A Universal Double-Bill Not to be missed The Eiger Sanction / Play Misty for Me

A Universal Double-Bill Not to be missed The Eiger Sanction / Play Misty for Me

Every now and then we discover some small shred of evidence or some proof of a double-bill presentation of the past that really works. This ‘The Eiger Sanction / Play Misty for Me’ flagship double bill was a promotional pairing of two great 70’s thrillers. The Eiger Sanction (1975) and Play Misty for Me (1971) were both intense thrillers directed by and starring Clint, with The Eiger Sanction being an action/spy film and Play Misty for Me a psychological thriller. Both were made for Universal, with Eiger being the last of an incredibly successful period before Clint’s more permanent move to Warner Brothers.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this pairing took place, but an educated guess of 1976-1977 probably wouldn’t be too far out. 

It certainly makes for an excellent ad. My thanks to Davy Triumph for digging this one up. 

Very Rare DIRTY HARRY Chirashi

Very Rare DIRTY HARRY Chirashi

Japanese flyers are most commonly called Chirashi (チラシ), a term used for promotional leaflets and mini-posters that are often distributed in cinemas and other venues to advertise movies, products, or events. While "chirashi" can also refer to sushi, the context of "flyer" is indicated by the Japanese word for movie flyers, eiga chirashi (映画チラシ).

Inside the Cult World of Japan’s Mini Movie Flyers:

In the dim glow of a Japanese movie theater lobby, there’s a humble art form waiting by the ticket booth. It’s not on the screen. It’s stacked on a metal rack, maybe clipped behind a glass case. No flashing lights. No booming trailer. Just a flyer — about the size of a paperback book — with gorgeous, custom artwork printed on glossy paper.

They’re called chirashi, and for movie collectors, they’re a quietly obsessive treasure trove of cinematic ephemera. Part advertising, part miniature masterpiece, chirashi have become one of Japan’s most beloved — and affordable — forms of movie memorabilia.

In the most literal sense, chirashi (チラシ) just means “flyer.” But in the movie world, chirashi are Japan’s uniquely compact movie posters, typically printed in B5 size (roughly 7” x 10”), and only available from theatre’s while a film is actively showing. That limited-time-only nature is what makes them collectible — and increasingly rare.

Unlike oversized one-sheets or rolled wall posters, chirashi are designed to be taken home in your tote bag. They’re often double-sided or bi-fold (like a tiny program), printed on surprisingly high-quality paper, and made to feel more like a keepsake than a throwaway ad.

What is very special about this original Dirty Harry chirashi is its double size, roughly 14” x 10”. It contains some great artistic design and is fully printed on the inside. Prices are increasing on chirashi mini posters – but I w2as even stunned when I spotted this one, currently on sale on Ebay for a ball busting US $119.99 or approximately £89.03 (if that softens the blow). Now I like these little keepsakes – but I don’t think I will ever be splashing out that sort of cash for the pleasure of owning one of these.

Memorabilia collecting is becoming an expensive sport…

THE REGENT THEATRE Classic 1967 Advertisement

THE REGENT THEATRE Classic 1967 Advertisement 

The Regent Theatre is a beautiful one-screen, Art Deco theatre that first started showing movies in 1919. It is currently owned and operated by the City of Allegan and features first-run, new release films in state-of-the-art digital projection.

The Regent boasts a glittering neon marquee that has acted as a beacon in historic downtown Allegan since its installation in the 1930s. On the backside of the brick building, a beautiful art deco-inspired mural painted by celebrated West Michigan artist José Narezo adorns the wall to create a unique picture-taking opportunity.

To celebrate this beautiful Theatre, here is an original Advertisement from one of its original 1967 flyers. A Fistful of Dollars was showing on February 26th, 27th and 28th of 1967. Also showing that month (and featured on the cover) was the Michael Caine sequel to The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin. 

