100 Years of Movie Posters

Monday 9 September 2013

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer, musician and actor. According to Hollywood folklore, a screen test report on Astaire for RKO Radio Pictures, now lost along with the test, is reported to have read: "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little."

His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films, several award winning television specials, and issued numerous recordings. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films, including "Top Hat" (1935), "Follow the Fleet" (1936) and "Shall We Dance?" (1937).

In later years, Astaire would take to the dance floor with a number of new partners, among them Eleanor Powell and Rita Hayworth, while also playing second banana to crooner Bing Crosby in the musical comedies "Holiday Inn" (1942) and "Blue Skies" (1946). Coaxed out of retirement for MGM's "Easter Parade" (1948) with Judy Garland. Astaire went on to headline "Royal Wedding" (1951), in which he danced seemingly weightless on walls and ceilings, and "The Band Wagon" (1953),"Silk Stockings" (1957) with Cyd Charisse.

Astaire was nominated for Supporting Actor Academy Awards for his dramatic work in Stanley Kramer's "On the Beach" (1959) and Irwin Allen's "The Towering Inferno" (1974). (Wikipedia.TCM)

Flying Down to Rio (1933)

Flying Down to Rio (1933) French poster

The Gay Divorcee (1934)

Roberta (1935)

Top Hat (1935)

Follow the Fleet (1936)

Swing Time (1936)

A Damsel in Distress (1937)

Shall We Dance (1937)

Carefree (1938)

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

Broadway Melody of 1940

You'll Never Get Rich (1941)

Holiday Inn (1942)

You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

The Sky's The Limit (1943)

Yolanda and the Thief (1945)

Blue Skies (1946)

Easter Parade (1948)

The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)

Royal Wedding (1951)

The Band Wagon (1953)

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

Funny Face (1957)

Funny Face (1957) Italian poster

Silk Stockings (1957)

Silk Stockins (1957)

Finian's Rainbow (1968)

The Towering Inferno (1974)

Ghost Story (1981) Belgian poster

Friday 6 September 2013

Lon Chaney

Lon Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930), born Leonidas Frank Chaney, was an American actor during the age of silent films. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. Chaney is known for his starring roles in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces."

Lon Chaney's son Creighton, renamed Lon Chaney Jr. (1906-1973) became a film actor after his father's death, and is best remembered for roles in horror films, especially The Wolf Man. (Wikipedia)