Exploitation Poster Art [Paperback]

Tony Nourmand (Editor), Graham Marsh (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

Sex, drugs, delinquency, Black Power, and rock ‘n’ roll—these are just a few of the themes that have inspired B-movie makers over the past 80 years. The posters created to promote these movies are fantastic period pieces that evoke all the taboos of bygone eras. Before the Hayes Code of 1934, Hollywood had few inhibitions: the poster for Girl Without a Room, for example, left little doubt as to how the young woman would find accommodation. In the 50s, Beats and juvenile delinquents attracted teens to the drive-ins; in the 60s and 70s came Blaxploitation films like Shaft and the first of Russ Meyer’s mammary-obsessed epics, Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill. The posters for these films are masterpieces of visual innuendo, offering, in most cases, far more than the movies themselves actually delivered. Tony Nourmand is co-owner of the Reel Poster Gallery in London and a poster consultant to Christie’s; Graham Marsh is a designer and art director. Together, they have produced Horror Poster Art and Science Fiction Poster Art, and collections of 20th-century film posters by decade.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With 10 film poster anthologies already under their belts, editors Nourmand and Marsh turn to "the one genre defined not by content but by attitude": exploitation films. White slavery, motorcycle psychos, crazed beatnik dope fiends and "the seemingly widespread menace of gorillas having sex with young white women"—with enough exclamation points to fill a DD cup, the posters promise it all and ultimately deliver more than did the films themselves. "Teenage killers taking their thrills unashamed!" "The shock by shock confessions of a Sorority Girl." From Fast and Loose to Curse of a Teenage Nazi, High School Hellcats, The Love Wanga and beyond, the huckster's allure of these posters' salacious images takes us back to some oddly quaint times. Accompanying the posters is a well-written minihistory of the genre's dance with the Hays Code, as well as brief insights into the films, their directors and the poster artists themselves. The large format book covers films from the 1910s through the mid-'70s, after which the genre fell off the map. As film critic Dave Kehr writes in the foreword: "Now that nothing was forbidden, there was nothing left to exploit—the audience's expectations, once so artfully teased, could now be bluntly and banally fulfilled." (Apr. 1)
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Review

“Nourmand and Marsh bring their discerning eye, knowledge of history, and, most important, sense of fun to this collection.” -- Library Journal

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Aurum Press; First Edition edition (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845130995
• ISBN-13: 978-1845130992
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,774,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tony Nourmand is co-founder of Reel Art Press and editor of all R|A|P publications.

Tony launched Reel Art Press in the spring of 2010, with inaugural publications, The Rat Pack and Bill Gold: PosterWorks, released in the autumn of that year to worldwide press acclaim. The company continues to go from strength to strength and 2011 has already seen the release of the celebrated Weddings and Movie Stars. Hollywood And The Ivy Look is the fourth book released by R|A|P.

Tony is also the author of a further sixteen books on entertainment-related imagery. They have sold over a million copies worldwide and are recognized as authoritative texts. Titles include James Bond Movie Posters, Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years, The Godfather in Pictures and Stars and Cars. He also co-authored Hitchcock Poster Art and co-edited a series of books with Graham Marsh on movie poster art by the decade and by genre.

Before launching Reel Art Press, Tony was renowned as a world expert on original vintage film posters. He co-owned The Reel Poster Gallery in London for twenty years and was also the Christie's London consultant for Vintage Film Posters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, November 22, 2005

By 

Kamyar Broumand (Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Exploitation Poster Art (Paperback)

Another great release from Tony Nourmand. I just received this one today in the mail, and it was hard to put it down. If you are a fan of movies you should look into all of the collection from Nourmand. I have discovered many movies i had never heard of just by seeing the poster in these books. This book covers a great part of cinema, Exploitation movies. Next time you are in a book store you should check these titles out if not just go ahead and make a blind purchase from Amazon, you will not be disappointed.