Alternative Film Guide

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ new book, Now Playing: Hand-Painted Poster Art from the 1910s through the 1950s, showcases more than 150 rarely seen original movie poster paintings, thus offering a glimpse into a largely forgotten form of film-related art.

"This book documents the unrecorded and uncelebrated work of movie poster artists whose unique illustrations graced the lobbies and façades of both movie palaces and neighborhood theaters," said the book’s author, film historian Anthony Slide.

"Working both for individual movie houses and for major chains, the artists created posters for specific audiences," explains the Academy’s press release, "selling a film through advertising that emphasized elements that would appeal to the local market. Because the posters were thought of as disposable signs, they were often destroyed, painted over, or adapted for new films. As a result, few original examples have survived, although a number of the rare original works featured in the book are now part of the permanent collection of the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library at the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in Beverly Hills."

Among the dozens of color and black-and-white posters featured in the book are Edward Augustus Armstrong’s representations of King Kong, Boris Karloff’s The Mummy, and the Ann Harding-William Powell vehicle Double Harness, Batiste Madalena’s of Douglas Fairbanks’s The Black Pirate and Greta Garbo’s The Mysterious Lady, R.J. (Renfred) Rogers’s of Laurel and Hardy’s The Devil’s Brother, Edwin Isaac (Ike) Checketts’s of Gloria Swanson’s The Humming Bird, and O.M. (Otto) Wise’s of Harold Lloyd’s Girl Shy and Richard Barthelmess’s The Lash.

I’ve known Tony Slide for several years. Without his assistance, my biography of actor Ramon Novarro would never have gotten off the ground.

Having said that, I’m now free to add that Now Playing is a stunning-looking book. It’s been a while since I browsed through an advance copy at Tony’s place, but I do recall being tremendously impressed by the illustrations. In fact, even the posters that were of questionable artistic value had a story to tell — whether about the artist’s interpretation of the movie he was depicting (sometimes it was clear he had not seen the movie and knew nothing about it) or about what was considered eye catching in those days, depending on the location of the movie house. Throughout it all, Slide’s text offers a historical-social context for the illustrations.

Published in cooperation with Angel City Press, Now Playing is based on original research by Jane Burman Powell and Lori Goldman Berthelsen. According to the press release, Tony Slide "joined the project to write the untold story."

Now Playing: Hand-Painted Poster Art from the 1910s through the 1950s retails for US$50. To preview several of the posters featured in Now Playing, visit www.oscars.org/publications/now_playing. Now Playing is available for purchase wherever books are sold.

The Black Pirate poster: Courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library

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