1970s

Widely celebrated as one of the best and most influential movies of all time, Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 mafia masterpiece The Godfather, based on Mario Puzo's best selling novel of the same name, intimately follows the fictional Corleone family over a 10 year period in 1940s New York as they struggle to protect their empire. Featuring career-defining performances from Marlon Brando as the titular patriarch of the Italian-American crime dynasty and Al Pacino as the reluctant son that ultimately succeeds him, the landmark film was a huge critical and commercial success, spawning two sequels and nominated for ten Academy Awards, going on to win three including Best Picture. Stark and monochromatic, yet hauntingly effective, Paramount issued this teaser poster with no credits or other information to build anticipation ahead of the film's release, capitalising on the success of Puzo's novel, which had remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 67 weeks and sold over nine million copies in two years. The poster reworked S. Neil Fujita's iconic black and white puppeteer logo, which had been designed for the cover of the original novel. In a 2007 interview with Steven Heller, graphic designer Fujita explained: By taking the “G” and extending it to the “D,” I created a house for “God.” The way the word was designed was part of the logo and so was the type design. So when Paramount Pictures does a film version or Random House, which bought out the book from Putnam, does another Godfather book, I still get a design credit. In fact, before the first Godfather film opened in New York I saw a huge billboard going up in Times Square with my design on it. I actually got them to stop work on it until we were able to come to an agreement. Along with the British One Sheet, the US teaser is considered one of the most desirable posters for this almost mythical cinema classic.

Condition

Excellent (A-)

Conservation backed on linen. Prior to backing this poster had one vertical and three horizontal machine folds as issued and pinholes to corners in white margin. Backing and sensitive colour touching to folds and pin holes has diminished and improved their appearance for display. Image and colour excellent.