Even if Saul Bass' name isn’t familar, his work certainly is. Over the course of his 40-year career, Bass worked for some of Hollywood’s most prominent filmmakers and produced some of the medium’s most iconic posters. Contributing to legendary directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick andMartin Scorsese, Bass also produced title sequences for some of the most popular films of all time as well as some of the most enduring company logos as well (AT&T? That was him).
Unfortunately, Bass passed away due to non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 1996, at the premature age of 75. However, Bass’ legacy has been timeless, with many contemporary posters paying homage to his iconic pieces.Google even produced a ‘Doodle’ in 2013, in celebration of his 93rdbirthday.
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Nevertheless, for those uninitiated, the extent of Bass’ work may be surprising – he’s responsible for so many celebrated posters, it’s really quite exciting. So here is a selection of the best Saul Bass movie posters.
The Man with the Golden Arm(1955)
The poster that launched Bass’ career and made him a rising star of the poster-design world. Directed by Otto Preminger,The Man with the Golden Armfollows a jazz musician’sstruggle to overcome a heroin addiction. Very much a taboo choice of subject matter for the 1950s, Bass reflected the film’scontroversial topicby creating an equally innovative poster.
The paper image of the cut-out arm of a heroin addict was unlike anything the industry has seen before, and Bass became a popular choice for poster designs.
Vertigo(1958)
A prolific partner of Alfred Hitchcock, Bass produced many posters for the celebrated director and even designed the title sequences for films likeNorth by Northwest(1959). However, the most iconic poster he designed for Hitchcock has to be 1958’sVertigo.
How do you design a poster thataccurately reflects the feeling of vertigo(the false sense of rotational movement)? Well, like this. In one masterfully designed image, Bass manages to convey not only sense of vertigo, but also the idea of being stuck in aconfusing and overwhelming mystery, reflecting the plot of the film as well. Two birds, one excellent poster.
Anatomy of a Murder(1959)
How can a poster so simple prove to be so effective? Once called the “finest pure trail film ever made”, Otto Preminger’sAnatomy of a Murdersees a former district attorney being roped into the most forensic and confusing case of his career. As the lawyer breaks down the investigation, he finds himself having to question every detail placed before him… and Bass’ poster quite effortlessly conveys all of this.
The black outline of the murder victim roots the film as an investigation, but the disassembled appendages gives the impression that everything needs to bebroken down and studied. This is a case (and a film) that requires a systematic attention to detail.
The Magnificent Seven(1960 - unused)
Writer and directed by John Sturges,The Magnificent Sevenwas an ‘Old West’ reimagining ofAkira Kurosawa’s iconic 1954 film,Seven Samurai. Featuring seven gunfighters hired to protect a small village in Mexico from a group of marauding bandits, the filmbecame emblematic of the genreand firm favorite of many.
As a film with a surprisingly gory subject matter (the titular seven end up having to defend the town by killing all the bandits), Bass designed an understated poster that reflects this bloody focus – it’s almost as if one of the seven are tallying up how many they’ve killed in blood. It’s not fully known why this poster wasn’t chosen, but it’s pretty apparent how cool it is nonetheless.
The Shining(1980)
Famously, Stanley Kubrick is as much of a perfectionist as an auteur can get, demanding every detail of a film fits his particular vision. Unfortunately for Saul Bass, this perfectionism extended to movie posters as well. Indeed, Bass had to produce over 300 versions ofThe Shining’s poster before Kubrick was satisfied; luckily, the end result is one of the greatest posters of all time.
Serving as a loose homage to thefilm’s most memorable sequence(“Here’s Johnny!!”),The Shining’sposter design is minimal yet haunting, with the overt yellow reinforcing the film’s unsettling nature.
Schindler’s List(1993 - unused)
Reportedly, one of the last posters Bass produced in his lifetime, his design forSteven Spielberg’s epic historical drama,Schindler’s List, never saw wider use. Once again, it is unknown why this poster design wasn’t used, but many have speculated that the poster was perhaps too pessimistic, even for a film with such a depressing subject matter asSchindler’s List.
Nevertheless, the imagery employed by Bass is striking and is held up as some of his finest work by fans. The heavily connotedimagery of the barbed wirepaired with what the punctured list represent offers a thematic juxtaposition very few can achieve – truly, Saul Bass was one of the greats.
