3 comments about Picture Show: Classic Movie Posters from the TCM Archives.

1. Another reasonably priced addition to the slowly expanding library of movie poster books. Because it is based on the TCM archives it is very generalised and basically covers movies of the thirties, forties and fifties. The chapters are dictated by what is available in the archive so there is no collection of comedy classics, 'Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House', for instance and other light-hearted titles are included in the chapter called Battle of the sexes.
   
   The posters are presented in various sizes and mostly you'll be able to read all the text, especially the percentage credits that usually appear at the bottom of each poster. Some of this is quite interesting because plenty of people named are complete nobodies now. Rather annoyingly the whole page posters have been enlarged a bit too much so that bottom credits are missing.
   
   I think it is fair to say that there is not a well designed poster in the book, so no stunning Saul Bass work or Bob Peak graphics but you'll get to see the best portraits that Hollywood marketing departments could offer.
   
   Overall a good title to have if you like poster art and if you have an interest in the thirties have a look at Reel Art: Great Posters From The Golden Age Of The Silver Screen, a huge, beautifully produced coffee-table book showing three hundred posters. A lot of MGM productions are in the TCM Archive and probably the most complete showing of this studio is in Mgm Posters: The Golden Years, with 260 posters in a very nicely designed book. My favorite genre is Film Noir, unfortunately hardly represented in 'Picture Show' but you'll find the definitive poster collection in Art of Noir: The Posters And Graphics From The Classic Era Of Film Noir.



2. The "Picture Show" is a vibrant and eclectic collection of movie posters culled from Turner Classic Movie's library of over 3500 vintage films. The book is an over-sized, soft cover reprinting hundreds of movie posters. Lesser known films may appear two or three to a page while greater classics are reprinted in full page glory. The book begins with a short history of movie posters and the explanation of "One-sheets" "Half-Sheets", "Three Sheets" etc...before breaking down the posters into several different chapters.
   
   We lead off with "Bad Girls" and movies like "The Mask of Fu-Manchu", "The Outlaw", and "Born to be Bad". These are some of the more sexy and seductive posters found and highlight screen vamps such as Bette Davis, Myrna Loy, Joan Fontaine, and Jane Russell. From there the next chapter features the Battle of the Sexes, featuring classic films like the Thin Man movies, and the various Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn films.
   
   The chapter on Fancy Footwork highlights those great musicals of the 30's and 40's such as "Footlight Parade" with James Cagney, "Girl Crazy" with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and "An American in Paris" with Gene Kelly. Forward March reprints posters from great war films. "Back to Bataan" and "Flying Leathernecks" with John Wayne, musicals like "Anchors Aweigh" and "Follow the Fleet" and one of my favorites "The Dirty Dozen"
   
   Since Warner Bros is one of the prominent studios featured we naturally get to see many of their great adventure film posters included: "The Adventures of Robin Hood", "Captain Blood", and "The Sea Hawk" as well as "The Three Musketeer" and "The Prisoner of Zenda" There are also chapters devoted to westerns and to tough guys like Cagney, Mitchum, Bogart and McQueen.
   
   The last chapter is devoted to sci-fi and horror films including the Val Lewton flicks "I Walked with a Zombie" and "Cat People" along with sci-fi's "The Thing" and "Them!" Movie posters are very underrated as an art form and interest in collecting posters is at an all-time high. Even the reproduction market is extremely busy reproducing these posters for those of us who can't afford the originals. This is a well diversified sampling of both high-profile classics as and "B" movies. The only short-coming of the book is that it only features the posters of three studios: MGM, Warner Bros., and RKO. Classic horror fans will no doubt be a little let down that Universal's films are not included. I'm not sure why but it's a serious oversight. The horror/sci-fi section is quite skimpy overall. It would have been nice to see "Mark of the Vampire" or "Doctor X". That little caveat aside this is a wonderful book for any fan of classic films.



3. What a fabulous delight. Posters from American movie archives at my finger tips. Each poster brought back a memory of another day and time. The author's vibrant storytelling recalls the golden era of motion pictures. Everyone in the family has enjoyed the beautiful visual adventure and the excellent commentary. It is a book filled with a thousand memories. Enjoy, I promise it will make you smile.

2 comments about Film Posters of the 40s: The Essential Movies of the Decade (Film Posters).

