#ArtDept: The Art of the Dance Movie Poster

Above: Italian poster by Silvano Campeggi for Singing’ In The Rain (1952), directed by the late, great Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly.

Love the rainy grey-black background, reflecting the setting of Kelly’s iconic dance sequence contrasting and highlighting the colorful are the joyous trio of Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.

Above: French poster by Boris Grinsson for You’ll Never Get Rich (1941), directed by Sidney Lanfield.

Hoofers and high-flyers locked in perpetual motion, in ecstatic freeze-frames; it is not a big surprise that the best of these posters are not the Hollywood originals but the international versions from France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and beyond. Beyond the main objective: Imprinting an image to allure and advertise, I love how the wild array of fonts interact with the other graphic elements, plus those romantic foreign-language titles!

Above: A Belgian poster for 42nd Street (1933), directed by Lloyd Bacon, poster artist unknown.

The sharp, spunky master of backstage musicals, Busby Berkeley‘s choreography takes center stage in this stunning poster, showcasing his dancers atop and within the three-dimensional title treatment. An astonishing Art Deco achievement.

Above: Swedish poster by Moje Aslund for Bolero (1934), directed by Wesley Ruggles.

Every detail is exquisite in this smart Swedish poster for Bolero reflecting the heat generated by George Raft and Carole Lombard in their dance to Maurice Ravel‘s Bolero performed in the film atop a circular stage with bright lights and dramatic shadows. All the posters for this movie depict the dancing couple but none approach artist Aslund’s perfect of Art Deco sensuality and elegance, or Lombard’s nipples.

Above: German poster by Aslund for The Dancing Pirate (1936), directed by Lloyd Corrigan.

A silly story of a dancer captured by pirates was a dud at the box-office, but it brought a burst of colorful, inspired posters everywhere it played. This German poster of “The First Technicolor Musical” shows star dancers Charles Collins and Steffi Duna surrounded by a dazzling gay rainbow.

Above: French poster by Derouet Baudoin for Operette (Germany, 1940), directed by Willi Forst.

Nothing says White Nationalism than film operettas which were an audience favorites in Germany from the 1930s through much of the 1940s. Forst was a master of the genre; his operetta movies manage to be touching, romantic and opulent and reached their apex with his Operette, becoming one of the most financially successful films in the Nazi-occupied countries… The French poster captures the world of this charming confection, as a glamorous couple waltz below a pink pastel chorus line.

Above: Italian poster by Zappo for The Great American Broadcast(1941), directed by Archie Mayo.

Lordy, I love this poster so much. By the time The Great American Broadcast was released, The Nicholas Brothers had appeared in 10 films and audiences knew that they would be treated to spectacular tap dancing worth the price of admission. This was astutely recognized in Italy where the great dance team are the only performers in on this poster, the only movie poster to feature them ever. Leave it to the Italians, even during a time of fascism.

Above: Swedish poster by Gosta Aberg for Salome, Where She Danced (1945), directed by Charles Lamont.

A perfect example of how inspired poster art elevates a film. Yvonne DeCarlo was a determined minor starlet when she was given the lead role in what is now considered a camp classic DeCarlo’s beauty and dancing made it and her a hit. Aberg’s swirling red shapes reflect the heat DeCarlo casts in a sophisticated design that is as impressive today as it was nearly 65 years ago.

Above: British poster for The Red Shoes (1948), diected by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, artist unknown.

Considered by many to be the greatest dance film of all-time, it is certainly one of the most beautiful, with a swirling dynamic that never ceases. This original-release poster reflects that dynamic: Moira Shearer is in pure white, captired in perpetual flight in her red shoes, while impresario Anton Walbrook, intimidating in green, watches in total control.

Above: French poster by René Péron for Million Dollar Mermaid (952), directed by Mervyn LeRoy.

Péron really captures Esther Williams in one of her classic underwater ballet positions, poised against a sea-themed setting, in the French design for Million Dollar Mermaid, probably the best Esther Williams poster, so much more alluring than the American versions, because, well, because it is French.

Above: Danish poster by Gaston for Everything I Have is Yours (1952), directed by Robert Z. Leonard.

The married team of Marge and Gower Champion were the 1950s most celebrated dance duo. Gaston’s Danish poster exemplifies how exquisitely color and black and white can be combined. The Champions are the focus, in the spotlight, in black and white, with their energy and the urban setting captured with a wash of yellow through red. Instead of the messy photographic collage in the American poster, smaller dancers are drawn in black and white.

And that’s your #ArtDept for this week. Keep dancing and keep making art!