Arts & Entertainment
Top 10 Movie Posters by John Alvin, Hollywood's Best Kept Secret
Cinema Siren schools you about the poster art and artist for E.T., Blade Runner, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Young Frankenstein
By Leslie Combemale aka Cinema Siren
If you think of a movie and instead of remembering a scene from the film, you think of the poster, that is the work of a great poster artist.
The days of that being the case are largely behind us all, although there is the occasional courageous Hollywood marketeer willing to promote in a more classic and traditional way will release a traditionally illustrated image. Those posters are so rare, they make a huge statement.
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What most of those in charge of new movie campaigns forget is a great poster places a movie indelibly in the memory of potential fans even before they ever see it.
This year there are some big movie anniversaries, and they all have just such posters representing them. It has been 40 years since the release of the Mel Brooks comedy classics Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. It is also the 20th year since Disney’s The Lion King roared into theaters.
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Those movies all features one-sheet posters by artist John Alvin. Cinema Siren personally knew him well. Alvin was humble and sensitive, and often flew under the radar. As studios rarely allowed signatures or credits on their one-sheets, even today there is often confusion about posters to his credit.
Perhaps you’ve never heard of John Alvin, but his original art graces the walls of the likes of Mel Brooks, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott and George Lucas, and his posters are images that are recognized worldwide.
Now the creation of posters for the films mentioned above, along with E.T., Star Wars and many of the over 200 others Alvin worked on, will be celebrated when Titan Books previews the book The Art of John Alvin at this year’s Comic-Con International, which happens later this month in San Diego. It not only pictures some of his best finishes, it will also contain previously unseen comprehensives and works in progress that show the development from idea to the images we all remember.
I spoke to the author Andrea Alvin, who wrote all the commentary in the book, and was also John’s partner in art and life, about John’s career and some of his best posters.
Here, then are the top ten movie posters created by John Alvin, although there are many more some might argue are more deserving, based on design or sheer fan appreciation. Since Cinema Siren got Andrea Alvin’s help in the choosing of these, it might be safe to say they would be the ones John himself would have chosen.
(See the accompanying gallery for images.)
10. EMPIRE OF THE SUN For this Spielberg directed movie, Alvin juxtaposed two strongly contrasting moods and colors to show loss of innocence, while cleverly incorporating the feel of the Japanese flag. This image was so iconic it was the single poster used for everything, all over the world. A perfect example of the movie's name conjuring an image of the poster.
Says Andrea Alvin: "This poster tells it all in the single graphic image. The plane is going down with a cloud of smoke and fire and silhouetted in the horizon we see the boy, enamored with the war, joyously playing with his toy plane on the field with the barbed wire. We understand that even with the horrors of war and imprisonment, that the boys youthful enthusiasm cannot be crushed."
9. COLOR PURPLE Also a Spielberg movie, based on the novel by Alice Walker. It was essential to create an image that rang true to the millions of fans of the book, while enticing new ones to come see the film version. Note that we cannot see the star's face, and it is entirely in shadow.
Andrea Alvin: "This is another example of the scene that was not in the movie. We see Whoopi Goldberg’s Celie sitting in a rocker a lace curtain behind, reading a letter. There is a mood of tranquility and hope, but with an edge of melancholy. So much said with so little. It is again, John’s ability to create a mood with graphics and color that sets this poster apart."
8. VICTOR VICTORIA One of the most recognizable graphic posters in recent history, (along with Jurassic Park, which John also worked on) it is about a female performer who becomes famous by pretending to be a man who is a female impersonator. Also important (as Andrea repeats below…) because the same image was used for both the movie and the stage play. Coincidentally, John and Andrea's daughter Farah has gone on to be a successful Broadway actress and singer.
Andrea Alvin: "This poster was important because it was such a bold graphic statement and uniquely different from any poster before it. It didn’t show the big stars, Julie Andrews and James Garner. It was also used for the successful Broadway show based on the movie. I don’t think that had been done before. Our daughter Farah was singing at an event and we met Henry Mancini. He was very excited to tell me that they were going to use the art for the Broadway production."
