Ossessione (1943)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossessione
I have no idea what this movie is about at all. This poster looks like a student/fanzine/photocopied handout, not a professional poster but hey maybe that's the point of it. The drama, the bleak interior make me think of David Lynch, which of course I've been doing a lot lately.
Laura (1944)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_(1944_film)
For some reason every damn poster for this movie gets to use the letter L as a big-ass graphic element. I guess you can't frame things in most letters. You could get some mileage out of a big C though.
Cry of the City (1948)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry_of_the_City
I like how the composition works, you have your city street in the middle, the one face looking down and right, another looking up and left. I don't like that crouching guy lower left with the handgun. That's the one item of jewellery you take off, designer.
Three Strangers (1946)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Strangers
poster language: French
This is great, isn't it? Not sure how to describe what she's wearing. It's a full-length dress with a hood? Maybe it's the world's sexiest raincoat.
Illegal (1955)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_(1955_film)
This tries so hard and does so little and the colours are just depressing and grimy. The angle from which we see EGR is the only interesting thing.
King of the Underworld (1939)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Underworld_(1939_film)
This is nicely understated. I found it very hard to alt-text the description on his face. It's almost "who, me?" or "did I do that?", faintly comical.
The File on Thelma Jordon (1950)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_File_on_Thelma_Jordon
Weird spelling of "Jordon".
This poster is terrific, it really goes for it with the colour and the intensity.
Note for Australians. Not THAT Paul Kelly. Or the other one. Or the other other one.
Portrait of Alison (1955)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Alison
Released in the US as “Postmark for Danger”.
This is one of those too-literal ones, isn't it? Let's make a stamp with the guy's face on it, the movie is about a postcard, right?
I honestly can't tell if that's her hand behind her head or a noose at the bottom.
Please Murder Me (1956)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Murder_Me
The title is so bonkers it almost seems like a parody along the lines of “Naked Gun”, but hey the genre of “people who arrange their own murder” has some notable entries. “Bullworth” anyone? Aki Kaurismäki's “I Hired A Contract Killer”?
There's another one on the tip of my tongue. One of you will know.
Shield for Murder (1954)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_for_Murder
Nice tones, nice composition, nice brushstroke-y design elements. Has he hit that guy? Is he going to hit that guy? Very clunky title though.
The Desperate Hours (1955)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Desperate_Hours_(1955_film)
poster language: German
There are terrible portrayals of poor old Bogey in this collection but this MUST be the worst, right? I honestly couldn't be sure it was him. Maybe he's a zombie in this movie.
Maybe I should have a horror-movie version of this bot one day. On the list it goes, sigh.
Detective Story (1951)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detective_Story_(1951_film)
poster language: French
Very literal translation. This is … awkward. His hands, his posture, the forced angle so we can see the gun, this is the kind of artwork we expect from AI, not a living human being in 1951,
The Garment Jungle (1957)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garment_Jungle
This has a couple of absolutely solid clichés here: the couple running (man pulling woman behind him), the hand (I assume it's a female hand) holding scissors as a weapon, a red-headed woman in underwear. On the other hand it's ugly.
The Letter (1940)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Letter_(1940_film)
poster language: Italian
Love this one, subtle but uneasy combination of colours. I'm going to assume it's "dark shadow" or something like that in Italian? Italian-speaking subscribers speak up.
The Crooked Web (1955)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Web
poster language: Spanish
“Kisses that reveal a criminal”! Or better "betray" I suppose.
I like how the gun being next to her hand has more tension than the gun being in her hand.
Finger Man (1955)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_Man
You couldn't make a movie called "Finger Man" nowadays, as they say.
The Letter (1940)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Letter_(1940_film)
poster language: French
I'm a big fan of Somerset Maugham, though you should read Michelle de Kretser's deconstruction of the steamy-plantation-sexual-frustration-affair-sexy-murder trope as a corrective.
I'm also a fan of Somerset the place but that's another story.
Conflict (1945)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_(1945_film)
Very low effort. Or is it almost Japanese in its restraint?
