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JAMES BOND
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For every official general release or re-release of the James Bond films in the UK, quad-crown posters (30" X 40") were produced by The National Screen Service for use in cinema displays and advertising hoardings across the country. These colourful and highly stylised posters are now collectors items and command high prices when sold at auction. Quad-crown posters were primarily displayed in light-boxes outside cinemas in conjunction with front-of-house stills (which came in sets of eight), but would also be seen up and down the country on advertising hoardings, or displayed on the London Underground during the release of each new film in the series. At half the size of a quad-crown poster, double-crowns were also available from the NSS for most films up to and including The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Front-of-house stills (10" X 8") were produced for cinema displays, and several films had larger jumbo lobby cards (11" X 14") available from the NSS. Usually in sets of four, these had the same stills seen on the smaller front-of-house version, but with no text or border, and usually displayed outside larger cinemas in custom display cases. |
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Sixteen-Sheet posters (80" X 120") would be produced in much smaller quantities for display on billboards in larger towns and cities where the film was playing. Very few of these survive nowadays as most would be pasted over with another poster. 48-sheet posters (120" X 240") were often displayed in prime locations such as the junction of Shaftesbury Avenue and Piccadilly Circus in London, these huge posters also appeared in bus stations and on advertising hoardings across the country. Huge bespoke posters were often displayed on the wall opposite the platform on the London Underground. |
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The original issue double-crown posters with minimal text/artwork and a space for the opening date to be overprinted at the bottom, were intended for use on the front and back of London's iconic Routemaster double-decker buses, but also often used in cinema lobby displays or to create bespoke double-bill advertising for revivals where a quad-crown poster was not produced by the NSS. Alternate double-crown posters were produced for display on London's Underground. |
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Many of James Bond films have also been promoted with an advance poster (often called a teaser poster) which appeared in cinema lobbies long before the actual release to remind audiences that a new film was coming soon. More recent films in the series have also adopted the character teaser poster campaign, all in the same style but each depicting an image of one of the principal stars. From 1971-1987 the Wellingborough based marketing company Marler Haley supplied special posters exclusively to ODEON cinemas across the UK for promotion of the James Bond films coming soon (or then playing) at a particular venue. These sets of five posters (one quad-crown and four double-crowns) were intended to be displayed in cinema foyers on a custom-made stand alongside the general release posters pictured below. Displayed here for the first time are all UK posters in release date order.* *There were some double-bills which did not have quad-crown posters produced by The National Screen Service, but composite advert blocks for use by newspapers were made available. The dates shown after each title refer to the year the film or double-bill was first shown. Later revivals often re-used earlier advertising materials. |
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See also: 007 MAGAZINE Collectors' Guide to US James Bond posters |
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