The Faux Posters In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
I thoroughly enjoyed the 2019 Quentin Tarantino movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and I especially enjoyed the use of vintage style movie posters within the film itself. The lead character, Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is an actor in late 1960’s Hollywood. Rick Dalton owns posters of his films and displays them in his home. As you are watching the film you will see these faux movie posters on set and also flashed on the screen to show the various movies Rick Dalton has acted in.
Did you notice the large poster of Dalton’s movie Uccidimi subito Ringo, Disse il Gringo (Kill Me Now Ringo, Said the Gringo) displayed in his bedroom? That particular version had a dark background. The same poster when flashed on the screen, in a shot with echoes of the Citizen Kane Twirling Newspaper, had a white background. I also picked up on a Nebraska Jim poster being carried into the house by the character Cliff Booth upon Rick Dalton’s return from a trip to Italy.
The posters are special sizes, even though at a glance they appeared to be Italian 4 foglio or 3 sheet sizes, they were actually roughly a little smaller than a French Grande. I can only speculate on why this is so. Was it so that collectors would know they weren’t actual vintage posters on the secondary market? Reproductions of US one sheets are typically a little smaller than 27 by 41 inches (well, post 1985 one sheets being 27 by 40 inches) so it’s one way to tell if you are looking at an original vintage poster.
Maybe the smaller sizes were more manageable on set or appear to fit the setting better. A real vintage 4 foglio (a.k.a 2 panel) is a really sizable 55 by 78 inches, and does tend to dominate the decor of a smaller interior space. At any rate, the posters Nebraska Jim and Uccidimi subito Ringo, Disse il Gringo measure 48 by 72 inches. And the Tanner poster next to Rick Dalton’s fireplace measures 36 by 72, sort of a smaller scale 3 sheet. There is also a poster for Comanche Uprising in the kitchen, which appears to be a US 1 sheet, although I can’t confirm as I haven’t found any information on the actual size of the poster.
I came across this poster (below) for Nevada Smith (1966) starring Steve McQueen and I immediately thought that it might have been the inspiration for Nebraska Jim. They share several visual elements - namely both are Italian posters, and although the artist of Nevada Smith is Mauro Colizzi, the artist’s hand in the illustration seems very similar, albeit painted in a more realistic fashion in Nebraska Jim. Further, there is a similarity in the general composition of a large, standing figure of the hero. And also the titles are so similar: Nevada Smith vs Nebraska Jim. Compare them side by side:
None of these posters were used for a theatrical release, since the movies don’t exist outside of the story in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. There are photos of them being used as “wilding” or “wildposting” posters in Canne when Once Upon A Time In Hollywood premiered. This means they were not printed for use in theatres, but were pasted up in public places in advance of the film.
The faux poster for Operazione Dyn-o-mite! was made in two sizes, the large 36 by 72 again, and a supposed “video rental store” mini format of 21 ¾ by 39 ½ inches. Since this movie doesn’t really exist, it wouldn’t have really been made for video rental stores, so likely for use in wilding posts. I was able to acquire an Operazione Dyn-o-mite! in the smaller format, and it is fabulous! Available now for purchase on my Shop Posters page. Take a look:
How did these posters come to be created? The story goes that Tarantino commissioned three master poster artists to create the posters to be used as props and for publicity. Also, they’re just really cool posters. I don’t know exactly how many were printed; if you know please contact me! The artists are: Steven Chorney, Renato Casaro and Martin Duhovic. Casaro was actually retired and was asked to do this project by Tarantino.
Renato Casaro created the posters for Nebraska Jim and Uccidimi subito Ringo, Disse il Gringo. From 1956 until the late 1990’s Italian artist Renato Casaro painted a tonne of amazing Italian spaghetti western posters and Hollywood film posters, and is perhaps most recognized for his Conan the Barbarian (U.S) poster. I love the way vintage poster art was mainly illustration and painting, not photography based. It truly is a lost art.
Legendary poster artist Steven Chorney designed the fabulous illustrated US 1 sheet that was used in theaters, (shown above) and was also commissioned to design many other posters to be used as props in the film. One of his posters is for the faux film Comanche Uprising, seen in the film in the corner of Rick Dalton’s kitchen. Chorney also painted Operazione Dyn-o-mite! and Nebraska Jim. His website www.stevenchorney.com shows a selection of his extensive portfolio. You’re sure to recognize some of the blockbusters for which he’s designed the posters.
Tanner was painted by comic artist Martin Duhovic. The artist has posted some great images of his Tanner poster wildposting on Sunset Boulevard on his Instagram account @martin.duhovic. I’ve read that Tarantino personally requested Duhovic. I’m glad he has brought attention to this talented artist whose work I am now enthusiastically following.
I hope other directors will consider commissioning posters as props or guerrilla marketing campaigns for new films where it would add to the atmosphere of the film. Seeing these posters integrated into the film really added to the experience and I’m hoping to see more in the future.