French Style - 100 Years of Movie Posters - 86

A Gallery of French Poster Art for American Movies 1933-1971.

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King Kong (1933) Directed by Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack. 104mins

Fay Wray - Ann Darrow
Robert Armstrong - Carl Denham
Bruce Cabot - John Driscoll

Also starring Frank Reicher, Sam Hardy and Noble Johnson.

Fantastic stop motion effects by the legendary Willis O' Brien.

Ranked #41 on the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Films List.

The line "it wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast." was #84 on the AFI's 100 Greatest Movie Quotes List.

Selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1991.

IMDB rating 8.0

Each Dawn I Die (1939) Directed by William Keighley. 92mins.

James Cagney - Frank Ross
George Raft - 'Hood' Stacey

Also starring Jane Bryan, George Bancroft, Stanley Ridges and Victor Jory.

Based on the novel by Jerome Odlum who also co-wrote the screenplay.

IMDB rating 7.2

Casablanca (1942) Directed by Michael Curtiz. 102mins.

Humphrey Bogart - Rick Blaine
Ingrid Bergman - Ilsa Lund
Paul Henreid - Victor Laszlo
Claude Rains - Captain Louis Renault
Conrad Veidt - Major Heinrich Strasser
Sydney Greenstreet - Signor Ferrari
Peter Lorre - Ugarte

Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Actor (Humphrey Bogart), Best Supporting Actor (Claude Rains) and Best Music (Max Steiner), winning 3 - Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

IMDB rating 8.7

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) Directed by John Huston. 126mins.

Humphrey Bogart - Fred C. Dobbs
Walter Huston - Howard
Tim Holt - Bob Curtin

Also starring Bruce Bennett, Barton MacLane and Alfonso Bedoya.

Based on the novel by B.Traven, first published in 1927.

Nominated for 4 Oscars winning 3 - Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Walter Huston)

IMDB rating 8.4

Chain Lightning (1950) Directed by Stuart Heisler. 94mins.

Humphrey Bogart - Lt. Col. Matthew Brennan
Eleanor Parker - Joan Holloway

Also starring Raymond Massey, Richard Whorf, James Brown and Morris Ankrum.

Based on the novel "These Many Years" by Lester Cole.

IMDB rating 5.9

The Seven Year Itch (1955) Directed by Billy Wilder. 105mins.

Marilyn Monroe - The Girl
Tom Ewell - Richard Sherman

Also starring Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts, Robert Strauss and Oscar Homolka.

Based on a play by George Axelrod which first opened in 1952.

DGA nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

WGA nomination for Best Written American Comedy

IMDB rating 7.2

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Directed by Nicholas Ray. 111mins.

James Dean - Jim Stark

Also starring Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran and William Hopper.

James Dean's iconic role. The actor died in a car crash on September 30th, 1955. He was 24.

Nominated for 3 Oscars - Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Sal Mineo) and Best Supporting Actress (Natalie Wood).

IMDB rating 7.8

The Searchers (1956) Directed by John Ford. 119mins.

John Wayne - Ethan Edwards

Also starring Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood and Henry Brandon.

Based on the novel by Alan Le May, published in 1954.

DGA nomination forOutstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

Selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1989.

IMDB rating 8.0

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Directed by David Lean. 161mins.

William Holden - US Navy Commander Shears
Alec Guinness - Colonel Nicholson
Jack Hawkins - Major Warden
Sessue Hayakawa - Colonel Saito

Also starring James Donald, Geoffrey Horne and Andre Morell.

Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, published in 1952.

Nominated for 8 Oscars winning 7 including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Alec Guinness) and Best Music (Malcolm Arnold).

IMDB rating 8.4

Funny Face (1957) Directed by Stanley Donen. 103mins.

Audrey Hepburn - Jo Stockton
Fred Astaire - Dick Avery

Also starring Kay Thompson, Michel Auclair and Robert Flemyng.