7. STAR WARS CONCERT POSTER Among Star Wars geeks this poster is the holy grail. It was created for a show in 1978 with John Williams that never took place, and only a few thousand got released into the public. The charm of the image "struck a chord" with fans and it has become a thing of legend.
Andrea Alvin: "This poster has become the most collectible of all the Star Wars posters both because of its rarity and because of its unique graphic quality that sets it apart from all of the other Star Wars posters. It is simple and graphic and has a sense of whimsy that is rare in the SW universe. John , being a huge SW fan, made sure the characters were perfectly on model and that the “instruments” they used fit in seamlessly."
Here is the quote George Lucas put on John Alvin’s fan website when he died. As mentioned before, George was a big fan of John's, and a big collector of his art:
"Thirty years ago, John Alvin created one of the most memorable -- and whimsical -- illustrations ever to grace a Star Wars poster. In the years since, he has become one of the finest illustrators in his trade, flourishing in a field that is quickly becoming a lost art. We are so fortunate to count John's talent among the treasures of the saga's legacy, and will deeply miss him and the passion for Star Wars he so successfully expressed through his art." -- George Lucas
6. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST The Beauty and the Beast poster was created when they were still tweaking the look of the characters…the image showed the magic of romance and problem solved at the same time, by not showing them in close up—that kind of successful resolution is the sign of the very best illustrator.
Andrea Alvin: "This was the first poster by Disney with the intent to target an adult audience. John was able to evoke a mood of mystery and romanticism that is rarely seen in illustration and movie posters."
There is a term, “Alvin-izing”, that relates to this particular poster. Disney studios coined the term in John Alvin’s honor, and it referred to the mist, stars, smoke, light and other elements John would use in his design so as to evoke mystery and make the viewer curious.
Alvin also hoped it would make them feel something emotional that compelled them to find out more about whatever concept or idea was represented in the image. I asked Andrea where that came from.
Andrea Alvin: “John spent his young adult years in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in California. It's a woodsy place near the ocean, and very foggy and misty. I think that living with that kind of light was one influence. He was also very intrigued by the lighting in some of Spielberg's movies. He called it "heavy light.” I think John had the unique talent for capturing the essence of a film in a still painting, and “Alvin-izing” was part of that. His work had an emotional quality not often found in illustration, especially in movie posters. I think this is what sets his work apart from the other well known poster artists.
5. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN John Alvin himself said this was one of his favorites, because he loved the movie so much and was so proud to be a part of it. There is obviously parody of older classic monster posters in this image, but the little gags inform the viewer they're in for a comedy. As classic as the movie is (#13 on AFI's top 100 comedy list) fans still often think of the representative poster, but this one is a perfect example of "the promise of a great experience".
Andrea Alvin: "The monster was big and everything on the poster felt big. We really saw the personalities of the main characters. John always said that these posters for a comedy movie worked because the art was taken very seriously. It was bold and iconic and probably Mel Brook’s best movie. At least it’s my favorite. It had the notoriety of being the worlds largest billboard at the time, when it was painted on the side of the Playboy building on Sunset Strip."
4. DISNEY’S LION KING John again is incorporating the “Alvin-izing”, with light and shadow into this piece. He is sending the viewer's focus to a particular spot, where the eye is lead downward to the subjects and upward to the title and image in the clouds. It seduces the viewer and inspires theatrical attendance with its compelling & mysterious snapshot of the story.
Andrea Alvin: "John’s poster was the main campaign for the movie. It was approached as an adult movie and did not try to put the younger spin on the poster. They felt they had a movie for all ages and the poster showed that. I believe it was a first for Disney studios at that time. For a long time it was the only image used for the campaign."
3. BLAZING SADDLES The story behind this poster is like a Hollywood fable. Mel Brooks was having a really hard time getting what he wanted for a poster, so a friend of John's asked if he'd take a crack at it, but he only had 24 hours to create the image. When John incorporated great sight gags like the Gucci saddle bags and "Hi, I'm Mel, Trust me!" on the coin, Mel loved it. The day the posters went up, they got a call to come down to the center of LA. It was everywhere; on billboards, sides of buildings, fences, buses…His art was everywhere and overnight he became in extremely high demand in Hollywood.
