The Movie Comedy Poster Art of Frank Frazetta

Frank Frazetta's first film poster from 1965

The late Frank Frazetta was the reigning king of fantasy, science fiction and horror illustration. In the mid sixties, he was  working as a freelance illustrator, creating  covers for fantasy paperbacks, covers for the Warren horror comics publications Creepy and Eerie, and occasionally doing work for MAD magazine. One of his MAD illustrations, a portrait of Ringo Starr for a back cover parody ad caught the attention of an an art director at United Artists who hired him to create the poster art for their new comedy What's New Pussycat. For FF, a new (and lucrative), career was born. He later mentioned in an interview that he was paid $5000 for the job, "A whole years pay, earned in one afternoon".

Since the great Jack Davis had set the standard creating the "madcap" poster art for It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in 1963, the illustrated screwball "mob scene" (people/all-star casts running in mad pursuit for some, or no particular reason), illustrated comedy film poster was in vogue, and along with cartoonist/illustrators Davis, Jack Rickard and Sanford Kossin: http://drewfriedman.blogspot.com/2011/06/sandy-kossin-realistically-funny.html

 ...Frank Frazetta joined them (almost always uncredited), as one of the most prominent practitioners of the art, and along the way rendering the sexiest females. Aside from Jack Davis,  FF's film poster work was also clearly influenced by the illustrator Pete Hawley's advertising and film poster work dating back to the thirties.  A Hawley film poster from 1963:

art by Pete Hawley

When I posted my Dick Van Dyke film poster blog featuring Frazetta's poster art for Fitzwilly, I was surprised to hear from more than a few folks who had no idea FF had created film posters, let alone film comedy posters. A terrific article by artist William Stout, "The Movie Poster Art of Frank Frazetta" appeared in the Bill Spicer/Mark Evanier edited Fanfare magazine in 1978.

Reading that article in '78 is when I first realized FF had created so many fun, wild, action-packed film comedy posters (all the FF posters in Fanfare were printed in B&W). Here are all of the film comedy posters he created between 1965-74, in full color, as well as a few extra rare pieces. By the seventies, FF basically was creating art for prints, not needing or wanting to take on new assignments aside from every now and then. FF also created poster images for several seventies fantasy/horror films, and later a Clint Eastwood film (The Gauntlet), most have been reprinted numerous times in books, magazines and online.  Only his film comedy artwork appears below:

Leonard Maltin on the Film Comedy Poster art of FF:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/leonardmaltin/frazetta-on-film

back cover parody ad for MAD #90 which led to FF's first film poster assignment. Frazetta didn't do much for MAD, much to publisher Bill Gaines dismay.

A second (cast running) version created by FF 

click to enlarge

British poster

A spanish poster using different art and the FF art across the bottom

the movie tie-in paperback 

also from 1965, FF's second (sexy) film poster, and forgettable film

larger view

the spanish poster with alternate FF artwork

FF art created for the Patty Duke tomboy comedy "Billie" in 1965, but not used on the final poster...

several version's of FF's wonderful, madcap "After the Fox"  poster art, from 1966

detail of FF's art

the French poster

Trailers from Hell on "After The Fox":
http://trailersfromhell.com/trailers/356

"Hotel Paradiso" also from 1966, forgettable film, great FF poster art

"The Busy Body" from 1967 was horror film producer/director William Castle's attempt to recreate the success of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (from a novel by Donald Westlake), even casting one of it's stars, Sid Caesar, in the lead. GREAT cast, but the film still bombed. Still, a great, "Busy" FF poster!

Larger view (click to enlarge)

FF created the cartoon art that runs below the main vampire image (possibly painted by Gray Morrow?) for this 1967 Roman Polanski horror comedy

A Dick Van Dyke caper comedy from 1967 featuring poster art by FF. For some reason, the studio demanded that photos of the actor's heads be pasted on the art, which FF was then asked to retouch. He was not at all happy about that approach.

"Mad Monster Party" from 1967. The screenplay was co-written by Harvey Kurtzman, the characters were designed by Jack Davis, and this poster art is by Frazetta. FF created two B&W watercolor illustrations, and one color watercolor as samples, then was surprised to see upon the film's release that the images were actually used as the posters. He would be fully compensated.

Second watercolor sample used for a poster

color watercolor sample also created for Mad Monster Party

also from 1967, Jack Davis created the poster art for the James Coburn comedy "Waterhole #3", but FF's portrait of singer Roger Miller appears on the soundtrack LP.

from 1968, and FF's most elaborate, complex film poster to date. Just before the film's release, co-star Bert Lahr died, and his face (originally the cop is carrying Lahr into the Paddywagon. See below:) was replaced by FF with fellow co-star Norman Wisdom's face.

detail of Bert Lahr (first version)

closer detail of the finished version. Bert Lahr now lays on the ground.

Incidental FF art created for the film's publicity. This image has been incorrectly ID'd as Bert Lahr on an online auction site, but it clearly isn't (nose too small, no prominent bags under his eyes), it's fellow cast member Denholm Elliot as moral crusader Vance Fowler.

unused FF art created for the spy-spoof "A Man Called Dagger"

the poster the studio wound up using

FF created the poster artwork for this 1968 Lucille Ball/Henry Fonda comedy (which helped spawn... The Brady Bunch)

The Fonda family

Belgian poster with different (photo) Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball faces

The poster for the Roy Orbison comedy/musical/western "The Fastest Guitar Alive" (1968). FF's art can be seen in the oval on the bottom...

... and prominently on the soundtrack LP cover

from 1971, and another incredible, elaborate FF painting

closer look

FF's final comedy film poster artwork was created for this forgettable comedy from 1974.

Grateful acknowledgement to William Stout for first introducing me to FF's film posters.

Thanks also to Ed Edo Dennis, Adrian Olivera and Leonard Maltin