“Movie posters don’t just tell stories about the films they represent. They also give a glimpse into the culture and period in which they were created.”
(“The History of Movie Posters,” Film Art Gallery)
Movie posters are believed to have originated in the 1870s when the artist and lithographer Jules Chéret pioneered new lithographic techniques. Perhaps the first movie poster was created by Chéret in 1890 for the short film Projections Artistiques. The lithograph depicted a young girl holding a poster that announced the times of the show. In 1892, Chéret created another poster for Émile Reynaud’s Theatre Optique called Pantomines Lumineuses. However, in 1895, the poster for a short black and white silent film by the Lumiere Brothers called L’Arroseur Arrosé (The Sprinkler Sprinkled) is considered the first poster designed to promote an individual film rather than a “magic lantern show.” Early posters were typically devoted to describing the quality of recordings and touting the technological novelty of shows. Illustrated by Marcellin Auzolle, the poster for L’Arroseur Arrosé was distinct; it shows a film audience laughing in the foreground while the movie plays in the background. Portraying the moment the gardener is sprayed in the face, the poster is the first movie poster to depict an actual scene from a film (“History of Movie Posters”, The Poster Collector). In the early 1900s, posters began to feature illustrations of a film scene or array of overlaid images from several scenes. Other posters represented an artistic interpretation of a scene or theme of a film. Originally, film posters were produced for the exclusive use of theatres exhibiting a movie; they were required to be returned to the distributor after the film left the theatre.
While the earliest film posters were largely functional, publicizing screening times and locations of movies, the twentieth century ushered in an awareness of the powerful role the poster could play in attracting audiences. The 1920s were the golden age of silent films. As the printing process became more precise, film posters were represented in greater detail. Most posters were hand-drawn illustrations of stills that depicted scenes from the movie. The 1927 poster for the German film by Fritz Lang, Metropolis, is a tour-de-force of Art Deco style. The image features a robot in the foreground while the towering metropolis looms in the background. Jagged lettering spelling out the film’s title is at the top of the poster and seems to electrify the sky over the city. The poster draws influence from Bauhaus, Cubist, and Futurist design. The posters of the 1930s reflected the impact of Art Deco with geometric shapes, bold color, and pronounced typography. This was the beginning of the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema. This era marked the introduction of sound and advances in technology, production, and animation transformed the audience experience. Movie posters were vivid, glamorous depictions of Hollywood stars. They often had blank backgrounds and focused instead on main characters (stars) over representations
of movie scenes. The Wizard of Oz (1939) is a particularly famous example of the change in poster art. Print media became part of the establishment of a movie star system, and film posters were essential in reflecting a star’s personality.
The example of Charlie Chaplin is illustrative of this movie star trend in film posters. Chaplin’s 1936 film, Modern Times, made after the actor’s five-year hiatus from moviemaking, features the beloved persona, “The Tramp.” During the silent film era, Chaplin rose to prominence as a worldwide cinematic idol renowned for his tramp character. In the 1910s and ‘20s, Chaplin, actor, filmmaker, editor, and composer, was considered the most famous person on the planet, and the “Little Tramp” was featured in over 70 films throughout his career beginning in 1914 and in 1915 with the feature-length film, The Tramp. Two posters in the David Barnett Gallery collection prominently feature Chaplin as “The Tramp:” Gran Show de la Risa (Grand Show of Laughter), c. 1930, and Les Pionniers du Rire (Pioneers of Laughter), c. 1965. Both posters show the actor in his signature costume, as Chaplin would describe it: “I wanted everything to be a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large … I added a small mustache, which, I reasoned, would age without hiding my expression. I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the makeup made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked on stage he was fully born.” This persona was associated with Charlie Chaplin for most of his 75-year career, as is demonstrated in his depiction in the Pioneers of Laughter poster c. 1965. Grand Show of Laughter and Pioneers of Laughter feature shorts of silent film comedic legends, including notably Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy in characteristic costumes.
In the 1940s with World War II raging, movie studios wanted to display their patriotism. Scene depictions were rare, rather character illustrations were most prominent on film posters. In addition, the typography was more subdued than the 1930s experimentation. Some of the greatest movie posters from the ‘40s include the groundbreaking Citizen Kane (1941), the iconic wartime romance Casablanca (1942), and the definitive film noir Double Indemnity (1944). As soldiers returned from the war, there was an increased demand for fantasy in the 1950s. Film’s subject matter changed from war to science fiction and comedy. In addition, television was drawing audience away from the movies. As a result, studios adopted new innovations such as wider screens and 3-D movies. Poster designers were trying a conceptual approach. One of the most well-known and talented American graphic designers of the modern era (1950s-1970s) was Saul Bass. During this time, movie posters were in transition. Depictions of key scenes or characters were largely gone; designers like Bass employed “flat planes of bold simplified color and symbolic designs to communicate a powerful visual interpretation of the film” (Dan Mobbs, “In Good Taste”). According to filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Bass represented “more than an evocation of the film—[but] dynamic responses to the heart of the picture, the essence” (Martin Scorsese, “Saul Bass’s Cinematic Art,” Architectural Digest, 44). Iconic Bass posters include Vertigo (1958), West Side Story (1961), and Anatomy of a Murder (1959). “The spirals for Vertigo were created by Saul with a machine he constructed, a recording pendulum with a little
brush and an ink reservoir, attached to a separate pendulum that introduced odd variables into the movement. The machine was based on the designs of a 19th-century French mathematician named Lissajous … Saul’s passion for forms and their link to mechanics and science was so keen that once he chanced upon those drawings, he set about reconstructing an entire mechanical apparatus, which later resulted in the Vertigo poster. Those spirals go right to the core of that movie …” (Scorsese, 44, 46). Bass’ style has been imitated, for example, in the poster design for Spike Lee’s Clockers (1995), which bears a striking resemblance to Anatomy of a Murder.
