Reel Art: Great Posters From The Golden Age Of The Silver Screen

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Great book I ran across at the Library of Congress.  It's somewhat old (1989) but IMO the one of the best movie poster books out there.  It's ginormous - 342 pages, 11"x13", 6 lbs..



I ordered a copy from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Reel-Art-Posters-Golden-Silver/dp/0896598691

You can order it relatively cheap from the used book dealers listed on that site.

Plenty of in-depth info on the subject of how many posters were printed in the 1920s and 1930s.  Turns out quite a few to service the 22,000 US theaters around in 1930, which declined to 14,000 by 1940 due to the Great Depression:

[CSM]

http://www.allposterforum.com/index.php/topic,654.0.html

http://www.allposterforum.com/index.php/topic,5264.0.html

http://www.allposterforum.com/index.php/topic,3410.0.html


So yeah it's a great book   There is even a smaller (less awesome) paperback version out there:

http://www.amazon.com/Reel-Art-Posters-Golden-Silver/dp/1558594035/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388898905&sr=1-1&keywords=reel+art

[MoviePosterBid.com]

the best thing about that book is that the author did work to discover who the artists were and many of them we did not know their names previously.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

the best thing about that book is that the author did work to discover who the artists were and many of them we did not know their names previously.

Totally agree.  I'm halfway through and the authors identify many many artists, although they don't always say what these artists illustrated.

Even though it's 20 years old, it's the best and most informative movie poster book I've every read.  Also many many posters I've never seen before.

[guest4955]

https://www.amazon.com/Reel-Art-Posters-Golden-Silver/dp/1558594035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538072759&sr=8-1&keywords=reel+art



*****

So this IS the best MP book EVER published!

A+ info and A+ writing style ("MPs had to quickly convey the essence of the film. They showed the sizzle - not the steak.")

I bought/read it several years ago. Rebought/re-rereading now FINALLY.

Surprisingly, being written in 1992 works wonders for us 2018 readers. No doubt virtually all the book's 1910-1950 MP sources have "moved to the next world" now.

*****

So I've always wondered how many 1Ss (and 3Ss) were printed for 1930s movies. (We all know they are very rare now.)

So take a SPECIFIC guess, precise numbers....

[guest4955]

Hard-to-read text explains that studios created 2-4 poster "styles" per film to market to different audiences: e.g. women/romance, men/action:

[okiehawker]

I've enjoyed this book over the years as well, Sundance.  I used to buy very cheap  remaindered copies to give as gifts.  Okie