Andrea Alvin: "This was the one that started it all. This poster had a unique look from most movie posters at the time. Most illustrated posters were traditional montages with characters from the film and maybe some scenic elements. This poster was full of jokes and elements that were from the movie, but not trying to portray a scene from the movie. It was a very formal composition with the main elements in the center of the poster."
2. BLADE RUNNER Andrea and Cinema Siren had a tussle as to which should occupy 1st and 2nd place on this list. I love the movie Blade Runner, and the art is very important as part of the Scifi classic's history. E.T. is considered one of the best movie posters in history, but the movie doesn't have the same historic significance. Ultimately I had to go with the art itself instead of the movie it represented…Blade Runner's poster was created originally with 2 main focuses; the architecture and replicant Roy Batty.
However, since Harrison Ford had just been in some huge hits, his contract said his image had to be the biggest in the poster. (Clearly an early sign of the barrage of photo posters of lead stars just standing there to which we are now subjected.) He ultimately designed the image with Deckard (Ford's character) with bright light shining from behind him, but looking focused and decidedly anti-heroic. Apart from it creating an interesting balance of light, negative space, and detailed imagery, It warns the audience of the story's and central character's moral ambiguity.
Andrea Alvin: "Other artists try to claim that they did the Blade Runnerposter. John worked directly with Ridley Scott, discussing the needs of the movie poster. It is a memorable image of Harrison Ford. It shows our hero, the leading man, beat up, tired, sweaty and with a growth of stubble on his face. This was not the usual star portrait. It contrasts so beautifully with the cool, elegance of Sean Young’s replicant character. The architecture was an important feature, like another character, and John’s art featured it prominently. His art has been the image brand for Blade Runner for all of these years."
1. E.T. The Extraterrestrial Based on the Sistine Chapel ceiling image by Michelangelo, this art is the only movie poster ever to win a Saturn Award. It also won the Hollywood Reporter Key Art Award's grand prize. There was such anticipation represented. No one had been allowed to see what the alien looked like, so it was a little peek into the interaction that was in store, teasing scifi fans into the theaters. Also, it placed the art of cinema in the same realm as the highest form of fine art, as created by one of the masters…It continues to be seen as one of the best movie posters created in the last 50 years.
Andrea Alvin: "This was the big one that didn’t get away. E.T. was the top grossing movie of all time for quite a number of years. The poster was so iconic and universal that it was used for worldwide advertising. There is often a different campaign for various international markets. The image was very universally understood. It was licensed and on everything from key rings to beach towels. It was everywhere and on everything. Our daughter Farah posed for the hand of Elliot. No matter what else she might do in her career on Broadway, many movie fans will always know her for that!"d appreciate how the greatest posters offered a unique mix of artistic beauty and skilled problem solving.
John Alvin used to say his job was to “create the promise of a great experience”. He was a huge movie fan his whole life. He wanted to inspire as many people to go see new movies, and get excited about them, as possible. He never saw the subject matter he chose as any less valuable or worthy than any other more “fine art” friendly work on display in galleries. Movie art was art in his book. He approached it as such every day as an artist.
The creative and inventive artists who have excited us, and gotten us into theaters to see what have become favorite movies are no less fine artists than any painter in your local museum. They may have gotten commissioned, or paid for their work, but so did some of the most famous artists in history. Think of them as being like Michelangelo, but instead of the Vatican, they worked for Hollywood. John Alvin passed away in 2008, and as a fan of movie posters (and a longtime personal friend of John and Andrea’s) I hope the new book The Art of John Alvin will show his important place in the history of film and his essential part of helping make good on that promise of a great experience.
For more information about John Alvin and to see his huge body of work, some of which is for sale, check out his fan page, www.JohnAlvinart.com.
