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When movie posters display in movies
Sometimes movie posters are used as accessories in movies itselves. Whether choosen carefully or randomly by the director, their presence is always facinating for movie lovers and collectors.
Here are some interesting examples listed for you by Mauvais-Genres.com
Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino)
Being a great movie lover, Quentin Tarantino never misses an opportunity to pay tribute to his favourite movies. Several movie posters are displayed in this cult scene of Pulp Fiction, among them the movie poster of Machine Gun Kelly (1958), Sorority Girl (1957), Rock All Night (1957), Motorcycle Gang (1957) and of the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958).
Useful links: Pulp Fiction movie posters for sale - Quentin Tarantino movie posters for sale
Demolition Man (1993, Marco Brambilla)
In this scene from the movie Demolition Man, we notice behind Officer Alfredo Garcia / Benjamin Bratt that the American poster of Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) decorates the office of Lieutenant Lenina Huxley / Sandra Bullock. The choice of the poster is coherent since Lenina Huxley / Sandra Bullock is fascinated by the end of the 20th century and by the muscular methods of the police of that time (the action takes place in 2032 in a future where violence is totally prohibited ), but we can also note that both films Demolition Man and Lethal Weapon 3 are produced by Warner.
Useful links : Lethal Weapon posters - Demolition Man posters
Danger planétaire / The Blob (1958, Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.)
While young Steve (Steve McQueen) is watching people running from the Movie Theatre, several movie posters are displayed on the wall, among them the posters of Daughter of Horror (1955) and Forbidden Planet (1956).
Useful Links : Horror movie posters of the 50's in catalogue - All available Horror movie posters - Sci-fi movie posters of the 50's - All available Sci-fi movie posters - Steve McQueen movie posters
Beverly Hill Cop II (1987, Tony Scott)
Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is looking at a poster of Cobra, an action movie with Sylvester Stallone. Maybe an allusion to the fact that Stallone was the original choice to play Axel Foley.
Liens utiles : Eddie Murphy movie posters - Sylvester Stallone movie posters
Argo (2012, Ben Affleck)
Behind Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), you can notice the US posters of Star Wars and of the Valley of Gwangi. John Chambers' (John Goodman) office is decorated with the US posters of Planet of the Apes and of Moon Zero Two.
Useful links : Star Wars movie posters - Planet of the Apes movie posters
Ready Player One (2018, Steven Spielberg)
In this sequence, Steven Spielberg throws the characters into the universe of The Shining by Stanley Kubrick. The famous yellow Shining US movie poster by Saul Bass is all over the movie theatre.
Useful links : Stanley Kubrick movie posters for sale - Ready Player One movie posters
La La Land (2016, Damien Chazelle)
In this scene, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is waiting for Mia (Emma Stone) at the former Rialto theatre of Pasadena, Los Angeles (closed in 2007). Several posters are displayed : Rebel Without a Cause (1956), Radio Patrol (1932) and A Farewell to Arms (1932).
Useful Links : James Dean movie posters in catalogue - Damien Chazelle movie posters – Ryan Gosling movie posters - Emma Stone movie posters
The Night Caller (1975, Henri Verneuil)
When the policeman Letellier (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is chasing Minos in the streets of Paris, we can clearly see at the right a huge French Billboard of William Friedkin's The Exorcist.
Useful Links : Jean-Paul Belmondo movie posters for sale - The Exorcist movie posters - William Friedkin movie posters - Henri Verneuil movie posters for sale
The Mist (2007, Franck Darabont)
In the opening scene of The Mist, the paintings that are displayed in the studio are Drew Struzan's original paintings ! (see the 2013 documentary Drew: The Man behind the Poster). On the left side of the character, you can admire the real paintings used to create movie posters of Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro (the visual was refused by movie production), The Thing by John Carpenter, and Stephen King's The Dark Tower.
Useful links : Movie posters of The Mist for sale - Drew Struzan movie posters for sale - Movie posters and stills of films inspired from Stephen King's novels
Blow out (1981, Brian de Palma)
In this scenes taking place in the production company where is working Jack Terry / John Travolta, you can notice many horror and adult movie posters on the walls, like Lure of the Triangle (1977), Empire of the Ants (1977), The Food of Gods (1976), Squirm (1976), The Boogey Man (1980) that also appears in the corridor scene with the poster of Without Warning (1980), Fantasex (1976) and Blood Beach (1980).
