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Melinda / 30×40 / USA

10.05.12

Poster Poster
Title
Melinda
AKA
--
Year of Film
1972
Director
Hugh A. Robertson
Starring
Calvin Lockhart, Rosalind Cash, Vonetta McGee, Paul Stevens, Rockne Tarkington, Ross Hagen, Renny Roker, Judyann Elder, Jim Kelly
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Calvin Lockhart, Rosalind Cash, Vonetta McGee, Paul Stevens, Rockne Tarkington, Ross Hagen, Renny Roker, Judyann Elder, Jim Kelly,
Type of Poster
30x40
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1972
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Unknown
Size (inches)
30 2/16" x 40"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
72/306
Tagline
YOUR kind of black film

The late Calvin Lockhart stars as the smooth-talking DJ Frankie J. Parker in this 1972 revenge drama, an early entry into the so-called blaxploitation genre. One night Parker meets the titular lady, played by Vonetta McGee (who also starred in Blacula and Hammer the same year), and takes her back to his place for a spot of the old horizontal mambo. The next morning Melinda is found dead and when Parker realises it’s the fault of the local mob he teams up with a few old friends, including Charles Atkins (Jim Kelly, star of Black Belt Jones in his first screen role), to seek revenge and clear his name.

Lockhart is perhaps best known for his role as the gangster ‘Biggie Smalls’ in the 1975 boxing film Let’s Do It Again, also starring Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby. The character name would later be appropriated by the now deceased rapper Christopher Wallace (AKA The Notorious B.I.G.). He also starred as the memorable character King Willie in Predator 2 (“You can’t see the eyes of the demon, until him come callin’.”)

One can only surmise as to who the ‘Your’ in the tag-line was aimed at originally. I’m unsure who is responsible for the artwork on this poster, so if you have an idea please get in touch. Frustratingly, the film has not been released on an official DVD yet.

Roller Boogie / B2 / style B / Japan

09.05.16

Poster Poster

This is the style B Japanese B2 poster for the release of the 1979 musical oddity Roller Boogie, with a unique, and rather wild, montage that was designed by Kazuo Yuasa. One of those films that’s something of a time capsule, the film was put into production by Irwin Yablans the independent producer who had struck gold a year earlier with John Carpenter’s Halloween. Yablans is credited with the film’s story and the intention was to capitalise on the then craze for rollerskating that was sweeping the States.

 Mark L. Lester (known for Commando and Class of 1984) was hired to direct and Linda Blair (The Exorcist) was given the starring role opposite an award-winning amateur skating champion called Jim Bray who was originally attached as a stuntman but was later given acting lessons when the production struggled to find a leading actor.

Blair plays Terry Barkley a Beverly Hills rich girl who is largely ignored by her parents who are determined to see her attend a prestigious school in New York and carry on as a flautist. One day whilst visiting Venice Beach she meets a hotshot skater named Bobby James (Bray) who dreams of making it to the Olympics. The pair strike up a friendship and eventually Terry asks Bobby if she can teach him how to skate and create a routine for them both so they can compete in a Roller Boogie contest at a skating rink called Jammer’s. Unfortunately a nefarious property developer plans to buy Jammer’s and raze it to the ground, so the pair team up with other skaters to put a stop to the plans whilst practicing their routines ready for the big night.

The film was largely panned on its release but found success with teen audiences and has since gone on to have something of a cult following. Plans for a mooted sequel were scrapped when disco music and roller skating lost their popularity.

I’ve struggled to find out anything about Kazuo Yuasa and this is the only other Japanese poster that I can find credited to him. If anyone has any more information about him please get in touch.

Roller Boogie / B2 / style A / Japan

16.08.16

Poster Poster

This is the style A Japanese B2 poster for the release of the 1979 musical oddity Roller Boogie, featuring artwork by Yasuo Nemoto. One of those films that’s something of a time capsule, the film was put into production by Irwin Yablans the independent producer who had struck gold a year earlier with John Carpenter’s Halloween. Yablans is credited with the film’s story and the intention was to capitalise on the then craze for rollerskating that was sweeping the States.

