The Devil's Hairpin

Artist: Other
Format: Italian (39"x 53")
Condition: Excellent
Year: 1957

Description

Another piece of beautiful and quite stunning artwork is on display here in the Italian poster for the 1957 racing drama “The Devil’s Hairpin”. The Jaguar D-Type, Aston Martin DB3S and Arnolt-Bristol are all featured in typically explosive and exciting imagery below a passionate embrace of the film’s leads, Cornel Wilde (who also wrote and directed the film), and Jean Wallace. To top it all off there is also a sultry and very leggy figure to the side, certain to help sell the film to a particular audience.

 

Continental film posters of this era were generally more inclined to use sex appeal as a key selling feature compared to that which was possible in the Anglo-Saxon world. A glance at both the UK Quad poster and the US 1-Sheet posters for the same film being illustrative (images courtesy of www.moviepostermem.com & www.emovieposter.com respectively). Both the British & American posters obviously highlight the motor racing element in the film but the "love interest" is featured in a subsidiary fashion (and more authentically presented in romantic rather than sexual imagery). The Italian poster conversely ramps up the sex appeal, reflecting a far more relaxed attitude to sex. An interesting example of how cinema posters mirror social mores and cultural attitudes of their times. From an artistic point of view, the Italian poster clearly trumps the competition from both Britain and America!

 

This splendid piece has been linen-backed, glazed and framed.