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Run, Angel, Run! / B2 / Japan

18.11.15

Poster Poster
Title
Run, Angel, Run!
AKA
--
Year of Film
1969
Director
Jack Starrett
Starring
William Smith, Valerie Starrett, Dan Kemp, Gene Shane, Lee de Broux, Eugene Cornelius, Paul Harper, Margaret Markov, Ann Fry
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
William Smith, Valerie Starrett, Dan Kemp, Gene Shane, Lee de Broux, Eugene Cornelius, Paul Harper, Margaret Markov, Ann Fry,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1969
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 4/16" x 28 15/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

This is the Japanese B2 poster for the release of the little-seen 1969 biker film ‘Run, Angel, Run!‘ It’s one of a slew of films based around the same theme that involved the actor and director Jack Starrett, who is best known for playing the antagonistic deputy in First Blood, and as the director of Cleopatra Jones and Race With the Devil. Starrett starred in films like Hells Angels on Wheels and Angels from Hell before being offered the chance to helm this as his directorial debut.

The film stars the prolific American actor William Smith as Angel, the leader of a biker gang. The plot is described thusly on IMDb:

Angel, a member of a tough motorcycle gang roaming the Southwest, gets on offer from a major news magazine. In exchange for giving the magazine a big scoop by exposing the inner workings of his gang, the magazine will pay him $10,000. Angel takes the offer, although it means he and his girlfriend must now go on the run from cyclists looking for revenge. Along the way, they hide out with a sheep farmer, earning their keep by taking care of the farm and building a new life together.

The film appears to be fairly scarce going by the lack of reviews online and the fact that the DVD is almost $40 on Amazon.com at the time of writing.

The trailer is available to view on YouTube.

Black Samson / 30×40 / USA

20.09.12

Poster Poster

Excellent artwork on this 30×40 poster for the 1974 entry into the blaxploitation genre, Black Samson. The film was directed by Charles Bail, who also had a career as an actor and starred in several TV series throughout the 1960s, including The Big Valley and Batman (as a henchman). He was also a prolific stuntman and stunt coordinator, lending his talents to such films as The Green Berets and Freebie and the Bean. This film was his directorial debut but he went on to work on another blaxploitation caper, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) and the road race comedy The Gumball Rally (1976).

The plot follows nightclub owner Samson (the brilliantly named Rockne Tarkington), who keeps his neighbourhood clear of drugs and crime, face up against a mob gang led by Johnny Nappa (William Smith) who are trying to muscle in on his territory. Carol Speed (The Mack) stars as Samson’s love interest, alongside his pet lion and gigantic bashing stick!

I’m unsure who is responsible for the artwork on this poster so please get in touch if you have an idea.

The original trailer is on YouTube.

 

Sweet Jesus Preacher Man / 30×40 / USA

21.01.13

Poster Poster
Title
Sweet Jesus Preacher Man
AKA
--
Year of Film
1973
Director
Henning Schellerup
Starring
Roger E. Mosley, William Smith, Michael Pataki, Tom Johnigarn, Joe Tornatore, Damu King, Marla Gibbs, Sam Laws, Phil Hoover, Paul Silliman
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Roger E. Mosley, William Smith, Michael Pataki, Tom Johnigarn, Joe Tornatore, Damu King, Marla Gibbs, Sam Laws, Phil Hoover, Paul Silliman,
Type of Poster
30x40
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1973
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Unknown
Size (inches)
30 3/16" x 40"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
73/189
Tagline
Amen, Brother!

Sweet Jesus Preacher Man is apparently a lesser entry into the 1970s blaxploitation genre and it appears to have been largely forgotten with no DVD release forthcoming. Director Henning Schellerup is perhaps better known as a camera operator and cinematographer, having worked on such films as Death Race 2000A Nightmare on Elm Street and Silent Night, Deadly Night.

Roger E. Mosley (Tom Selleck’s partner in Magnum P.I.) stars as a hit man who who poses as a baptist preacher in order to take over the vice rackets in an L.A. ghetto. After his boss Martelli (character actor William Smith) double-crosses him he sets out on a rampage of revenge leaving bodies in his wake.

I’m unsure who is responsible for the artwork on this American 30×40 poster so please get in touch if you have an idea. You’ll notice that a large sticker with the credits on it has been applied over what is clearly the original credits block. This was likely done shortly after the posters were printed to correct an error without having to scrap the whole batch and print them again.

The original trailer is on YouTube.

Lucky Lady / one sheet / USA

27.06.16

Poster Poster

Artwork by the late, great Richard Amsel features on this one sheet for the 1975 comedy-drama Lucky Lady. The film was helmed by Stanley Donen, an American director who’s best known for Singing in the Rain (1952) and Charade (1963). Gene Hackman appears alongside Burt Reynolds and Liza Minnelli, and the former apparently took some persuading to star. He eventually relented when producers offered him the then significant sum of $1.5m. The film is set in the American prohibition era during which the sale and production of alcohol was banned across the whole country. The plot is described like so:

During the Prohibition era, a young widow, Claire (Minelli), gets involved in liquor smuggling and romance with two men, Walker (Reynolds) and Kibby (Hackman), off the San Diego coast. Organized crime controls bootlegging back east and wants to do the same here, so a hit man named McTeague (John Hillerman) is sent to deal with these amateur crooks, as is the Coast Guard, leading to various battles at sea.

