about the film based on the information in the image. From their dress, it seems the children are from some Muslim tribal group. The pot and cup the girl is carrying on her back suggest the tribe is nomadic. The man on the crutches at the bottom is probably the returning father, who seems to have lost his lower right leg in fighting somewhere and is returning home by rail. He may have been fighting with the Soviet army in Afghanistan.

I would love to see the film! The poster was designed to make me feel that way.

Visit the Movie Poster Page!

Japanese War Propaganda Movie Posters

2007-10-29T22:11:00.000-04:00

From a 29 October Antiques Road Show

Nicholas Lowry of the Swann Gallery explores aspects of a short-lived genre of English propaganda film posters issued by Imperial Japan in the Philippines during World War II.

Soad Hosny as Raquel Welch

2007-10-29T11:43:00.000-04:00

Soad Hosny on the Egyptian 2-sheet promotional poster for the 1968 Niazi Mostafa film "Eve and the Ape"

Raquel Welch on the Egyptian VCD cover for the 1966 Hammer film "One Million Years BC"

Egyptian Borsalino & Co. Poster

2007-09-22T14:50:00.000-04:00

Egyptian Borsalino & Co. (R1978) Film Poster

The red Arabic letters at the top are the Arabic title translation "Lust for Vengeance" [shahwet al-intiqam]. The blue Arabic letters just below the title are the Arabic transliteration for the name of the film's star Alain Delon. Note the color correspondences between the Arabic title and credit at the top and the English ones at the bottom.

Lower Right Corner of Poster

The lower right corner of the poster tells us the name of the distributor and the release date.

The Arabic word "release" [tarkhis] reading from right to left, followed on the left by the Arabic numerals 78/80.

The Arabic word "distribution" [tawzi'] followed by a colon on the left side.

Arabic word for distribution followed on the left by the distributor's name "The Vanguard Films Company" [sherket aflam al-tali'a]

Visit the Movie Poster Page!

Kamal Abdel Aziz's Movie Poster Collection

2007-09-06T18:24:00.000-04:00

Kamal Abdel Aziz talks about movie posters

In April 2005 Kamal Abdel Aziz, cinematographer for Mohamed Khan's award-winning film Downtown Girls, talked to me about his poster collection and the importance of preserving Egyptian cinema graphics. He also talked a little about the film Downtown Girls [banat wist al-balad], which he was still filming at the time. Here are three clips from the film (Arabic):

This scene is Manal Afifi's only one in this film, but in this quick stroke she is devastating as downtown woman Anisa Hanan, who deftly turns the tables on Menna Shalabi's downtown girl character Yasmine, exposing her as a naive, status-obsessed girl from a poor neighborhood.

As Rico sings the fun theme song for this film, Menna Shalabi's character Yasmine is painfully humiliated, caught pretending again as she was in the bathroom scene with Manal Afifi's Anisa Hanan!

In this clip Ahmed Rateb in the role of father and train conductor is talking to Menna Shalabi as his daughter; he compares his own situation to that of Mohammad Fawzi's assistant train conductor character Hamada in the 1954 film "With You Forever" (daiman maak)

Movie poster for Mohamed Khan's "Downtown Girls" (2005) showing stars Menna Shalabi and Hend Sabri

Visit the Movie Poster Page!

Studio Logos on Italian Locandinas

2007-09-05T17:38:00.000-04:00

Here are two Italian Locandinas for the 1965 film "Thunderball" starring Sean Connery:

The one on the top is an original from 1965, the one on the bottom is a 1977 rerelease. There are no dates on the posters. We have to rely on other information to know which is which.

The original has more color saturation, but even without that we know it is an original because of the hexagonal United Artists logo in the lower right corner:

Bottom of Original 1965 Thunderball locandina with hexagonal United Artists logo, lower right corner.

The 1977 rerelease poster has the Transamerica "T" logo:

Bottom of R1977 Thunderball locandina with United Artists Transamerica "T" logo, lower right corner.

The reason for the logo change is that the United Artists studio was bought in 1967 by Transamerica. In 1967 Italian posters for United Artists films had a transitional logo like this one on a four -sheet for the 1967 film You Only Live Twice:

Bottom corner of Original 1967 You Only Live Twice four-sheet with United Artists transitional logo.

The Transamerica "T" logo was adopted in 1968 and remained in use until 1981. The presence of this logo tells us the second locandina could not have been issued earlier than 1968, nor later than 1981. In that period there were only two Italian rerelease years for Thunderball, 1971 and 1977. The printer name "Rotopress" indicates this rerelease probably wasn't done before 1973, the earliest year for any Rotopress Italian poster titles, according to Ed Poole of Learn about Movie Posters. Armando Giuffrida of Rome's Metropolis Bookstore believes Rotopress went into operation in the mid-1970s. This poster therefore must have been printed in 1977 for the Italian Thunderball rerelease of that year. Giuffrida thinks the "UA 11/4" at the bottom center of this poster is a printer code rather than a date.

Visit the Movie Poster Page!

Movie Poster Photography Stand

2007-09-05T10:30:00.000-04:00

A Simple Stand for Poster Photography

As the technology of photography goes, photographing posters is not a formidable task, but if a few simple techniques are applied the results can be vastly improved.

It is usually better to work without a flash. If the poster is not glossy, a flash photo will usually be fine, but if the poster is glossy, a flash exposure will produce ugly hot spots. A common technique among internet poster sellers is to use a flash with the poster cocked at an angle way from the camera's focal plane. This solves the hot spot problem, but looks odd.

