Exploitation Poster Art
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Exploitation Poster Art by Tony Nourmand
Sex, drugs, delinquency, Black power, alternative culture and, of course, rock and roll: these are just a few of the themes which have attracted the attention of the cinema's bottom-feeders over the past eighty years. A few of the resulting films have become cult classics, but most were simply tacky - few would probably now want to sit through two hours of High School Hellcats (1958) or Hot Rod Rumble (1957). The posters produced to promote them, on the other hand, are wonderful period pieces that vividly evoke the social fears, temptations and taboos of bygone eras. Up until the introduction of the Hayes Code in 1934 Hollywood had few inhibitions; the poster for Girl Without a Room (1933), for example, left audiences in little doubt about how the young woman would find accommodation. Later in the decade, it became necessary to adopt the old tabloid trick of pretending that titillating content had a redeeming social message - thus the producers of Marijuana were obliged to present it as a warning about the dangers of drug addiction. In the 1950s, it was the Beats and juvenile delinquents who seemed to threaten middle-class values - and, of course, attracted middle-class kids to the drive-in screens. Then, in the 60s and 70s, came 'Blaxploitation' movies like Shaft, the first of Russ Meyer's mammary-obsessed epics, Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill, and even an animated sexploitation story, Fritz the Cat. The posters for these films, from Albert Vargas' venture into the genre (for Ladies They Talk About, 1933) to Alan Aldridge's photomontage for Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966), are masterpieces of visual innuendo, offering, in most cases, far more that the movies actually delivered.
Tony Nourmand is the co-owner of The Reel Poster Gallery in London. Graham Marsh is an illustrator, art director and writer, Together they have edited Science Fiction Poster Art, Horror Poster Art and Film Posters of the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781845130992 |
| ISBN 10 | 1845130995 |
| Title | Exploitation Poster Art |
| Author | Tony Nourmand |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Quarto Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2005-10-12 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |