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Favorite Movie Posters; 1900 - 1939
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2017
8.3
8.3
Metropolis (1927)
No taglines, no actors' names... just amazing, strong imagery inticing you to see this masterpiece.
Stehako's rating:
2528
7.9
8.1
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Perhaps the most classic of golden-age movie posters. The heat of the Atlanta fire transfers impeccably to that of the characters' romance.
Stehako's rating:
35
6.8
7
The shade of the camp brings an ominous tone to this powerful character played by one of the greats of the era.
Stehako's rating:
1525
8.5
8.3
M (1931)
The briefest film title gets a pretty brief-feeling poster. It's brilliantly simple and haunting.
Stehako's rating:
536
8.3
8.1
The Grand Illusion (1937)
Illusions abound, but this poster masters the repetition.
Stehako's rating:
669
8
8.1
It brings an immediate feeling of being trapped and lonely during wartime.
Stehako's rating:
249
6.2
6.4
I love simplicity, and as big as this first "talkie" was (at the time), this film does a superior job of simplifying its main attraction to a white outline.
Stehako's rating:
891
8.1
7.9
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
The Russian colors are prominent in the poster for this classic. Great use of repetition and imagery.
Stehako's rating:
1270
7.5
7.9
King Kong (1933)
There are many great posters for this classic creature feature. This one identifies the film's obsurdity the best.
Stehako's rating:
230
7.8
7.6
Are they shadows, outlines, silhouettes, what's going on? Another Eisenstein film gets a classic poster to its name.
Stehako's rating:
1744
7.9
7.8
Nosferatu (1922) (1922)
I like the posters for this film with the face of the monster, but this poster makes it even more mysterious and reminds me of a stamp.
Stehako's rating:
1009
8.2
8.3
The Kid (1921)
Chaplin shares the poster with the kid. Their similar 'look back' poses have become as classic as the film itself.
Stehako's rating:
24
7.6
6.2
Go West Young Man (1936)
Such a bold poster for its time. West's white silhouette to maroon background is as perfect as her starring in a film with her own last name.
Stehako's rating:
1886
8.4
8.5
One of the lesser-known posters for the film, but it once again brings a modern simplicity that wonderfully creates the feeling of this modern love story.
Stehako's rating:
908
8.1
8.1
It Happened One Night (1934)
A classic pairing deserves a classic poster. It was replicated countless times afterward.
Stehako's rating:
45
7.1
7.4
The great whiskey label style works perfectly for this Mediterranean revenge classic.
Stehako's rating:
64
6.9
7.3
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
Such an unusual poster for the time, it darkly paints a haunting picture with the young girl's face and the creepy scarlet-colored shadow sneaking its way into her face.
Stehako's rating:
263
7.5
7.3
Like its title, this poster was grand, with its propelling use of lines and spacing between characters and title letters.
Stehako's rating:
1111
7.6
7.8
Frankenstein (1931)
This poster feels goulish and minty-fresh at the same time.
Stehako's rating:
263
7.3
7.3
Mysterious and vamping; but most of all weird and artistic.
Stehako's rating:
77
7.2
7.6
Beau Geste (1939)
Not unusual to put a big star front and center; but it was to put him looking off-poster and cringing.
Stehako's rating:
142
7.5
7.7
Lost Horizon (1937)
One of the iconic 30s posters, grand in all aspects.
Stehako's rating:
183
7.4
7.2
Gunga Din (1939)
Not having Gunga Din pictured on the poster is fine when you have three laughing mega-stars in red, green and yellow.
Stehako's rating:
122
7.6
7.3
The horizontal posters are more rare and this is certainly one of my favorite.
Stehako's rating:
11
7.4
6.6
From a distance the poster looked like usual 1930s flare, but then you get close and observe all the strange detail...
Stehako's rating:
337
7.2
7.3
Triumph of the Will (1935)
Only the Nazis would be bold enough to make hand-drawn black and white poster.
Stehako's rating:
751
7.5
7.6
The 39 Steps (1935)
Like is films, Hitchcock's posters got better. This is his one 1930s highlight.
Stehako's rating:
52
7.3
7.1
Robin Hood (1922)
Fairbanks loved to mug on the cover of most of his movie posters (see "The Three Musketeers" (1921), "The Mark of Zorro" (1920), etc.), this is the best example.
Stehako's rating:
241
7.3
7.3
42nd Street (1933)
What a great line of gams and use of repition. Big and bold, just like Broadway... and 42nd.
Stehako's rating:
282
7.4
7.6
The first to master the three-parted epic movie poster.
Stehako's rating:
112
7.5
7.5
I think this poster may have influenced Apatow as I find recent examples like This and of course This one too
Stehako's rating:
615
7.8
7.9
Robin Hood was also a great gangster, but more so in the tight-wearing fancy-pants vein.
Stehako's rating:
265
7.4
7.9
You Can't Take It with You (1938)
One of the best early examples of the ensemble comedy poster.
Stehako's rating:
117
7.6
7.5
Footlight Parade (1933)
Like "42nd Street" this poster shows great gams and repetition, but also features in the bad-ass Cagney (he wishes he were that tall).
Stehako's rating:
769
7.9
7.8
Duck Soup (1933)
The Marx Brothers had this art featured in most of their features... this is my favorite example.
Stehako's rating:
1338
8.6
8.5
City Lights (1931)
Features the iconic look of Chaplin and some cool colord-stripes background
Stehako's rating:
79
7.6
7.3
Hell's Angels (1930)
It was the most expensive film at the time and this poster does it justice.
Stehako's rating:
427
7.4
7.6
Wuthering Heights (1939)
It looks like this film could have been released in the 60s with its minimalist modern look.
Stehako's rating:
69
7.4
6.7
Anna Christie (1930)
Classic minimalist poster featuring the outline of Hollywood's loveliest leading lady of the time.
Stehako's rating:
24
8.2
6.9
Smilin' Through (1932)
The Europeans got it right quite often in early cinema.
Stehako's rating:
761
8.4
8.1
The General (1926)
A cartoonised poster for a cartoonised man in one if his best films.
Stehako's rating:
26
7.8
6.5
As You Desire Me (1932)
This poster shows more than an outline of Greta and you kind of fall in love with her character without watching a minute of the film.
Stehako's rating:
29
6.7
6.3
Blood and Sand (1922)
These colors usually clash, but work beautifully on this bloody and sandy film's poster.
Stehako's rating:
Load more items (16 more in this list)
Movie posters have changed so much over the last century so I wanted to catalog my favorite posters from each era.
This list features 40 years of classic Old Hollywood and Golden Age posters. Many were alike but these 65 were standouts.
This list features 40 years of classic Old Hollywood and Golden Age posters. Many were alike but these 65 were standouts.
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