1. This marvelous collection of movie posters from the '40s sure brought back a flood of memories to this older viewer (71). As with all collections of this type, there will be many movies, that are favorites of other readers, that have been left out, but likewise, there are several that I was not familiar with myself. Some of these, especially in "Film Noir", I will be looking for to view in the near future. The printing and binding of this volume are very well done, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject of movies. I also have several other books in this series that are equally good. All recommended.



2. Just think about it - what are the movies you enjoy watching over and over again? "Casablanca" will probably top most lists. Which movie does your family gather to watch each holiday season? The feel-good "It's A Wonderful Life," of course. "Citizen Kane" is probably in the running for one of your all-time favorites, as is "Gilda" with an unforgettable performance by Rita Hayworth.

   As you may know, all of these films are from the 40s, often called the golden age of Hollywood. And now, in this collectible volume are found the stunning movie posters that served as advertisements in those days. There's "Key Largo" with Bogart and Bacall about to lock lips; "The Maltese Falcon" boasting the sinister stare of Peter Lorre, and what was steamier than "The Postman always Rings Twice" with Lana Turner and John Garfield?

   "Film Posters of the 40s" holds 118 full color illustrations of these posters highlighting your favorite stars in their most memorable roles. It's a must-have for film and entertainment buffs.

   - Gail Cooke

1 comments about Cappiello: The Posters of Leonetto Cappiello.

1. This book is simply amazing - it has such a great showing of Leonetto Cappiello's work and it is beautiful to look at. If you are interested in posters (or any art or design for that matter) you will love this book.

1 comments about Film Posters of the 90s: The Essential Movies of the Decade (Film Posters of the Decade).

1. For 10 years, I have sought another chance to glimpse a European poster I had seen for Casino on a trip to the continent when the picture was current. This book offers me that.
   
   For that alone, it gets 4 stars. It's not the book's fault that the 90s offered a bunch of rehashes of the posters for Eraser and The Peacemaker. And scores of big faces with guns. Plus, the ascendance of computer design. Zzzzz.
   
   Still, that Casino poster is a haunting and lovely image. One of cinema's finest.

5 comments about Art of Noir: The Posters And Graphics From The Classic Era Of Film Noir.

1. The book has an excellent selection of art from the Noir period. I love every single page better than the last!



2. "The Art of Noir" is a big, beautiful book of 338 posters and lobby cards for crime films 1940-1960, plus a handful of later films. All the film noir greats are here, from A-list films to Poverty Row, though not every film represented is strictly "noir". "The Art of Noir" is 14 1/4" x 10 1/8" -too big even for oversized book shelves- but the results are stunning: Hundreds of full-page posters in bold, eye-popping color, along with a handful of 2-page spreads and some 2-to-a-page layouts. I could not overstate how great these posters look, and author Eddie Muller has made them more fascinating with informative captions and short essays. Each poster is captioned with the film's title, year, and studio, the size of the original poster, a brief analysis of the poster's style, and a little about the film.
   
   The posters are divided into six chapters, each with an introduction by Muller. Chapter 1 introduces us to the distinctive styles of different Hollywood studios. Chapter 2 takes us on a tour of film noir poster art around the world, with examples and explanations of how artists abroad altered or redesigned the posters for their markets. Chapter 3 focuses on thematic and iconographic elements in the posters. The icons are guns, racy women, and automobiles. The themes include bad cops, private eyes, and femmes fatales, among others. Chapter 4 showcases posters that feature the prominent stars of film noir, 9 actors and 9 actresses, with an introductory essay for each. The art of Chapter 6 is organized by writer -not only the famed Hammett, Chandler, and Cain, but also prominent noir screenwriters. Chapter 6 features the films of prominent noir directors and cinematographer John Alton.
   
   American and international posters are featured throughout the book. I had not seen foreign film noir posters before, and scrutinizing the posters and comparing the styles turned out to be a source of nearly endless fascination. Foreign artists departed from the bold color and lurid poses of American posters but created art from their own culture's perspective that is no less striking. "The Art of Noir" will absorb fans of film noir or poster art for hours. I am reviewing the hardback edition of the book, so I cannot comment on the reproduction quality in the paperback edition. But the color and sharpness in the hardback are excellent, on slick, white paper. This is Eddie Muller's best book yet.



3. Film noir is a fascinating field with a deserved faithful and ever widening audience. Eddie Muller scored impressively with "Dark City Dames," a study of the women of film noir with intimate portraits of such notables as Jane Greer, Marie Windsor and Ann Savage.

