It was over two years ago when I met Michael Danahy -- during the second interview I conducted for the documentary. I've yet to do a proper writeup of our discussion, but he knew Richard Amsel during the artist's early career in New York, and reconnected with him upon his move to Los Angeles months prior to Amsel's death in 1985.
Michael kindly provided me with this new photo of Amsel's illustration of the 1954 film RIVER OF NO RETURN. (Marilyn Monroe and Rory Calhoun are pictured.) I suspect the illustration was created around 1970, but I'm uncertain if it was ever published. (Was it for an entertainment magazine? A piece for self-promotion?)
I had seen a variant of this illustration before, courtesy of Jody Berman of the Illustrated Gallery. That version had a slightly different layout:
Very special thanks to Michael for sharing this rediscovery!