Useful links: Without Warning movie posters for sale - Blood Beach movie posters for sale - Brian de Palma movie posters for sale - Blow out movie posters for sale - Horror movie posters of the 70's in catalogue - Horror movie posters of the 80's in catalogue
Violent Saturday (1955, Richard Fleischer)
In this scene, while the respectable bank manager Harry Reeves discreetly watches the beautiful Elsie, you can notice several movie posters on the fence, one of which is the movie poster of Shock by Alfred Werker (1946), a film noir contemporary of Violent Saturday.
Useful Links : Richard Fleischer movie posters
Kung Fu Jungle / Kung Fu Killer (2014, Teddy Chan)
In this action scene of Kung Fu Killer, a beautiful Hong-Kong movie poster of Big Boss is framed on the wall, which is the first major movie of Bruce Lee. Indeed, Bruce Lee is often quoted as a model by Donnie Yen, the lead actor of Kung Fu Killer.
Useful Links : Bruce Lee movie posters and collectibles for sale
Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese)
In this scene of Taxi Driver, Travis (Robert de Niro) has the bad idea of inviting Betsy to see an "adult" movie, Sometime Sweet Susan (1975). The movie theatre is covered with suggestive movie posters and stills.
Useful links: Taxi Driver movie posters for sale - Adult-oriented movie posters
Donnie Darko (2001, Richard Kelly)
Evil Dead posters are displayed in the movie theatre lobby where Donnie is heading.
Useful links: Evil Dead movie posters for sale - Donnie Darko movie posters for sale
Poltergeist (1982, Tobe Hooper)
In Robbie's bedroom, you can see the posters of Alien, and especially of Star Wars which was produced by George Lucas, a good friend of Steven Spielberg, who was the producer and co-screenwriter of Poltergeist.
Useful links: Alien movie posters for sale - Star Wars movie posters for sale - Tobe Hooper movie posters for sale
Gremlins (1984, Joe Dante)
In this scene of Gremlins, where Gizmo is watching To Please a Lady (1950) on TV, you can notice the original US movie poser of Mad Max - The Road Warrior (1981).
Useful links: Mad Max movie posters for sale - Gremlins movie posters for sale
Le Mépris (1963, Jean-Luc Godard)
Two posters are displayed in the background : the poster of Hatari ! and, what's most important, the italian poster of Vivre Sa Vie, another film directed by Godard.
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Pierrot le Fou (1965, Jean-Luc Godard)
On the right side, you can notice the poster of Le Petit Soldat, a 1960 movie which was also directed by Godard.
Useful links: Jean-Luc Godard movie posters for sale
Play It Again, Sam (1972, Herbert Ross)
Behind Woody Allen, you can clearly see the poster of Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart, which is not a coincidence since the character played by Woody Allen is receiving dating advices from the ghost of Bogart along the movie.
Useful links: Woody Allen movie posters for sale
Rabid (1977, David Cronenberg)
In this scene, as Rose / Marilyn Chambers is walking down a street, we can see the poster of De Palma's Carrie displayed in a movie theatre lobby. Maybe a reference to Sissy Spacek, who was Cronenberg's first choice for Rabid leading character.
Useful links: Carrie movie posters for sale - Brian de Palma movie posters for sale - Rabid original movie posters and stills for sale - David Cronenberg movie posters for sale
The Spies / Spione (1928, Fritz Lang)
On the wall in background, there are several posters of Metropolis, a major film also directed by Fritz Lang. Collectors will sigh, knowing that the original german poster of Metropolis is not only beautiful, but also the world's most expensive movie poster ! See our page on Most expensive movie posters.
Useful links: Fritz Lang movie posters for sale - Read our page about Most Expensive movie posters
Mulholland Drive (2001, David Lynch)
In this scene, Betty discovers an amnesic stranger in her aunt's appartment. She asks for her name. The woman is confused and answers "Rita" after staring at a movie poster of Gilda with Rita Hayworth.
Useful links: David Lynch movie posters for sale
Between the characters, you can clearly see 2001 a Space Odyssey, the cult scifi 1968 movie also directed by Stanley Kubrick. This is, in fact, not a movie poster but a LP, but we could'nt resist to show you this new example of auto-reference.
Useful links: 2001 a Space Odyssey movie posters for sale - Stanley Kubrick movie posters for sale
Cinema Paradiso (1989, Giuseppe Tornatore)
In this scene of Cinema Paradiso, the poster of Casablanca is displayed in background.
