This is the British quad for the release of Honkytonk Man, which was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood who also stars alongside his son Kyle Eastwood. Set during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the film follows the western singer Red Stovall (Eastwood snr.) who is suffering from tuberculosis and is living on a dust-ruined farm in Oklahoma. He decides to take a chance at making it big in Nashville and sets off in a vintage Lincoln convertible accompanied by his nephew Whit (Eastwood jr.).

The film follows the pair’s escapades along the way as they meet a whole host of unique characters and Red takes Whit to a whore house to ‘make him a man’. When they eventually make it to Nashville, Red manages to impress a record executive who gives him a chance to make a recording, but his illness is quickly catching up with him.

This poster artwork is unique to the UK poster and was painted by the British artist Tom Beauvais who I was lucky enough to interview for this site in 2013. This poster was discussed during the interview and the following is an excerpt:

I wondered if I could ask you about the two posters you painted featuring Clint Eastwood, Bronco Billy and The Honkytonk Man?
With Bronco Billy, the bit that was on the left of the giant circus advert was taken from the American poster but the British distributor felt that it wasn’t enough and they requested a close-up of Clint Eastwood holding guns. I painted the portrait from a still and then married it together with the American art.

The figure of the boy on the Honkytonk Man poster is actually based on a reference pose by my son Keith. There was a still of Clint in the bathtub and also a still of Kyle Eastwood, who played the son in the film, but it was only a headshot so I got Keith to pose with his elbows on the back of a chair.

To see the other posters in the collection that are designed and/or illustrated by Tom Beauvais click here.

The Outlaw Josey Wales is widely considered to be one of the best Westerns of all time, and certainly one of Clint Eastwood‘s finest efforts. Inspired by the 1972 novel The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales by Forrest Carter, the film was originally to be helmed by Philip Kaufman who had written the script and been through pre-production before being fired from the set a few days into filming, with Eastwood himself taking the director’s chair for the remainder of the production. Set towards the end of the American Civil War, Josey Wales (Eastwood) is a peaceful Missouri farmer who is driven to revenge after his family is brutally murdered by a sadistic Union officer and his farm razed to the ground.

Wales joins a group of pro-Confederate rebels to fight and when the war ends his group is ordered to surrender peacefully, which Wales refuses to be part of. Following the massacre of most of his group, Wales attacks and kills several men and the Union captain places a bounty on his head as he flees. On his journey, Wales reluctantly picks up a diverse bunch of companions, including two Native American Indians, and he tries his best to evade the union troops and bounty hunters on their trail and start a new life for himself. This was the first film that paired Sondra Locke with Eastwood and was the beginning of their romance that lasted for fourteen years.

This Japanese B2 is the ‘style A’ poster for the film’s release there and there are three B2s in total, including the style C, which uses the same artwork as the US one sheet. This artwork is an adapted version of the alternative artwork as seen on the US 40×60 and half-sheet posters. All original American posters were designed by Eastwood’s long-time film marketing collaborator, the great Bill Gold, and this painting was by an American artist call Roy Andersen. According to this biography Andersen passed away last year but throughout his career he was known for his work depicting Native Americans and Old West images, including cowboys and related scenes. Artnet has an extensive gallery of his works here.