Nominated for 4 Oscars - Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

IMDB rating 6.9

Touch of Evil (1958) Directed by Orson Welles. 95mins (112mins)

Charlton Heston - Mike Vargas
Janet Leigh - Susan Vargas
Orson Welles - Hank Quinlan

Also starring Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Joanna Moore and Dennis Weaver.

Based on the novel "Badge of Evil" by Whit Masterson, published in 1956.

Selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1993.

IMDB rating 8.3

The Nun's Story (1959) Directed by Fred Zinnemann. 149mins.

Audrey Hepburn - Sister Luke (Gabrielle "Gabby" Van Der Mal)

Also starring Peter Finch, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft, Dean Jagger and Mildred Dunnock.

Based on the novel by Kathryn Hulme, published in 1956.

Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best, Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Audrey Hepburn).

IMDB rating 7.5

Rio Bravo (1959) Directed by Howard Hawks. 141mins.

John Wayne - Sheriff John T. Chance
Dean Martin - Dude
Ricky Nelson - Colorado Ryan

Also starring Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan and Ward Bond.

Based on a short story by B.H. McCampbell.

DGA Nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

IMDB rating 8.0

The Guns of Navarone (1961) Directed by J. Lee Thompson. 158mins.

Gregory Peck - Capt. Keith Mallory
David Niven - Cpl. John Miller
Anthony Quinn - Col. Andrea Stavrou

Also starring Anthony Quayle, Stanley Baker, James Darren, Irene Papas, Gia Scala, James Robertson Justice and Richard Harris.

Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean, first published in 1957.

Nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Music (Dimitri Tiomkin), winning 1 - Best Special Effects.

IMDB rating 7.6

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Directed by David Lean. 228mins.

Peter O'Toole - T.E. Lawrence
Alec Guinness - Prince Feisal
Anthony Quinn - Auda Abu Tayi
Jack Hawkins - General Allenby
Omar Sharif - Sherif Ali

Also starring Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Wolfit and José Ferrer.

Partly based on T.E. Lawrence's autobiographical book "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", first published in 1922.

Nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Peter O' Toole) and Best Supporting Actor (Omar Sharif), winning 7 including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Music (Maurice Jarre).

IMDB rating 8.5

The Haunting (1963) Directed by Robert Wise. 112mins.

Starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn and Lois Maxwell.

Based on the novel "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson, first published in 1959.

Golden Globe Awards Nomination for Best Director.

IMDB rating 7.7

Becket (1964) Directed by Peter Glenville. 148mins.

Richard Burton - Thomas Becket
Peter O'Toole - King Henry II

Also starring John Gielgud, Donald Wolfit, David Weston, Martita Hunt and Pamela Brown.

Based on the 1959 play "Becket or the Honor of God" by Jean Anouilh.

Nominated for 10 Oscars Including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actor (Peter O' Toole) and Best Supporting Actor (John Gielgud), winning 1 - Best Screenplay.

IMDB rating 8.0

Zulu (1964) Directed by Cy Endfield. 138mins.

Stanley Baker - Lt. John Chard
Michael Caine - Lt. Gonville Bromhead

Also starring Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth and Nigel Green.

Based on real events, 141 British troops faced 4,000 Zulu warriors.
at the Battle of Rourke's Drift - Natal, South Africa, 1879.

IMDB rating 7.7

Goldfinger (1964) Directed by Guy Hamilton. 110mins.

Sean Connery - James Bond
Honor Blackman - Pussy Galore
Gert Frobe - Auric Goldfinger

Also starring Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn and Harold Sakata as Oddjob.

The third James Bond film. Based on the novel by Ian Fleming, first published in 1959.

Oscar Winner for Best Sound Effects.

IMDB rating 7.8

The Skull (1965) Directed by Freddie Francis. 83mins.

Peter Cushing - Dr. Christopher Maitland
Christopher Lee - Sir Matthew Phillips

Also starring Patrick Wymark, Jill Bennett, Nigel Green, Patrick Magee, Peter Woodthorpe and George Coulouris.

Based on the story "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade" by Robert Bloch.

