As was common with Hollywood motion pictures prior to the advent of ‘saturation releasing’ in the 1970s (Wyatt, 1998), STAR! –– the lavish Julie Andrews screen musical celebrating its fiftieth anniversary here in the Parallel Julieverse* –– was given a staggered worldwide distribution over a quite lengthy period of up to a year or more. In fact, STAR! was somewhat unusual in that it was released to several select ‘foreign’ markets long before its North American release. As covered in previous posts, STAR! had its gala world premiere in the UK in June 1968, a full four months ahead of the US opening, and was released in the interim to Japan, Australia, Sweden, and Germany. STAR! would continue its global roll-out well into 1969. France, a notoriously difficult market for Hollywood musicals, didn’t open the film till May 1969, while Turkish audiences had to wait till November.
As was also customary in the era, STAR! received diverse promotional campaigns for many of these overseas releases. In some instances, straightforward adaptations were used of the original US poster art, but in others, entirely new artwork was developed, keyed to the assorted aesthetic tastes and language needs of local markets. Featured here is a cross-section of some of the international poster designs used for STAR! in, respectively, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, and Italy.
Each of the posters has its charms but, for our money, the final Italian ones are especially delightful. Italy has long had a distinctive culture of dynamic film poster design with artists given considerable scope to create new and original graphics (Bagshaw, 2005). The results may not always have been entirely faithful to the film –– for example, Enzo Nistri’s striking artwork of Julie looking heavenwards as she is locked in a passionate embrace with Richard Crenna gives the impression of a dark romantic melodrama more than a musical biopic –– but, as standalone designs, they are extraordinarily engaging.
In a different vein, we also like the Spanish design, created by the celebrated Catalan cartelista, Macario Gómez Quibus, better known by his distinctive nickname “Mac” (López: 163ff). Broadly based on the US Style A artwork with its mezzontint design, the Spanish poster impresses with a spartan composition and eye-catching colour scheme. The Mac poster and accompanying Spanish handbill also feature a unique title logo where the letters S-T-A-R are arranged into a visually arresting pentagram design. The fact that it looks for all the world like a Ninja shuriken only adds to the delight!
* Well, okay, technically, the 50th anniversary of STAR! finished at the end of 2018, but the Parallel Julieverse has its own warped space-time order, so here the golden celebrations continue…
Bagshaw, Mel. The Art of Italian Film Posters. London : Black Dog, 2005.
López, Roberto Sánchez. El cartel de cine: Arte y publicidad. Zaragoza: Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, 1997.
Wyatt, Justin. “From Roadshowing to Saturation Release: Majors, Independents, and Marketing/ Distribution Innovations.” The New American Cinema. J. Lewis, ed. Durham: Duke University Press: 64-86.
© 2019, Brett Farmer. All Rights Reserved.
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