Whether the poster is glossy or not, the results are good most of the time if the exposure is made with available light and no flash at all. Then the biggest problem is making sure the available light is evenly distributed over the surface of the poster. This usually means turning off all the room lights and facing the poster away from the windows. A picture taken with available light doesn't have to be tilted away from the focal plane.

In most cases, available light will require a tripod, and
preferably a remote shutter release, either cable or infrared.
Low-light photography without a flash means long exposures (slow shutter speeds), and if the camera shakes or jiggles at all during a long exposure, the image will be blurred. If the camera has a built-in meter for automatic exposure, the job becomes really easy and the results consistently pleasing.

Although photographic lighting is a complex subject, in the
paragraphs above I've given a simple lighting solution to the task of photographing posters that is eminently reliable. Everybody can use it successfully the first or second try.

A more difficult problem is mounting the poster in an upright
position for the picture. For that we need some kind of stand that can accommodate different poster sizes; we want to attach the posters without using tape, tacks or glue. We want to put the poster up in front of the camera and then take it down without altering the poster's physical condition.

Some people have developed fantastic solutions to this mounting problem. I've seen big sucking vacuum walls that will make any poster of any size lie perfectly flat and vertical in front of the camera instantly. The ones I've seen have been installed in elaborate permanent studios with lighting and camera prepositioned to yield perfect results every time based on extensive testing. I've also seen steel background walls used with magnets to hold up the posters, again providing infinite flexibility for sizes.

For my work I don't want a permanent fixture because I don't have space for a studio. I want to be able to assemble and then disassemble my stand to allow for multiple uses of my limited space. At a camera show in Southfield Michigan last June I bought a used portable background stand made by the Da-Lite Screen Company in Warsaw Indiana. I modified it for use as a poster photography stand.

Da-Lite Screen's Portable Background Stand

Many companies make background stands for photography. The one pictured happens to be first the one I found. It has a 1 1/8" diameter adjustable aluminum bar across the top, and the two supporting stands can also be adjusted up and down. It was designed to hold up background paper or cloth, so there is nowhere to attach posters.

I made an accessory for my background stand that I can attach to it for poster photography. It is a 72" aluminum ruler that I fasten to the horizontal bar with two steel hose clamps. The hose clamps are attached to the aluminum ruler with rivets. I had the riveting done at a machine shop, but I probably could have done it myself with some kind of consumer rivet gun and drill.

Hose Clamp Attached to Aluminum Ruler with Rivet, then Attached to the Aluminum Crossbar

The aluminum bar is too thick for bulldog clips, but the attached ruler gives me a hard surface that is a good size for bulldog clips and I can use it with the clips to hang the posters up in front of the camera, as I've done with these posters:

Insert, The Old Barn Dance (R1944) Gene Autry

4x5 foot banner, Friday Night Lights (2004) Billy Bob Thornton

For the Insert, as with most posters, I also used bulldog clips at the bottom to make it hang down straignt. For the large banner, I used clips and another 72" aluminum ruler to make the poster hang straight and to make its long folded bottom edge line up evenly for the camera.

Bottom Corner of Mounted Friday Night Lights banner showing end of long ruler clamped to the bottom with bulldog clips

On this end of the background stand we can see the bottom edge of the Friday Night Lights banner before I clamped another 72" ruler to its bottom edge to make it hang straighter.

Visit the Movie Poster Page!

Fun with Movie Posters on a Cairo Rooftop

2007-09-03T15:39:00.000-04:00

Pierre decided he would rather put up posters than paint; Mohsen is helping

US "Titanic" One-sheet Movie Posters

2007-09-03T11:48:00.001-04:00

There are 11 basic varieties of US Titanic movie posters, with four basic designs. A printing error made a revision necessary after the first run of posters; in addition to the distinctions of design styles and the domestic and international issues, we have a distinction to make between the revised and non-revised posters.

The posters were revised to include the name of the actress Gloria Stuart in the credits, left out in the first print run. This change is not obvious; owners of original Titanic posters may not know if they have revised or unrevised versions.

Not Revised (Style A domestic)

Revised (Style A international)

The revised posters show "Gloria Stuart" between the names "Danny Nucci" and "David Warner" on the second row of credits.

The distinction between the domestic and international varieties is made with most US posters; it is usually indicated in the fine print at the bottom of the poster. International Titanic posters have a notation printed with tiny letters in the lower left corner:

The advance poster had no credits and was thus never revised. The Academy Awards poster was made after the credits mistake had been corrected; it did not need revision.

The 4 Basic Designs of US Titanic Posters

The Advance one-sheet (no credits, no revisions)

Style A one-sheet (four types: domestic unrevised, domestic revised, international unrevised, international revised) This one was also issued as a high gloss single-sided premiere poster.

Style B one-sheet (four types: domestic unrevised, domestic revised, international unrevised, international revised)

Style B one-sheet blue credits reprint (not revised).

I have some questions about this strange poster with the blue credits. It measures 26.5" x 38.5" and is single-sided. We think it is a reprint, but of what? Is there an original Style B with blue credits? I haven't seen one, but to reprint something you have to begin with an original. I'd love to see one of those!

Academy Awards one-sheet (domestic and international only, no revisions)

This summary may be incomplete; if revisions are needed please advise! Thanks to Roy Simperman for the idea. :)