100 Years of Movie Posters: November 2013

Thursday 28 November 2013

Orson Welles

George Orson Welles (1915 – 1985) was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, he was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films.

Welles was only 26 when he directed Citizen Kane (1941), which he also co-wrote, produced and starred in as newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane. Welles was an outsider to the studio system and directed only 13 full-length films in his career. While he struggled for creative control in the face of studios, his films were heavily edited and others remained unreleased. His distinctive directorial style featured layered and nonlinear narrative forms, innovative uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unusual camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots, and long takes.

Kane garnered nine Academy Award nominations (Orson was nominated as a producer, director, writer and actor), but won only for Best Original Screenplay, shared by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles. Although it was largely ignored at the Academy Awards, Citizen Kane is now hailed as one of the greatest films ever made. Welles followed up Kane with critically acclaimed films, including The Magnificent Ambersons in 1942, and Touch of Evil in 1958.

In 2002, Welles was voted the greatest film director of all time in two British Film Institute polls among directors and critics, and as an actor was voted number 16 in AFI's list of the greatest American film actors of all time. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety shows in the war years. (Wikipedia)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane (1941) Italian poster

Citizen Kane (1941) Japanese poster

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Journey into Fear (1943)

Jane Eyre (1944)

The Stranger (1946)

The Stranger (1946) Belgian poster

Tomorrow is Forever (1946)

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Italian poster

Macbeth (1948)

Macbeth (1948) Italian poster

Black Magic (1949)

Black Magic (1949) Belgian poster

Prince of Foxes (1949)

The Third Man (1949)

The Black Rose (1950)

The Black Rose (1950) Spanish poster

Othello (1952) Italian poster

Othello (1952) Belgian poster

Three Cases of Murder (1955)

Mr. Arkadin (1955) Italian poster

Man in the Shadow (1957) German poster

Touch of Evil (1958)

Touch of Evil (1958) Belgian poster

Touch of Evil (1958)

Ferry to Hong Kong (1959)

Compulsion (1959) Belgian poster

The Tartars (1961)

Chimes at Midnight (1965) German poster

Casino Royale (1967) Lobby card

Treasure Island (1972)

F for Fake (1973) French poster

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Woody Allen

Woody Allen was born 'Allen Stewart Konigsberg' in The Bronx, New York on December 1, 1935, he is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician whose career spans more than 50 years.

He worked as a comedy writer in the 1950s, writing jokes and scripts for television and published several books of short humor pieces. In the early 1960s, Allen began performing as a stand-up comic, emphasizing monologues rather than traditional jokes. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Allen in fourth place on a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics, while a UK survey ranked Allen as the third greatest comedian.

By the mid-1960s Allen was writing and directing films, first specializing in slapstick comedies before moving into dramatic material influenced by European art cinema during the 1970s. He is often identified as part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmakers of the mid-1960s to late '70s. Allen often stars in his films, typically in the persona he developed as a standup. Some best-known of his over 40 films are Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Midnight in Paris (2011). Critic Roger Ebert described Allen as "a treasure of the cinema".

Allen has been nominated 23 times and won four Academy Awards: three for Best Original Screenplay and one for Best Director (Annie Hall (1978)). He has more screenwriting Academy Award nominations than any other writer. He has won nine British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards. Allen performs regularly as a jazz clarinetist at small venues in Manhattan. (Wikipedia)