Hitchcock Poster Art

by Mark H. Wolff, Tony Nourmand

Alfred Hitchcock's style was unmistakable, and his films more than ever are revered the world over. Any list of the greatest films of all time is sure to include titles like Psycho , Dial M for Murder , Vertigo , and North by Northwest .

In this lavishly produced book, Wolff and Nourmand have collected all the best promotional art--including posters, lobby cards, and other promotional materials--of Hitchcock's entire career, including material so rare that the copy photographed for this book is the only one known to have survived. Among the treasures an American poster for Woman to Woman , the 1923 film for which Hitchcock wrote the screenplay and served as assistant director and art director; a poster for the first film he directed, The Pleasure Garden of 1925; and material from classic films like Strangers on a Train and To Catch a Thief . Hitchcock Poster Art provides a fascinating look at the international scope of the master's influence and appeal.

Genres: Film, Art

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Anthony McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovers of Hitchcock movies (and who isn't one?) will be entranced by this wonderful collection of poster art from all his films.

Very comprehensive collection ranging from silent movie days, pre-war British output through to his golden age of classic American made suspense thrillers.

What is different from the usual poster book is that this collection includes an amazing range of lobby cards including many rarities, movie tie-in book covers, soundtrack covers and a homage to Hitchcock section.

The art work comes from a variety of countries; especially fascinating are the ones from France and Italy which succeed as works of classic art as much as they do for the film's advertising. Also includes works from many other countries including numerous Japanese posters and a range of bizarre Polish interpretations.

Classic Hitchcock movies - classic poster art!

[Nathan Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun coffee table perusal of promotional art for most of Hitchcock's films as presented around the world, this suffers from some strange omissions (Saul Bass' legendary Vertigo design is absent) and some weird layout choices -- plus generally uninspired text, which isn't the point anyway -- but generally is a great survey of beautiful film art and an instructive look at how the director's fame built over the decades. Favorites of mine include the Polish posters for The Birds and Stage Fright, plus the dire warning about walking into Psycho late that provides the front cover. This was published to celebrate Hitchcock's centennial, a year I remember fondly for how many cable marathons dedicated to his work were on the air. Everything about film culture made more sense to me back then.

[D.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly lovely collection of Hitchcock poster art from all over the planet, this book only suffers from limited space devoted to such a prolific director: each movie gets a 2-page spread, occasionally a page or two more. Synopses accompany each movie, offered chronologically, with basic information on the items shown (usually size and country of use, as well as item type, e.g., lobby card, poster, etc.). Reproduction of all the art contained is remarkably sharp, regardless of size. And it makes me wonder what was going on in the art scene of Poland in the 50s/60s!