Posterwire.com is a movie poster weblog. From images of the latest Hollywood one-sheets to vintage movie posters, this film poster weblog hopes to offer a bit of insight into film key art.
A review of some notable traits of famous movie poster illustrators might go something like this: Bob Peak might be considered the master with his versatility. Drew Struzan the most popular via his accessible illustration style. John Alvin commanded layout and composition. Saul Bass was the pioneer with his graphic design.
One important factor is missing from this list: Sex.
(As Diddy might say, who is “bringing the sexy”? [cough])
The answer: Illustrator Robert McGinnis.
Since the 1950s, McGinnis has created over 1000 paperback book covers, in genres ranging from romance novels to detective mysteries. (Those interested in Robert McGinnis and his cover artwork should check out the phenomenal book: Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis.) The closest to a true pin-up artist that key art illustration has seen, McGinnis became well-known for his ability to create alluring and striking images of women — so much so they received their own nickname — the “McGinnis Woman”.
Considering the mantra in Hollywood is “sex sells”, it was only natural to employ the premiere alluring paperback book cover artist for movie poster illustration. And what better film subject for this than the sexiest of super spys, James Bond?
McGinnis illustrated several of the Bond film one-sheets during the 1960s through the 1970s. As we see in his Diamonds Are Forever movie poster, McGinnis helped create the signature “pyramid” composition (007 standing on top of a well built foundation of “Bond girls” and an exaggerated perspective view of the surrounding mayhem) found in many James Bond film one-sheets from that era. This McGinnis style (along with his work with illustrator Frank McCarthy) helped create the alluring visual mystique around the Bond character and became a template for other posters in the spy/adventure genre.
Robert McGinnis and his movie poster key art weren’t limited to just Bond girls. From Barbarella to Breakfast at Tiffanys, the allure of the “McGinnis Women” in illustration is obvious.
In 1992, famed Czech photographer Tono Stano (NSFW) produced an arresting black and white photograph entitled “Sense”. Stano is famous for posing models into suggestive shapes and symbols in his photography. Two years later, Stano’s “Sense” photograph was used in the book cover design for the photography book The Body: Photographs of the Human Form by William A. Ewing. The Stano “Sense” image was cropped slightly on the top for the Ewing book cover design, which made the photograph an even more abstract and effective visual shape.
MGM’s marketing department liked the image too, so they utilized the very same concept for the one-sheet for the infamous 1995 Paul Verhoven film Showgirls. To be clear, MGM acquired licensing to use Tony Stano’s image for it’s Showgirls key art campaign, but it makes one wonder if the licensing became an afterthought of the poster’s release. A home video release of the poster art removed the original cropping of the photo (making it even closer to the original photograph), while an even more recent DVD release dropped the Stano inspired artwork altogether.