About this column: Leslie Combemale, at www.cinemasiren.com, is a movie lover and aficionado who aspires to get more people back into the beautiful alternate worlds offered in the dark at movie houses across the country, and is owner of ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery. She interviews actors, directors, and production artists from all over the world, and often is invited to present at conventions such as the San Diego Comic-Con, where she has been a panelist and host for The Art of the Hollywood Movie Poster, Classic Film History, Disney & Harry Potter Fandom discussions. Visit her art gallery for great art from film at www.artinsights.com and see more of her reviews and interviews on www.artinsightsmagazine.com.
Perhaps you’ve never heard of John Alvin, but his original art graces the walls of the likes of Mel Brooks, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott and George Lucas, and his posters are images that are recognized worldwide.
Now the creation of posters for the films mentioned above, along with E.T., Star Wars and many of the over 200 others Alvin worked on, will be celebrated when Titan Books previews the book The Art of John Alvin at this year’s Comic-Con International, which happens later this month in San Diego. It not only pictures some of his best finishes, it will also contain previously unseen comprehensives and works in progress that show the development from idea to the images we all remember.
I spoke to the author Andrea Alvin, who wrote all the commentary in the book, and was also John’s partner in art and life, about John’s career and some of his best posters.
Here, then are the top ten movie posters created by John Alvin, although there are many more some might argue are more deserving, based on design or sheer fan appreciation. Since Cinema Siren got Andrea Alvin’s help in the choosing of these, it might be safe to say they would be the ones John himself would have chosen.
(See the accompanying gallery for images.)
10. EMPIRE OF THE SUN For this Spielberg directed movie, Alvin juxtaposed two strongly contrasting moods and colors to show loss of innocence, while cleverly incorporating the feel of the Japanese flag. This image was so iconic it was the single poster used for everything, all over the world. A perfect example of the movie's name conjuring an image of the poster.
Says Andrea Alvin: "This poster tells it all in the single graphic image. The plane is going down with a cloud of smoke and fire and silhouetted in the horizon we see the boy, enamored with the war, joyously playing with his toy plane on the field with the barbed wire. We understand that even with the horrors of war and imprisonment, that the boys youthful enthusiasm cannot be crushed."
9. COLOR PURPLE Also a Spielberg movie, based on the novel by Alice Walker. It was essential to create an image that rang true to the millions of fans of the book, while enticing new ones to come see the film version. Note that we cannot see the star's face, and it is entirely in shadow.
Andrea Alvin: "This is another example of the scene that was not in the movie. We see Whoopi Goldberg’s Celie sitting in a rocker a lace curtain behind, reading a letter. There is a mood of tranquility and hope, but with an edge of melancholy. So much said with so little. It is again, John’s ability to create a mood with graphics and color that sets this poster apart."
8. VICTOR VICTORIA One of the most recognizable graphic posters in recent history, (along with Jurassic Park, which John also worked on) it is about a female performer who becomes famous by pretending to be a man who is a female impersonator. Also important (as Andrea repeats below…) because the same image was used for both the movie and the stage play. Coincidentally, John and Andrea's daughter Farah has gone on to be a successful Broadway actress and singer.
Andrea Alvin: "This poster was important because it was such a bold graphic statement and uniquely different from any poster before it. It didn’t show the big stars, Julie Andrews and James Garner. It was also used for the successful Broadway show based on the movie. I don’t think that had been done before. Our daughter Farah was singing at an event and we met Henry Mancini. He was very excited to tell me that they were going to use the art for the Broadway production."
7. STAR WARS CONCERT POSTER Among Star Wars geeks this poster is the holy grail. It was created for a show in 1978 with John Williams that never took place, and only a few thousand got released into the public. The charm of the image "struck a chord" with fans and it has become a thing of legend.
Andrea Alvin: "This poster has become the most collectible of all the Star Wars posters both because of its rarity and because of its unique graphic quality that sets it apart from all of the other Star Wars posters. It is simple and graphic and has a sense of whimsy that is rare in the SW universe. John , being a huge SW fan, made sure the characters were perfectly on model and that the “instruments” they used fit in seamlessly."
