My Movie Poster Collection: T

Remember that you can always click on the images themselves to see them (hopefully) larger:
TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (Woody Allen, 69). Folded, F
A lazy design, but the vision of a Woody Allen mugshot does make me smile. Needless to say, I love the movie. And though when I acquired it, it was slightly damaged by water--but not stained--I had to add it to my collection.

THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE-TWO-THREE (Joseph Sargeant, 74). Folded, G 
One of the best action movies ever, and as such, it deserves the "Impossible Shot" treatment, painted by Drew Struzan. I still can't believe I have two copies of this poster! Dunno how that happened. By the way, the mother and her two crying kids? They're just as irritating in the poster as they are onscreen.

THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY (Anthony Minghella, 99). Rolled, NM
An outstanding remake that betters the original (Rene Clement's still magnificent Purple Noon). I usually don't like these all-faces one-sheets, but this one works by transmitting a sense of the lead character's crippling envy.

TANGO (Carlos Saura, 98). Rolled, NM
Never seen any of Saura's movies; not very interested (and I suppose I'm wrong not to be, given his reputation). Don't even know why I've kept this poster, except that I like its deep red flavor.

TANYA'S ISLAND (Alfred Sole, 80). Folded, VG
My prime memory of this strange, sexy-time B-movie is a sex-magazine pictorial I glipsed as a boner-having 13-year-old. The "article" featured D.D. Winters (AKA Prince plaything Vanity) in flagrante delicto with the ridiculous ape that falls for her (love that ape's goofy smile--as he's looking at that ass--on the one-sheet). It's here that I feel compelled to include a sample of the afore-mentioned pictorial (which is so awful, it must have come from a lesser skin mag like Swank or something):



TARGETS (Peter Bogdanovich, 68). Folded, NM
I told my mom a few years ago that all I wanted for my birthday was a poster for one of my favorite movies: Peter Bogdanovich's Targets. I didn't even know what the poster looked like. So she went online and found it, and when I opened the envelope and unfolded the one-sheet, I couldn't believe my eyes (my mom, being the coolest, was just glad to see me smile). This was easily one of the sickest pieces in my collection, for obvious reasons. Believe me, I won't have this hanging up when a date or a boss visits my apartment, lest they think I'm a maniac. Still, I treasure this poster all the same. It's one I'll never part with.

THE TENANT (Roman Polanski, 76). Folded, VG
I love that Polanski himself is the focus of this movie, and of the poster. And the VERY loaded tagline is unbelievable: "No one does it to you like Roman Polanski!" Indeed, sir! 

TENDER MERCIES (Bruce Beresford, 83). Folded, VG
I count Robert Duvall's performance and Bruce Beresford's movie as undeniable low-key pleasures. The poster could be more creative, however.

TESS (Roman Polanski, 80). Folded, VG
Though I'd prefer that copy not be there, it's mostly well-written stuff. I find the shabby-chic blue of the window frame to be delicious, as is Nastassja Kinski's outsider-looking-in face. Perhaps my second favorite of all of Polanski's works (after Repulsion and, yes, I'm including Chinatown, which falls third on my list).

THAT MAN FROM RIO (Phillippe De Broca, 64). Folded, VG
I've never been able to catch this James Bond spoof, but I couldn't resist having a Belmondo one-sheet in my collection.

THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME (Irving Pichel, 47). Folded, VG
Oldest title in the collection!

THE THIN BLUE LINE (Errol Morris, 88). Folded, G
Another of my favorite one-sheets, with very striking color and art. I'm always in search of documentary posters; they always seem so unusual to me.
THE THIN RED LINE (Andrew Marton, 64). Folded, VG
I never even knew there WAS a previous film version of this story until I ran across this poster at the now-defunct Paper Chase in Atlanta. I'd think this is a pretty rare piece; a really terrific one, too.

THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed, 49; '99 rerelease). Rolled, D
Damn me, I tore this one-sheet pretty badly along its side. But I kept it, anyway; I just couldn't throw Harry Lime away.

A THOUSAND CLOWNS (Fred Coe, 65). Folded, D
Not a film I care for (except for Barry Gordon, who was always good as a kid), and the poster is garish. I got it for a good price; it's the only explanation as to why it's here. 

TICKET TO HEAVEN (Ralph L. Thomas, 81). Folded, VG
Though it nabbed a few Genies (the Canadian Oscar) in '81, no one seems to have seen this film about a family's attempts to resue a loved one who's been snatched up by a religious cult. Excellent lead performance from Nick Mancuso, and Kim Cattrall's pretty good as a spunky true believer. The poster's prime image is fitting and weird, so win-win!