Useful links: Cinéma Paradiso movie posters for sale
La Dénonciation (1962, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze)
You can clearly see the poster of La Pyramide humaine by Jean Rouch (1961), a movie produced by Pierre Braunberger, who is also the producer of La Dénonciation.
Saturday Night Fever (1978, John Badham)
The posters of Serpico and Rocky are decorating the walls of Tony / John Travolta's bedroom. They are not only a clue about Tony's personality. They seem to be also a reference to the team's filmography : the movie script, Norman Wexler, was also the movie script of Serpico. And the Rocky poster could be a reference to Rocky's director John G. Avildsen : Avildsen was the original director for both Saturday Night Fever and Serpico, but was fired both times over disputes with producers.
Useful links: Rocky movie posters for sale - Al Pacino movie posters for sale - John Badham movie posters
The Hills Have Eyes (1977, Wes Craven)
In this scene, there is a ripped poster of Steven Spielberg's Jaws. A tribute, or is it on the contrary suggesting that Craven's movie is more horryfing than a giant shark ?
Useful links: Jaws movie posters for sale - Steven Spielberg movie posters for sale
Evil Dead (1981, Sam Raimi)
In this scene of Evil Dead, you will notice a ripped poster of The Hills Have Eyes by Wes Craven. A direct reference to the scene in The Hills Have Eyes with the ripped poster of Jaws ? (see above) Sam Raimi would have confirmed it in the TV documentary Stephen King's World of Horror (1986).
Useful links: Evil Dead movie posters for sale - Wes Craven movie posters for sale
The Player (1992, Robert Altman)
The evocative movie posters of Prison Break (1938) and Murder in the Big House (1942) are surrounding Tim Robbins.
Useful links: Robert Altman movie posters for sale
The Fisher King (1991, Terry Gilliam)
In this scene of the Fisher King, you can clearly see the movie poster of Brazil, a cult sci-fi movie also directed by Terry Gilliam.
Useful links: Brazil movie posters for sale - Terry Gilliam movie posters for sale
Irréversible (2002, Gaspar Noé)
In the first picture, there is a poster of 2001 a Space Odyssey, a cult movie to the director Gaspar Noé : "Je me souviens, ça m’a fait flasher comme si j’avais pris de la drogue." / "I remember, it made me hallucinate as if i was on drugs" (source : Métropolis on Arte French TV).
In the two other pictures, you will notice the poster of The Killing (1956), another Stanley Kubrick movie, and the poster of Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
Useful links: 2001 a Space Odyssey movie posters for sale - Stanley Kubrick movie posters for sale
Pusher (1996, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Pusher is directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, who is well known to be a great original movie posters lover (see the amazing Pusher's making-off). In these two pictures, you will notice the french posters of The Way of the Dragon (1972, with Bruce Lee), and of Mad Max.
Useful links: Bruce Lee movie posters for sale - Mad Max movie posters for sale
Jay & Bob Strikes Back (2001, Kevin Smith)
In Jay & Bob strikes back, you can see the movie posters of Air Bud (1997) and Jackie Brown (1997).
Useful links: Quentin Tarantino movie posters for sale
Vanilla -Sky (2002, Cameron Crowe)
In this scene, you can see the french film poster of Jules et Jim by François Truffaut.
Useful links: François Truffaut movie posters for sale
Sex Tape (2014, Jake Kasdan)
Behind Jay / Jason Segel, you can see the very beautiful US film posters of My Sister Eileen (1955), Prison Warden (1949) and Beauty on Parade (1950).
While We're Young (2014, Noah Baumbach)
In this scene, Josh / Ben Stiller notices a poster of Rocky III on the left of his "friend" Jamie / Adam Driver, a detail that gives him a clue about what is really happening.
Useful links: Rocky movie posters and collectors for sale
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Many other films use original movie posters as accessories, with or without a hidden message of the director. Therefore, please feel free to contact us in order to complete this page with other examples of Movie posters in the movies, if possible with anecdotes related to the use of this precise movie poster in this specific film. Thank you in advance ! And thanks to our sources : contributors (Fred, Ash), forums allposterforum.com and madmovies, Arte French TV, Refn's Pusher making-of, www.tarantino.info, documentary Drew: The Man behind the Poster
Best Regards,
Mauvais Genres.