Here is the quote George Lucas put on John Alvin’s fan website when he died. As mentioned before, George was a big fan of John's, and a big collector of his art:
"Thirty years ago, John Alvin created one of the most memorable -- and whimsical -- illustrations ever to grace a Star Wars poster. In the years since, he has become one of the finest illustrators in his trade, flourishing in a field that is quickly becoming a lost art. We are so fortunate to count John's talent among the treasures of the saga's legacy, and will deeply miss him and the passion for Star Wars he so successfully expressed through his art." -- George Lucas
6. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST The Beauty and the Beast poster was created when they were still tweaking the look of the characters…the image showed the magic of romance and problem solved at the same time, by not showing them in close up—that kind of successful resolution is the sign of the very best illustrator.
Andrea Alvin: "This was the first poster by Disney with the intent to target an adult audience. John was able to evoke a mood of mystery and romanticism that is rarely seen in illustration and movie posters."
There is a term, “Alvin-izing”, that relates to this particular poster. Disney studios coined the term in John Alvin’s honor, and it referred to the mist, stars, smoke, light and other elements John would use in his design so as to evoke mystery and make the viewer curious.
Alvin also hoped it would make them feel something emotional that compelled them to find out more about whatever concept or idea was represented in the image. I asked Andrea where that came from.
Andrea Alvin: “John spent his young adult years in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in California. It's a woodsy place near the ocean, and very foggy and misty. I think that living with that kind of light was one influence. He was also very intrigued by the lighting in some of Spielberg's movies. He called it "heavy light.” I think John had the unique talent for capturing the essence of a film in a still painting, and “Alvin-izing” was part of that. His work had an emotional quality not often found in illustration, especially in movie posters. I think this is what sets his work apart from the other well known poster artists.
5. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN John Alvin himself said this was one of his favorites, because he loved the movie so much and was so proud to be a part of it. There is obviously parody of older classic monster posters in this image, but the little gags inform the viewer they're in for a comedy. As classic as the movie is (#13 on AFI's top 100 comedy list) fans still often think of the representative poster, but this one is a perfect example of "the promise of a great experience".
Andrea Alvin: "The monster was big and everything on the poster felt big. We really saw the personalities of the main characters. John always said that these posters for a comedy movie worked because the art was taken very seriously. It was bold and iconic and probably Mel Brook’s best movie. At least it’s my favorite. It had the notoriety of being the worlds largest billboard at the time, when it was painted on the side of the Playboy building on Sunset Strip."
4. DISNEY’S LION KING John again is incorporating the “Alvin-izing”, with light and shadow into this piece. He is sending the viewer's focus to a particular spot, where the eye is lead downward to the subjects and upward to the title and image in the clouds. It seduces the viewer and inspires theatrical attendance with its compelling & mysterious snapshot of the story.
Andrea Alvin: "John’s poster was the main campaign for the movie. It was approached as an adult movie and did not try to put the younger spin on the poster. They felt they had a movie for all ages and the poster showed that. I believe it was a first for Disney studios at that time. For a long time it was the only image used for the campaign."
3. BLAZING SADDLES The story behind this poster is like a Hollywood fable. Mel Brooks was having a really hard time getting what he wanted for a poster, so a friend of John's asked if he'd take a crack at it, but he only had 24 hours to create the image. When John incorporated great sight gags like the Gucci saddle bags and "Hi, I'm Mel, Trust me!" on the coin, Mel loved it. The day the posters went up, they got a call to come down to the center of LA. It was everywhere; on billboards, sides of buildings, fences, buses…His art was everywhere and overnight he became in extremely high demand in Hollywood.
Andrea Alvin: "This was the one that started it all. This poster had a unique look from most movie posters at the time. Most illustrated posters were traditional montages with characters from the film and maybe some scenic elements. This poster was full of jokes and elements that were from the movie, but not trying to portray a scene from the movie. It was a very formal composition with the main elements in the center of the poster."