TIDAL WAVE (Shiro Moritani and Andrew Mayer, 75). Folded, VG
I just like disaster movie posters. This one's at the low end of the scale, of course--it doesn't even have scads of stars' heads in boxes. Poor Lorne Greene looks rather lonely down there.

TIGHTROPE (Richard Tuggle, 84). Folded, VG
Clint Eastwood at his blood-red scariest, with the handcuff-on-the-bedpost as exclamation point. Excellent thriller, too.

TIME INDEFINITE (Ross McElwee, 93). Rolled, VG
An oddly-shaped poster (maybe a two-fifths smaller than regular one-sheets) for one of the best documentaries ever made. Plus, it has Ross McElwee himself doing a Harold Lloyd! I couldn't NOT get this one.

THE TIN DRUM (Volker Schlondorff, 79). Folded, G
Review posters are uber-dull, but if you like the film they're trumpeting, they're fun to read if you have them hanging up in your place. And I find the image of the walking drum playing itself to be an unrelentingly bizarre illustration.

TIN MEN (Barry Levinson, 87). Folded, VG
Seriously, one of the best one-sheets ever made. The hand-tinted colors, the upending of the credits-at-the-bottom formula, the sharp sense of place and character, the mirror effect of the poster itself acting as a peeling handbill...brilliant.

TITANIC (James Cameron, 97). Rolled, NM
Ugh. Can's stand the movie or the poster. But what am I gonna do? NOT take this? I'm sure I got this for free at the Plaza...

THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (Roger Corman, 64). Folded, NM


TOMMY (Ken Russell, 75). Folded, G
Another of my very favorite one-sheets. I love the layout, the typefaces, the unforgettable tagline, the crazed main image, the stars' frantic faces inside the intricate "pinballs." My obsession movie as a kid. I just missed out on having Ken Russell sign this while he was visiting Lincoln Center. Oh well...the poster is busy enough as it is!

TOOTSIE (Sydney Pollack, 82). Folded, VG
Of course, a classic. And the image is funny. But it's hard to want to hang it up; it's also quite tacky.

TORA! TORA! TORA! (Richard Fleischer, Kenji Fukusaku, Toshiao Masuda, 
70) Folded, VG
Black and red: always a winner! My mother still has recordings of me as a 3-year-old being asked what movie I wanna see, and me saying (with a cute little southern accent) "To-ra, To-ra, To-ra."

TOUCH OF EVIL (Orson Welles, 58) 1997 re-release, rolled, NM
My third favorite movie of all time. Brave choice, going for Welles' bloated face as the main focus. And bravo to keeping the original logo! This one-sheet is printed on extra-heavy card stock.

THE TOWERING INFERNO (John Guillermin, 74). Folded, G
A perfect one-sheet! The much-loved faces-in-boxes (including O.J. as "The Security Guard"----ahahahhahaha), the incredibly detailed John Berkey artwork, the beautiful typography and logo. I even count the film itself as an exciting guilty pleasure. The poster is a little hard to look at, though, post-9/11. NOTE: This poster is interesting if only for one fact: the lawyers and agents couldn't settle on who would get top billing, so in the ads, Steve McQueen's name and picture appeared first, but Paul Newman's name and picture appeared higher.

THE TOXIC AVENGER (Michael Herz, 84). Folded, G
Absolutely hideous. It was a must for the collection, if only for being Troma's premier offering (it even inspired a stage musical).
TRADING PLACES (John Landis, 83). Folded, G
I love this movie, but the poster is sloppy work (they couldn't even be bothered to cut the photos properly). Got this as a teenager working at Atlanta's massive (and long dormant) Toco Hills Theater.

TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS (Fernando Baldi, 83). Folded, VG
This was a prize left to me by my good friend Robert Schnieder--a lifelong 3D enthusiast--after he died in 2003. He had two copies, so I donated one to the Plaza Theater, which he once managed. It still hangs on their wall today, dedicated by my hand to Robert's memory.
TRUE CONFESSIONS (Ulu Grosbard, 81). Folded, VG
A gorgeous piece of work, with the fishnet stocking coming in between the two famous faces (playing estranged brothers, fittingly). An underrated, underseen film by Ulu Grosbard.

TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM (Francis Ford Coppola, 88). Rolled, G
Unspeakably beautiful artwork, for a magnificent Coppola film that remains, to date, his last exceptional cinematic effort.

TWIN TOWN (Kevin Allen, 97). Folded, G
Never seen the movie, and only vaguely like the one-sheet. Anyone know if this is any good?