The 1960s saw movies featuring teen idols and the beach movie genre with the increase of action movies as well. Because of the decline of censorship, there were more adult-oriented films. Typeface plays a more important role in posters’ layout. The ‘60s and ‘70s were influenced by Pop Art, with bold color and identifiable graphics. “The period marked a creative renaissance, as artists began to infuse their designs with psychedelic flair and themes reflective of the era’s rebellious artistic movement” (The History of Movie Posters). Posters did not simply advertise films but challenged traditional poster norms. A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) are examples of this revolution.
An example of a ‘60s movie in the teen idol genre is Speedway (1968), an American musical action comedy, starring Elvis Presley and Nancy Sinatra. The David Barnett Gallery’s poster is the French advertisement for the film, A Plein Tube (At Full Blast) with “Speedway” in smaller type. The movie’s title and Presley and Sinatra’s names are spotlighted on the poster. The poster is dominated, however, by the characters dancing. Psychedelic colors, hot pink and neon yellow, are punctuated with black and white, contributing to the ‘60s feel of the image. Presley stars as Steve Grayson, a NASCAR driver with “a heart of gold,” who comes into financial trouble when his manager and best friend, Kenny Donford (played by Bill Bixby), a competitive gambler, mismanages Grayson’s winnings to the tune of $150,000. Steve owes this money to the IRS in back taxes. Enter Susan Jacks, played by Sinatra, an IRS agent assigned to keep tabs on Steve, and takes a romantic interest in him as well. Both Steve and Susan also sing, which enhances the plot line. Other ‘60s film posters at the David Barnett Gallery include two French posters by the designer Ghirardi, Le Vilain Américain (The Ugly American) from 1963 and one by Ghorman, Les Comancheros (1961). Both Le Vilain Américain and Les Comancheros prominently feature drawings of the stars of the films, Marlon Brando and John Wayne respectively. In addition, the names of the actors and the titles are conspicuously displayed. Also, representative vignettes suggesting the content of the film occupy pronounced space, giving the filmgoer basic information about the picture. The hot colors of the posters reflect the visual trends of the 1960s.
The 1970s continued many of the trends of ‘60s, and photography began to phase out painting. Photographs play a big role in movie posters for the first time, taking up the bulk of picture space with type almost an afterthought. With the cult popularity of films like Star Wars and Star Trek, movie fans began collecting posters. Some of the most effective movie posters include Taxi Driver (1976), Superman (1978), Star Wars (1977), Star Trek (1979), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Jaws (1975), The Godfather (1972), Alien (1979), and The Exorcist (1973). Films from
the ‘80s saw the development of new special effects which had an impact on the kinds of images used for advertisement. Posters had large photographic backgrounds, and the type and imagery were more balanced than those of the ‘70s. In addition, new posters had to be designed for the video rental market. Saul Bass designed a poster for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) which, while it does not refer to any character in the film, suggests the otherworldly and terrifying nature of the story. Blade Runner (1982), E.T. (1982), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Poltergeist (1982), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Robo Cop (1987), and The Terminator (1984) are some of the exceptional posters of the 1980s. The 1990s mark the dawn of the digital revolution. The introduction of Photoshop makes posters hyper-real and detail rich. In the ‘90s, the introduction of computerized effects in live-action films and animation led to posters that featured fantastic images and exotic creatures and locations such as Independence Day (1996), Jurassic Park (1993), The Matrix (1999), and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Some other notable posters from the 1990s include The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Titanic (1997), Schindler’s List (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Jurassic Park (1993).
While the evolution of the movie poster slows in the ‘80s and ‘90s, in the 2000s posters keep up with trends in typography and photography, but the layout often remains the same as posters from the earlier decades. The end of the decade is marked by a minimalism that begins in the ‘80s. Some excellent posters from this era include Thank You for Smoking (2005), Volver (2006), Sexy Beast (2000), Moon (2009), Man on Wire (2008), High Fidelity (2000), The Dark Knight (2008), Dancer in the Dark (2000), and The Girlfriend Experience (2009).
In the contemporary moment, with digital media overtaking print media, the question becomes: Has the era of the movie poster come to an end? Printing and distribution costs have increased, and many movie studios choose to promote films through television and the internet. Cinemas are going “digital” by replacing traditional movie posters with digital movie screens that show trailers and animated stills to tease viewers and generate excitement. Nevertheless, inventive and arresting movie posters still exist: The Lobster (2015), Moonlight (2016), Nymphomaniac (2013), Mother! (2017), The Master (2012), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), The Birth of a Nation (2016), and The Handmaiden (2016), Bugonia (2025), Crimes of the Future (2022), She Said (2022), The French Dispatch (2020), and Tesla (2020). The list goes on … Please visit the David Barnett Gallery to view the film posters for sale. See you at the movies!