   Muller returns to a familiar theme here and achieves mightily in two respects, with glossy pictures which practically jump off the page at you, giving one a feel for time and place, as well as being a part of the scene, along with a text providing valuable information on the memorable films being showcased.

   San Franciscan Muller is one of the genuine authorities of the genre. He has a real feel for the world of darkness beset by flashing neon lights, smoke-filled bars, detectives in trench coats, and dangerous women.




4. A feast for the eyes! Gorgeous NOIR poster repros and interesting factoids highlight this weighty tome. Fans will swoon, and the casual viewer will have his/her interest tweaked. As a NOIR poster/lobby card collector, this book is an essential library addition, because I need to occasionally check out pictures of posters I'll sadly never be able to afford(!)



5. This book is a must for all film lovers. It contains the most complete collection of film noir posters anywhere. And since the book is "cofee-table" size, the posters are big enough that you can appreciate even the smallest details. The text is also very interesting, giving a short but insightful review of each film. Get this book now!!!!

2 comments about The Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2.

1. In the world of Tolkien artwork, two artists sit at the top of the heap: Alan Lee and John Howe. These two artists have devoted a lot of ink to sketching scenes from J.R.R. Tolkien's masterworks, and in the "Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2," we get to see some of Lee's best work.
   
   "The Halls of Moria" is one of the most stirring pieces of artwork -- an enormous dark hall full of pillars and vaulted ceilings, with a beam of light shining over the Fellowship. "Tol Brandir" shows a tangle of leafless branches, mossy rocks and stone steps. And then there's the "Golden Hall," a beautiful landscape crowned by a hill, on top of which is Theoden's home. Lee's painted clouds look as if they are glowing.
   
   "Orthanc" shifts the focus to grimmer subjects -- Saruman's stronghold is immense, menacing, vaguely insectile with its black shiny look. And, of course, it's surrounded by floodwater. "The Siege of Gondor" is tightly packed with grinning, creepy orcs with spears, and a few human warriors, one of whom is dead. And "Two Orcs" has a pair of suitably creepy-looking orcs, not doing much.
   
   Of the two poster collections of Lee's work, the second is obviously superior. We get a range of subjects, from all three books, and it shows the different kinds of artwork that Lee can do. The posters themselves are lovely -- high quality paper, clear reproduction. As for the pictures themselves....
   
   Alan Lee does "still work" the best -- even when his subjects are in motion, they look very quiet and almost dreamlike. There's a lot of detail poured into these, since even small twigs, cracks and stains make their way into his artwork. They also tend to have muted, faded colours, lots of soft greys, browns and greens. Some of them look like sepia photographs.
   
   Looking at these beautiful posters, it's easy to see why Lee was one of the designers for the "Lord of the Rings" movies' exquisite sets. A wonderful collection of fantasy artwork.



2. This collection features six works of Alan Lee who, along with John Howe, was one of the principle conceptual artists for Peter Jackson's films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".
   
   The six works featured in this collection are:
   
   1. The Mines of Moria
   2. Tol Brandir
   3. The Golden Hall
   4. Orthanc
   5. The Siege of Gondor
   6. Two Orcs in the Land of Shadow
   
   The six works are large, stand alone posters on heavy stock contained within an attractive folder featuring "Orthanc" on the front cover. The prints--the originals were done in watercolor--have a black border with the name of the work and the artist at the bottom in small print.
   
   These prints are an excellent addition to any Tolkien fan's collection.

1 comments about The Posters of Jules Cheret: 46 Full-Color Plates and an Illustrated Catalogue Raisonne, Second, Revised and Enlarged Edition.

1. This is the authoritative source for all the artwork and posters of Jules Cheret, who perfected color lithography in the late 1800's. There are a number of color slides of original Jules Cheret posters plus excellent descriptive information to help one identify a suspected Jules Cheret poster. The catalog is by theme or advertiser without an index or table of contents to help one located the exact page where, let's say, Moulin-Rouge or Olympia might start. This does then force scanning to find the start of the catagory one might want - an inconvenience. In spite of this, once you discover the catagory area, the material is informative and precise enough to help with identification.

No comments about Old Advertisements and Popular Culture: Posters, Calendars and Cigarettes, 1900-1950 (Arts of China).

No comments about Italian Film Posters.

No comments about Anime Poster Art: Japan's Movie House Masterpieces.