Terry Doyle

Terrific pieces, beautifully presented, Unca ben!

Very interesting.

Superb David Palladini artwork on Nosferatu!

The Human Duplicators painting is great!

Agree, but I think it's fair to highlight past history (so any prospective bidders are fully-aware of the background to the vendor in question). If anyone comes unstuck, the first question they'll ask is, "Why didn't anyone warn me of the seller's reputation".

Here's an example of a (UK) prototype artwork that was passed on in favour of another (similar) design: "I've Gotta Horse" prototype movie poster painting by Tom Chantrell And here's the version that was used for the movie poster campaign: "I've Gotta Horse" final (used) design by Tom Chantrell As I'm sure you'll agree, the prototype is quite detailed and finished for what is (effectively) a preliminary piece of art (no doubt, one of several variations presented to the client for final consideration). A lot more detailed than a 'rough'. On a personal note, I was born in Liverpool, UK, and my era of nostalgia was the 1960s. Billy Fury, likely to be an unknown outside of the UK, was a Liverpool-born singer highly-popular during the era (so there is a personal connection at play, here); "Ronald William Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known by his stage name Billy Fury, was an English singer from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death. An early British rock and roll (and film) star, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s, and spent 332 weeks on the UK chart."

Here's an interesting link:

is that a term that's popular in britain, or something you've coined Terry? just curious. Always referred to it as 'concept' 'prelim' etc so not sure if this is a truck/lorrie situation Thing is, Bronty, movie poster original art is a new area for collecting to me - so I'm pretty much on a learning curve (taking my cue from the UK dealer who's been specialising in this stuff for a long time). Terminology might be a UK thing, though I expect Mitch will be better qualified to elaborate. Far as I've been able to ascertain, whenever a client (we're talking UK) commissioned a movie poster campaign, he was given a final (finished) poster original - chosen from several stages of preliminary art. A 'rough' (or prelim) might be the initial (loose) depiction . . . with prototypes being the next stage up - in a more polished version of designs to choose from. Okay thanks. I wonder if it isn't a term your particular dealer uses more than anything. In looking at that Diamonds are Forever link they just call it a concept also. And yeah these pre-final pieces can be anything from chickenscratch to works of art in themselves. For sure. Oh, absolutely. I've bought a few 'prototype' paintings that (upon first glance) are difficult to differentiate from the final painting.

Agreed.

is that a term that's popular in britain, or something you've coined Terry? just curious. Always referred to it as 'concept' 'prelim' etc so not sure if this is a truck/lorrie situation Thing is, Bronty, movie poster original art is a new area for collecting to me - so I'm pretty much on a learning curve (taking my cue from the UK dealer who's been specialising in this stuff for a long time). Terminology might be a UK thing, though I expect Mitch will be better qualified to elaborate. Far as I've been able to ascertain, whenever a client (we're talking UK) commissioned a movie poster campaign, he was given a final (finished) poster original - chosen from several stages of preliminary art. A 'rough' (or prelim) might be the initial (loose) depiction . . . with prototypes being the next stage up - in a more polished version of designs to choose from.

Jetpack original . . . All four components are superb, I hasten to add.

Well, that's another thing - there's no public record of it and the auction house won't disclose the information even after the fact. One person told me $40Ks and another told me low $60Ks (maybe one # was before BP and one after BP?) but have yet to hear a definitive number from anyone. At Heritage or Christie's (the latter sold a McGinnis concept painting from Diamonds are Forever for 6-figures a few years ago - definitely not as good nor nearly as well-known as either McCarthy Thunderball image), I have no doubt that prices would have been much higher. Regardless of what the actual figure was, it reflected a big "under the radar" discount to FMV. Robert McGinnis "Diamonds Are Forever" prototype artwork (1971) sold for £79,500. You'd have to do a £ to $ conversion on the price, which will make it a 6-figure sale.

Thanks.

First, he ended up with the underwater scene painting, not the jetpack painting. Second, I didn't "let" anyone have either painting. The auction went under-the-radar (at a the London subsidiary of a small online-only auction house who had never previously auctioned off this kind of material) and I didn't even hear about it until Nixdorf posted his painting on Facebook weeks later. Oh, well. I'm happy that at least Tom finally got his '60s Bond poster example, which he might not have if I had known about the sale. Curious to hear what the underwater painting went for, Gene?

I'm sure that if you had accidentally bumped into one of these, the pain would have reminded you.

Do you know of any stone lithos used in the making of the classic movie posters that are still in existence, or is all of it gone forever?

Thanks for the link, Bronty; made very interesting reading.

Fascinating stuff, Michael. Can you list any of the 'classic movie' examples this process was used for?

I'm sure artists got tired of their wives asking them about the giant rocks in the closet Just not a practical item to keep at the scale they must have been produced at. No shipping available, collection only . . .

