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1969-1974  |  1975-1979  |  1980-1985 

1969:
  • Hello Dolly
1970:
  • Woodstock  (2 images; 1 used in Germany, the other unused)
  • Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (unused)
1971:
  • McCabe & Mrs. Miller
  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (unused)
1972:
  • Up the Sandbox
  • Avanti! (used only in print ads)
  • What's Up, Doc?  (unused)
  • The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
  • Fuzz/Here Come the Fuzz
1973:
  • The Long Goodbye  (2 images, both used)
  • The Last of Sheila  (unused)
  • The Thief Who Came to Dinner
  • Papillon (unused; portions included in 1977 rerelease)
  • The Sting
1974:
  • For Pete's Sake  (unused)
  • Chinatown
  • Mame  (unused)
  • The Little Prince
  • Murder on the Orient Express
 
 
Titles in red are unpublished posters or sketches I'm still trying to locate.

BEHIND THE POSTERS: 1969-1974

Behind the scenes of select concept sketches, final illustrations, and triva regarding Richard Amsel's

movie poster work. They're listed below in chronological order.

PAPILLON (1973)

My favorite Steve McQueen film is PAPILLON. (If you haven't seen it yet, DO IT. You'll be amazed how powerful it still is.) Amsel's original art (top left) wasn't used for the initial release in 1973, but snippets from his artwork were used within a 1977 rerelease poster (second from left). Very special thanks to Thomas Nixdorf for providing me with a new scan of Amsel's original artwork. Compare the radical difference in image quality and color between what I originally had in my gallery vs. the improved image Thomas gave me..

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974)

Amsel had an extraordinary ability to capture an actor's likeness, even in simple forms. His sense of composition was unrivaled, particularly in taking what could otherwise be a jumbled montage of faces and unifying them into a clever stoytelling form. As with DEATH OF THE NILE, Amsel's artwork for MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS shapes the actors' portraits into a larger framework -- in this case, the form of a dagger, with the train doubling as the handle. Notice the change in Lauren Bacall's face in the earlier sketch and initial color finish (the latter image found on a low rez pic of an early soundtrack album); she's originally in full profile. At the far right is a pic of the original artwork, as it appeared in the 2000 Christie's Los Angeles auction, within a beautifully matted frame.

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