I got an email the other day from a guy named Andre Hunt. He's a fan of The Maltese Falcon, but he doesn't particularly like the original posters from the movie. (I have never particularly loved the Falcon poster, either, though they are better than the wholly uninspiring poster art for The Big Sleep) He decided to mock up a poster for the Falcon, which he sent along and I've posted above with his permission.
I love this kind of thing. It reminds me of a piece of poster art that an artist named Rob Kelly mocked up and sent into the Film Noir Foundation a while ago. Kelly had had a fun idea: what if Richard Widmark and Sterling Hayden had been in a movie with Gloria Graham? This is the kind of thought you can't help but have if you're a noir geek. What if...? You concoct all kinds of possible combinations. Kelly took this idea, ran with it, and you can see the results at the Film Noir Foundation.
Darn it, I wish it were possible to post an image in a comment -- the French version of the Falcon poster is exquisite, and one of my all-time favorites. Much better than the American version which, I think, doubles as the cover art for most of the DVD releases. Maybe I can email it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark! This is awesome. I had the American version on my wall in high school--back in the days before internet searches, or indeed the internet--and I would have loved this French version. Ah, the French...
ReplyDeleteHere's one view of the french poster mark sent:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.altfg.com/Stars/photos/nc-lauren-hutton.jpg
Classy!
ReplyDelete