In reviewing The Look of the Book recently, I discussed its point that a simple, dignified cover with minimal illustration conveys Serious Work. Here’s an example from the movies.
The Last Picture Show (1971) is a serious film about life in a dying Texas town in 1951. The poster is heavy on white space which (according to a book I read some years back) suggests class and quality. No need for lurid illustrations or hype. We have the eponymous cinema, some head shots of the cast (that was standard in a lot of 1970s films) and that’s pretty much it.
Heck, you couldn’t even say exactly what the movie is about based on that image. Nevertheless, it worked: the movie got critical applause, Oscar nominations, a couple of Oscar wins and it did good box office too. Obviously all the credit doesn’t go to the poster but I’d say the poster did its job.
On the other hand, this poster does not scream class and quality.
Here we have the hard-sell — terrifying, unstoppable monster, cities in ruin, human military in action. And Rodan (1956) was a success too. Despite dying at the finish Rodan would continue showing up on Monster Island with Godzilla and the other kaiju once the original movies made the swing to less monstrous and more family-friendly fare.
A dignified whitespace poster would not have brought in the audience to appreciate Rodan. I think a more dramatic, more hard-sell poster might have worked for The Last Picture Show. Then again, it’s such a low-key, quiet movie, they probably made the right call.
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