New in today, marking my fourth and final update of this current batch of movie poster artwork purchases: GALAXY HORROR (Italian release of the British 1969 movie, THE BODY STEALERS) “Produced by Britain's Trigon Pictures, The Body Stealers (1969) stars Patrick Allen as Bob Megan, an investigator called in to solve a bizarre mystery: During training courses, British parachutists are disappearing in a strange red mist, leaving no trace. Even more mysterious is the fact that they later turn up, with their bodies filled with lethal doses of radiation. Megan, aided by Jim Radford (Neil Connery, brother of Sean Connery), begins an investigation, which uncovers an unearthly beauty Lorna Wilde who somehow is incapable of being photographed. Eventually, Megan and Radford discover that the parachutists are being kidnapped by aliens from the planet Mygon, who use the men to try to impregnate Mygonian women, thereby saving their dying civilization. Unfortunately, a side effect of this plan seems to be the irradiation of the earthlings. Megan exposes and foils the alien plan, but he also decides to lead an effort to discover a way of saving their race from extinction.” With an image size of approximately 17” x 13”, this was an Italian re-designed poster artwork that differs significantly to the (rather sedate) original UK quad poster version: British quad poster of THE BODY STEALERS (1969) Re-named GALAXY HORROR for its Italian release, the resulting advertising art dramatically enlivened what is basically a low-budget British science-fiction thriller that is both short on excitement and special effects. As such, the movie short-changed cinema-going audiences captivated by a poster image that is basically a cheat and had very little to do with the movie it was seeking to promote! Not entirely sure who the artist is on this one (possibly Franco Picchioni?), but the artwork (which has a nice retro-feel to it) instantly appealed to me when I saw it up for sale on Mitch Itkowitz’s Graphic Collectibles web-site. Bought entirely for the artwork itself and not for the hopelessly dull-as-dishwater movie it represented. As such, a really nice example of the science-fiction genre. Here are some examples of how the artwork was used for the Italian movie poster advertising campaigns: Thanks again, Mitch!

Here’s my choice for ‘grail’ movie poster artwork: THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964), artist unknown This one’s right out of my childhood (I was about seven years old when the movie premiered). Big fan of Ray Harryhausen’s animation work of the time that included things like, Jason and the Argonauts, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and Mysterious Island (probably looking very dated now to modern audiences, but in its time the animation was a big deal to those of us who grew up with these wonders of the big screen). I specifically remember NOT seeing the movie at the time of it original cinema release. Probably refused entry to the theatre as a small unaccompanied boy and it was not something my parents wanted to take me to see . . . or perhaps I’d already spent up on my weekly allowance? I do remember seeing the trailer for this movie accompanying other releases of the time, which just blew me away with the special effects being showcased on the short compilation of extracts. This, together with the front-of-house movie poster and selection of stills, was the nearest I got to it in 1964. Fast forward to 1969, the movie was re-released as part of a double-bill presentation, supporting another production and I finally got to see it. Loved every minute of it, especially all the moon sequences, and actually made several repeat visits to the cinema during the week-long run. The movie was recently re-released on Blu-ray in an absolutely pristine print and has never looked better. No idea who the artist was for the above movie poster (I think this is the American version) but, for me, it successfully encapsulates all the key scenes from the movie under one design. This is the one-sheet poster (there is a quad that expands on the art, but I couldn’t locate a satisfactory image I felt happy about uploading here).

My fourth update will be a purchase from Mitch, due to reach me Thursday (according to the FedEx tracking notification I received).

I like Star Wars, but I don't love it. Best thing Lucas did, as far as I'm concerned, was American Graffiti. That movie had a cool Mort Drucker poster artwork.

Although I started this thread to highlight four (maybe?) final updates on my current movie poster artwork fixation, I'm kinda intrigued about this diversion in, an otherwise, comic-book OA forum that I'm pleased others have contributed to. In the sense that, in addition to the funny pages stuff, most here would have grew-up with a deep-rooted affection for motion pictures. Other boardies, here, have some terrific OA examples of this collecting interest. Felix has his beloved Aliens poster art, Gene has a standout Thunderball (007) example and Matthew has a stunning Terminator artwork - with some further noteworthy examples populating CAF (the Reynold Brown stuff is to die for). Obviously, as per the above examples I cite, the key to all this is owning a movie poster original that ties-in to a highly-regarded movie (i.e. classic). In this respect, and it's not my intention to blow my own trumpet, I reckon I've landed a few such examples (which naturally carried a premium to purchase). Other impressive (to me) artworks I've bought front some not-so-impressive movies. That doesn't bother me too much as my focus is mostly on the artwork. In the same (hopefully, comparable) way, few here would turn their noses up at owning a silver age large art Jack Kirby cover . . . even if that cover art fronted a not-so memorable interior story (usually by the hands of others) that failed to live up to the exciting cover image (a good cover makes you want to buy the comic-book, right?). In this sense, a good cover does what a good movie poster is supposed to do . . . it makes you want the product (little more than an advertisement gimmick, if you will). So, as an offshoot to this thread (assuming we're all singing from the same hymn sheet), if there was one original movie poster art original you could own, what would that be . . . and why? Naturally, this should exclude photo images. I'll cite my own 'grail' in due course . . .

Thanks. I should have my final update sometime this week . . .