The beloved artist was born 100 years ago!
By PETER BOSCH
In the world of motion pictures, many film studios have employed their own poster-designing staff. However, for special movies, they have hired respected illustrators from other fields. For example, famous Saturday Evening Post magazine cover artist and American legend Norman Rockwell, highly-popular New York Times theater caricaturist Al Hirschfeld (of whom I must write about at some future date), and Madison Avenue ad man Bob Peak. Even Frank Frazetta got in the game, as did Neal Adams.
The Song of Bernadette (Norman Rockwell, 1943); Girl Crazy (Al Hirschfeld, 1943); West Side Story (Bob Peak, 1961); Westworld (Neal Adams, 1973); and The Gauntlet (Frank Frazetta, 1977).
But the most extraordinary of them all was Jack Davis! Surprisingly, though, the famous E.C. artist, whose work at Mad already contained over-the-top brilliant satires of American films, actually made his poster debut very quietly with a 1955 British comedy, Wee Geordie.
Wee Geordie (1955)
However, it wasn’t long before Davis truly hit his stride, starting with It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). He drew dozens of great movie posters following that and each was a master course in comedic art. He even revisited It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at the age of 88 when he created new illustrations for the Criterion home video release.
This year marks the late Davis’ 100th birthday (he was born December 2, 1924). In honor of that, here is a selection of 13 of his many great film posters:
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
Waterhole #3 (1967)
Inspector Clouseau (1968)
Salt & Pepper (1968) and its sequel One More Time (1970)
The Impossible Years (1968)
The Party (1968)
Kelly’s Heroes (1970)
Bananas (1971)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Bad News Bears (1976)
—
MORE
— JACK DAVIS: An Artist Beloved by Millions — Including NEAL ADAMS. Click here.
— DR. J, JACK DAVIS and the Greatest Basketball Comic Ever. Click here.
—
13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. A sequel, about movie comics, is coming in 2025. Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.