IMDB rating 6.3

For a Few Dollars More (1965) Directed by Sergio Leone. 132mins.

Clint Eastwood - The Man With No Name
Lee Van Cleef - Col. Douglas Mortimer

Also starring Gian Maria Volonté, Mario Brega, Luigi Pistilli and Klaus Kinski.

The second in "The Man With No Name" trilogy by Sergio Leone. Also referred to as the "Dollars Trilogy".

IMDB rating 8.3

The Cincinnati Kid (1965) Directed by Norman Jewison. 102mins.

Steve McQueen - Eric "The Kid" Stoner
Edward G. Robinson - Lancey Howard
Ann-Margret - Melba

Also starring Karl Malden, Tuesday Weld, Joan Blondell and Rip Torn.

Based on the novel by Richard Jessup.

Golden Globe Nomination for Best Supporting Actress (Joan Blondell).

IMDB rating 7.2

Doctor Zhivago (1965) Directed by David Lean. 200mins.

Omar Sharif - Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago
Julie Christie - Lara Antipova

Also starring Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Tom Courtenay and Ralph Richardson.

Based on the novel by Boris Pasternak, first published in 1957.

Nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, winning 5 including Best Screenplay and Best Music (Maurice Jarre).

IMDB rating 8.0

Grand Prix (1966) Directed by John Frankenheimer. 176mins.

Starring James Garner - Pete Aron

Also starring Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Toshirô Mifune, Brian Bedford and Jessica Walter.

Nominated for 3 Oscars winning 3 - Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Sound Effects.

IMDB rating 6.8

Blow-Up (1966) Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. 111mins.

Starring David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, John Castle and Jane Birkin.

A critical and box office success, noteworthy for it's stylish visuals and daring sex and nudity (for the time). Blow-Up revolutionised the movie industry and ancient censorship laws were revised and updated.

Nominated for 2 Oscars - Best Director and Best Screenplay.

IMDB rating 7.6

None but the Brave (1965) Directed by Frank Sinatra. 106mins.

Frank Sinatra - Chief Pharmacist Mate
Tatsuya Mihashi - Lt. Kuroki

Also starring Clint Walker, Tommy Sands, Brad Dexter, Tony Bill and Takeshi Kato.

The only film directed by Frank Sinatra, and based on a story by Kikumaru Okuda.

IMDB rating 6.5

The Sand Pebbles (1966) Directed by Robert Wise. 182mins.

Steve McQueen - Jake Holman

Also starring Candice Bergen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Simon Oakland and Mako.

The setting is a Yangtze River gunboat in 1926.

Based on the novel by Richard McKenna, published in 1962.

Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor (Steve McQueen), Best Supporting Actor (Mako) and Best Music (Jerry Goldsmith).

IMDB rating 7.7

Anzio (1968) Directed by Edward Dmytryk. 117mins.

Robert Mitchum - Dick Ennis

Also starring Peter Falk, Robert Ryan, Earl Holliman, Mark Damon and Arthur Kennedy.

WWII 1944 - Operation Shingle, Anzio, Italy.

Based on the novel by Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, published in 1961.

IMDB rating 5.9

Planet of the Apes (1968) Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. 112mins.

Charlton Heston - George Taylor
Roddy McDowall - Cornelius
Kim Hunter - Zira
Maurice Evans - Dr. Zaius

Also starring Linda Harrison, James Whitmore and James Daly.

Based on Pierre Boulle's novel 'Monkey Planet', published in 1963.

One of the biggest hits of 1968, it was followed by a sequel, 3 prequels, a TV series, a remake and a reboot.

Nominated for 3 Oscars winning for Best Makeup (John Chambers)

IMDB rating 8.0

A Clockwork Orange (1971) Directed by Stanley Kubrick. 136mins.

Malcolm McDowell - Alex DeLarge

Also starring Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, Adrienne Corri and Aubrey Morris.

Based on the novella by Anthony Burgess, first published in 1962.

Nominated for 4 Oscars - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

IMDB rating 8.5