Richard Amsel was born in Philadelphia in 1947 and studied at the city’s College of Art. Whilst there he entered and won a nationwide artist competition to paint the poster for the film ‘Hello Dolly!’. Amsel was just 22 at the time and this win helped him quickly establish a career in New York where he worked on album covers (including one for Barry Manilow) as well as magazine covers and editorial art. In addition, he worked on posters some of the most important films of the 1970s, including Chinatown, Nashville and The Sting. During the 1970s he also worked on a series of covers for the American magazine TV Guide, which are still celebrated to this day.

In the 1980s Amsel worked on what is my favourite Indiana Jones poster, the Raiders of the Lost Ark 1982 re-release one sheet. He had also painted the original release version, featuring a much more serious looking Indy. The artist’s final film poster was the one sheet for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985. Amsel sadly died of AIDS-related complications that same year. He leaves behind a great legacy of unforgettable artwork, some of which I already have in the Film on Paper collection and which can be seen here.

Any Which Way You Can / one sheet / USA

18.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Any Which Way You Can
AKA
--
Year of Film
1980
Director
Buddy Van Horn
Starring
Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Ruth Gordon, William Smith
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Ruth Gordon, William Smith,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Bill Gold
Artist
Bob Peak
Size (inches)
27" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
800173
Tagline
Faster, funnier and wilder | ... It'll knock you out.

Commando Squad / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Commando Squad
AKA
--
Year of Film
1987
Director
Fred Olen Ray
Starring
Kathy Shower, Brian Thompson, William Smith, Robert Quarry, Sid Haig, Mel Welles, Marie Windsor, Benita Martinez, Toni Nero, Dawn Wildsmith
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Kathy Shower, Brian Thompson, William Smith, Robert Quarry, Sid Haig, Mel Welles, Marie Windsor, Benita Martinez, Toni Nero, Dawn Wildsmith,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1987
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
25.5" x 38"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
They take no prisoners, they show no mercy.

Galaxina / one sheet / style A / USA

15.08.11

Poster Poster
Title
Galaxina
AKA
--
Year of Film
1980
Director
William Sachs
Starring
Stephen Macht, Avery Schreiber, J.D. Hinton, Dorothy Stratten, Lionel Mark Smith, Tad Horino, Ronald Knight
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Stephen Macht, Avery Schreiber, J.D. Hinton, Dorothy Stratten, Lionel Mark Smith, Tad Horino, Ronald Knight,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
Style A
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Robert Tanenbaum
Size (inches)
27 2/16" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
800120
Tagline
IN THE 31st CENTURY MAN FINALLY CREATED A MACHINE... With Feelings!

With great art by Robert Tanenbaum, this style A one sheet for Galaxina features an excellent tagline and an even better logo. The film itself is an undoubted clunker and currently has a rating of 3.0/10 on IMDb. I love this excerpt from the main review currently featured on the site:

While the guys are in cryosleep Galaxina, who has fallen in love with Sarge, teaches herself to speak and makes her body warm and soft. Upon thawing him out she offers herself to him, saying that she’ll make his every wish her command. Then she is kidnapped by space bikers who are going to sacrifice her to the god “Har Lee David Son,” when she is rescued, they get the blue star, the end.

Sadly, Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten (Galaxina) was murdered just before the film’s release by her ex-boyfriend – more details on Wikipedia.

The bizarre trailer (Japanese version) can be seen on YouTube.

 

Hammer / B2 / Japan

09.03.16

Poster Poster
Title
Hammer
AKA
--
Year of Film
1972
Director
Bruce D. Clark
Starring
Fred Williamson, Bernie Hamilton, Vonetta McGee, William Smith, Charles Lampkin, Elizabeth Harding, Mel Stewart, D'Urville Martin
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Fred Williamson, Bernie Hamilton, Vonetta McGee, William Smith, Charles Lampkin, Elizabeth Harding, Mel Stewart, D'Urville Martin,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1973
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 6/16" x 28 12/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

Hammer was an early entry in the blaxploitation subgenre of films that grew in popularity following the release of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and Shaft in 1971. The film stars ex-NFL player Fred Williamson whose nickname was The Hammer in real life and who would go on to become one of the subgenre’s key players. It was helmed by Kiwi director Bruce Clark who only has four directorial credits to his name, which includes the Roger Corman-produced sci-fi clunker Galaxy of Terror.

Williamson stars as B.J. Hammer a dockworker who is spotted as having some boxing talent by a shady trainer. He rises up the ranks and gains some notoriety but thing soon turn sour when his manager, who is also a dodgy gangster, asks him to throw his next fight in order to make some other crooks rich (that old chestnut). His girfriend Lois, played by another blaxploitation stalwart Vonetta McGee), is kidnapped by the gangsters in an effort to coerce Hammer into taking a dive, which means it’s time to show them what he’s capable of.

The film is today considered one of the lesser entries in the blaxploitation subgenre and it holds a fairly poor rating on IMDb, but it’s still one to seek out for fans of Williamson. This Japanese B2 poster features a unique photo montage as was typical of the era.

Red Dawn / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster

Can you spot the stealth Golden Arches?

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster

The Hot Spot / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Hot Spot
AKA
--
Year of Film
1990
Director
Dennis Hopper
Starring
Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Jerry Hardin, William Sadler, Charles Martin Smith, Barry Corbin
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Jerry Hardin, William Sadler, Charles Martin Smith, Barry Corbin,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1990
Designer
Pulse Advertising
Artist
--
Size (inches)
27" x 41"
SS or DS
DS
NSS #
--
Tagline
Safe is never sex. It's dangerous. | Film Noir like you've never seen