2. BLADE RUNNER Andrea and Cinema Siren had a tussle as to which should occupy 1st and 2nd place on this list. I love the movie Blade Runner, and the art is very important as part of the Scifi classic's history. E.T. is considered one of the best movie posters in history, but the movie doesn't have the same historic significance. Ultimately I had to go with the art itself instead of the movie it represented…Blade Runner's poster was created originally with 2 main focuses; the architecture and replicant Roy Batty.
However, since Harrison Ford had just been in some huge hits, his contract said his image had to be the biggest in the poster. (Clearly an early sign of the barrage of photo posters of lead stars just standing there to which we are now subjected.) He ultimately designed the image with Deckard (Ford's character) with bright light shining from behind him, but looking focused and decidedly anti-heroic. Apart from it creating an interesting balance of light, negative space, and detailed imagery, It warns the audience of the story's and central character's moral ambiguity.
Andrea Alvin: "Other artists try to claim that they did the Blade Runnerposter. John worked directly with Ridley Scott, discussing the needs of the movie poster. It is a memorable image of Harrison Ford. It shows our hero, the leading man, beat up, tired, sweaty and with a growth of stubble on his face. This was not the usual star portrait. It contrasts so beautifully with the cool, elegance of Sean Young’s replicant character. The architecture was an important feature, like another character, and John’s art featured it prominently. His art has been the image brand for Blade Runner for all of these years."
1. E.T. The Extraterrestrial Based on the Sistine Chapel ceiling image by Michelangelo, this art is the only movie poster ever to win a Saturn Award. It also won the Hollywood Reporter Key Art Award's grand prize. There was such anticipation represented. No one had been allowed to see what the alien looked like, so it was a little peek into the interaction that was in store, teasing scifi fans into the theaters. Also, it placed the art of cinema in the same realm as the highest form of fine art, as created by one of the masters…It continues to be seen as one of the best movie posters created in the last 50 years.
Andrea Alvin: "This was the big one that didn’t get away. E.T. was the top grossing movie of all time for quite a number of years. The poster was so iconic and universal that it was used for worldwide advertising. There is often a different campaign for various international markets. The image was very universally understood. It was licensed and on everything from key rings to beach towels. It was everywhere and on everything. Our daughter Farah posed for the hand of Elliot. No matter what else she might do in her career on Broadway, many movie fans will always know her for that!"d appreciate how the greatest posters offered a unique mix of artistic beauty and skilled problem solving.
John Alvin used to say his job was to “create the promise of a great experience”. He was a huge movie fan his whole life. He wanted to inspire as many people to go see new movies, and get excited about them, as possible. He never saw the subject matter he chose as any less valuable or worthy than any other more “fine art” friendly work on display in galleries. Movie art was art in his book. He approached it as such every day as an artist.
The creative and inventive artists who have excited us, and gotten us into theaters to see what have become favorite movies are no less fine artists than any painter in your local museum. They may have gotten commissioned, or paid for their work, but so did some of the most famous artists in history. Think of them as being like Michelangelo, but instead of the Vatican, they worked for Hollywood. John Alvin passed away in 2008, and as a fan of movie posters (and a longtime personal friend of John and Andrea’s) I hope the new book The Art of John Alvin will show his important place in the history of film and his essential part of helping make good on that promise of a great experience.
For more information about John Alvin and to see his huge body of work, some of which is for sale, check out his fan page, www.JohnAlvinart.com.
About this column: Leslie Combemale, at www.cinemasiren.com, is a movie lover and aficionado who aspires to get more people back into the beautiful alternate worlds offered in the dark at movie houses across the country, and is owner of ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery. She interviews actors, directors, and production artists from all over the world, and often is invited to present at conventions such as the San Diego Comic-Con, where she has been a panelist and host for The Art of the Hollywood Movie Poster, Classic Film History, Disney & Harry Potter Fandom discussions. Visit her art gallery for great art from film at www.artinsights.com and see more of her reviews and interviews on www.artinsightsmagazine.com.
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