“Forget it Jake, It’s Chinatown…” This is the final line of one of my all-time favourite movies. Jack Nicholson has never been better than as private detective Jake Gittes, who becomes embroiled with wealthy businessman John Huston and his estranged daughter Faye Dunaway in 1930’s Los Angeles. Roman Polanski’s classic neo-noir has a great sense…
Spanish Heralds
I wasn’t at all familiar with Spanish heralds until I bought a small lot recently. These are basically post-card sized double sided flyers which were cheaply printed and given out to promote upcoming movies. The majority seem to date from the 50s. Considering the volumes in which they must have been produced, its surprising that…
In Cold Blood
I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen the movie In Cold Blood, but I have definitely read Truman Capote’s book on which it is based. It is one of the best pieces of non-fiction writing ever, I think. Capote spent considerable time with the condemned killers who brutally murdered a family in Kansas in 1959. Based…
Priest Of Love
I have no idea if I have ever seen 1981’s Priest Of Love. However, its subject matter holds some meaning for me as author DH Lawrence came from my home town and was one of the most famous alumni of the school I attended. (It was said he got expelled, but I am not sure…
Tenebrae
Dario Argento is a director I must admit I just don’t “get”. I found his supposed masterpiece Suspiria a badly-acted incomprehensible mess, but maybe that’s missing the point. His movies don’t really care much about characterisation or logic, they are more about atmosphere and bloody set-pieces. Tenebrae (“Darkness”) is a ‘giallo’ thriller, featuring bad dubbing…
His Kind Of Woman
I’ve never seen His Kind Of Woman, yet I came by 2 posters for it by accident. This 1951 film noir cum comedy (apparently) stars Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, billed as “the hottest combination to ever hit the screen.” Producer and RKO Studios boss Howard Hughes took out huge fireworks-shooting billboards in LA with…
The Expendables
I’ve written before about how I don’t much care for the lazy photo-shopping of most modern movie poster designs, but this poster for The Expendables is one of the more striking images from recent years, I think. Sly Stallone’s knowing 80s action hero team-up is a lot of fun (before the 2 sequels began to…
The Lost Weekend
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Billy Wilde’s 1945 Oscar-winning movie about alcoholism. This is a super-rare Belgian poster, featuring star Ray Milland as an alcoholic writer on the mother of all benders. The movie won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for Wilder, and Best Actor for Milland. Interestingly, the liquor industry…
The Wild Bunch
This is a French poster for Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 masterpiece, one of the all-time great elegiac Westerns. The Wild Bunch is best known for its slow-motion “bullet ballets”, as featured in both the extended opening sequence and the climax, as various protagonists get ripped to shreds by gunfire. It became part of the debate about…
Up In Smoke
I’ve never seen any of the ‘stoner’ movies Cheech and Chong made in the 70s, including their first (and apparently best), Up In Smoke. Cheech and Chong were a Canadian hippie stand-up comedy team, who’s schtick basically revolved around being stoned the entire time. You probably had to be high to get the jokes in…