 Mark L. Lester (known for Commando and Class of 1984) was hired to direct and Linda Blair (The Exorcist) was given the starring role opposite an award-winning amateur skating champion called Jim Bray who was originally attached as a stuntman but was later given acting lessons when the production struggled to find a leading actor.

Blair plays Terry Barkley a Beverly Hills rich girl who is largely ignored by her parents who are determined to see her attend a prestigious school in New York and carry on as a flautist. One day whilst visiting Venice Beach she meets a hotshot skater named Bobby James (Bray) who dreams of making it to the Olympics. The pair strike up a friendship and eventually Terry asks Bobby if she can teach him how to skate and create a routine for them both so they can compete in a Roller Boogie contest at a skating rink called Jammer’s. Unfortunately a nefarious property developer plans to buy Jammer’s and raze it to the ground, so the pair team up with other skaters to put a stop to the plans whilst practicing their routines ready for the big night.

The film was largely panned on its release but found success with teen audiences and has since gone on to have something of a cult following. Plans for a mooted sequel were scrapped when disco music and roller skating lost their popularity.

The artwork is credited to someone called Yasuo Nemoto but I’ve been unable to find out anything about them online. If anyone has any further details about Nemoto please get in touch. I also have the style B Japanese B2 in the collection and it can be viewed here.

Alligator / B2 / black style / Japan

17.09.12

Poster Poster
Title
Alligator
AKA
Arigêtâ (Japan)
Year of Film
1980
Director
Lewis Teague
Starring
Robert Forster, Robin Riker, Michael V. Gazzo, Dean Jagger, Sydney Lassick, Jack Carter, Perry Lang, Jim Kelly, Henry Silva, Bart Braverman
Origin of Film
Japan
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
Black style
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1981
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 6/16" x 28 14/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Alligator, the 1980 giant beast in the sewers b-movie, was directed by Lewis Teague (Cujo, The Jewel of the Nile) and had its screenplay written by John Sayles, who was also behind the Roger Corman-produced hit Piranha (1978). The story sees a baby alligator bought by a young girl in Florida, and subsequently named Ramón, flushed down the sewers in Los Angeles by her animal-phobic father. The film then jumps to twelve years later and the reptile has grown to the size of a bus after eating the corpses of dead pets that have been injected with a secret growth formula and dumped into the sewers. After human body parts begin showing up with alarming regularity the world-weary detective David Madison (genre stalwart Robert Forster) is sent into the sewers to investigate what’s behind the murders, along with reptile expert Marisa Kendall (Robin Riker – as pictured on this poster), the girl that originally flushed Ramón into the sewers.

The film features an infamous scene where Ramón escapes from the sewers and rampages through a high-society wedding murdering anyone who crosses his path. This scene can be viewed on YouTube.

This is one of two Japanese posters for the film that I’m aware of, and I’ve called this the ‘black style’.

The original trailer is on YouTube.

Black Belt Jones / B2 / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Black Belt Jones
AKA
Johnny lo svelto (Johnny the cute] (Italy)
Year of Film
1974
Director
Robert Clouse
Starring
Jim Kelly, Gloria Hendry
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Jim Kelly, Gloria Hendry,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1974
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Unknown
Size (inches)
20 5/16" x 28 13/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Enter The Dragon / B2 / photo style / Japan

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Enter The Dragon
AKA
Operation Dragon (Europe - English title)
Year of Film
1973
Director
Robert Clouse
Starring
Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Kien Shih, Ahna Capri, Angela Mao, Jim Kelly, Robert Wall, Bolo Yeung, Betty Chung, Geoffrey Weeks, Peter Archer
Origin of Film
Hong Kong | USA
Genre(s) of Film
Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Kien Shih, Ahna Capri, Angela Mao, Jim Kelly, Robert Wall, Bolo Yeung, Betty Chung, Geoffrey Weeks, Peter Archer,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
Photo style
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1973
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 5/16" x 28 14/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--