We continue our journey through the art of movie posters. In 1913, the number of productions around the world increased significantly, and the volume of posters followed suit. Unfortunately, as with previous years, much has been lost over time or survives only in fragments, awaiting recovery and study in museums and specialized archives.
But let’s move on… We open the gallery with the poster for Atlantis (1913, August Blom
), signed by Aage Lund. We also have India represented by the poster for Raja Harishchandra (1913, Dhundiraj Govind Phalke
).
It is worth highlighting one of the posters for the film Der Student von Prag (1913, Hanns Heinz Ewers
and Stellan Rye
), signed by the artist Imre Földes, a prominent name in the art scene of the time. Interestingly, the film also featured another poster, signed by a different artist.
We also have a curious case with the poster for Le avventure straordinarissime di Saturnino Farandola (1913, Marcel Perez
and Luigi Maggi
), signed by artist Albert Robida
, which does not feature the film's title. The poster presents only the illustration —very interesting, by the way— accompanied by the seal of the Società Anônima Ambrosio Torino Film.
I also want to highlight two more curiosities. The first is the poster for the documentary The Undying Story of Captain Scott (1913), an illustration based on a photograph taken by A. H. Fortney in 1912. The second is the poster for the premiere of one of the many —hundreds, actually— short films by Broncho Billy
, Broncho Billy’s Christmas Deed (1913), directed by himself. Occasionally, for highly popular characters or prestigious productions, special posters were created just for the premiere to draw in the crowds.
And at the very end of today's gallery, there is a poster that I would call… picturesque. It’s not exactly pretty… okay, I can’t even draw a stick figure and, according to the "snowflake" generation, I have no right to talk… but honestly, it’s just ugly. I’m talking about the poster for the film Das rosa Pantöffelchen (1913, Franz Hofer
).
— “So why did you list it here?”
Well… because it’s weird.
Research sources: MutualArt, iMDB, Wikimedia Commons, Cine Ressources, TBDM