We do love old time cinema… 

Renato Casaro, Famed Italian Designer of Movie Posters, Dies at 89

Renato Casaro, Famed Italian Designer of Movie Posters, Dies at 89

He created artwork for ‘A Fistful of Dollars,’ ‘Conan the Barbarian’ and more, then made a comeback with ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.’

Renato Casaro, the Italian designer of movie posters renowned for the hand-crafted art he created for films including A Fistful of Dollars, Conan the Barbarian and the Rambo features, has died. He was 89.

Casaro died Monday night in a hospital in his native Treviso, Italy, after being admitted days earlier with bronchopneumonia, the Italian news service RAI reported.

Casaro helped put bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger the map in Hollywood with his poster for the Dino De Laurentiis-produced Conan the Barbarian (1982), and he also designed posters for the actor’s Red Sonja (1985), The Running Man (1987), Total Recall (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and True Lies (1994).

“Schwarzenegger was the perfect man to paint,” he told The Guardian in 2022. “He had a tough expression. His face was like a sculpture. It was a real pleasure for me — I have always had a weakness for heroes.”

Sylvester Stallone, another heroic figure in Hollywood, said Casaro “captured his soul” with posters for his films, which included the Rambo features of 1982, 1985 and 1988, plus Over the Top (1987), Lock Up (1989) and Cliffhanger (1993).

Casaro created posters for lots of spaghetti Westerns early in his career, and one for Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars (1964), starring Clint Eastwood, helped that movie become a worldwide sensation. He then reunited with the Italian filmmaker for My Name Is Nobody (1973) and Once Upon a Time in America (1984).

Casaro said the key to a successful poster is to “capture the essential: that moment, that glance, that attitude, that movement that says everything and condenses the entire story. That’s the hard part,” he told The New York Times in 2021. “You can’t cheat. You can’t promise something that isn’t there.”

Born on Oct. 26, 1935, Casaro became fascinated with billboards as a kid and tried to reproduce paintings by such artists as American Norman Rockwell and countryman Angelo Cesselon. When he was a teenager, he drew posters on the walls of the local Garibaldi Cinema in exchange for tickets.

Casaro landed a job as an apprentice lithographer at the Zoppelli printing house and worked for a year as an illustrator for the film ad agency Studio Favalli in Rome before opening his own studio at age 21.

Among his first professional movie posters were for the rerelease of Allan Dwan’s Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and for the 1955 Italian films Romeo & Juliet and Zwei blaue Augen. With the rise of the spaghetti Western, he was drawing about a 100 posters a year.

In 1965, Casaro burst onto the international scene with his poster for John Huston’s epic The Bible in the Beginning … (1966), which ignited a long collaboration with De Laurentiis.

“It was a colossal film,” he told CBS News in a 2022 interview. “My posters were put on billboards on Sunset Boulevard. After that, my phone never stopped ringing.”

One of his favorite pieces was one for Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita (1990), and he also worked with Bernardo Bertolucci on The Last Emperor (1987) and The Sheltering Sky (1990), with David Lynch on Dune (1984) and Wild at Heart (1990) and with Rob Reiner on The Princess Bride (1987) and Misery (1990).

His résumé also included artwork for Flash Gordon (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Blow Out (1981), Octopussy (1983), The NeverEnding Story (1984), Angel Heart (1987), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Wild Orchid (1989) and Dances With Wolves (1990).

After a long period in Spain and Germany, he returned to live and work in his hometown about a decade ago. A documentary about his life, The Last Movie Painter, was released in 2020.

Casaro stopped designing posters in 1998 when studios turned away from hand-drawn artwork to use Photoshop and other digital tools. But then Quentin Tarantino called out of nowhere, looking for posters for a vintage spaghetti Western starring Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) for Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (2019) (below).

Tarantino later sent him a signed photo of DiCaprio with one of the posters. “Thanks so much for your art gracing my picture,” he said in an accompanying message. “You’ve always been my favourite.”

We at the Archive share that sentiment, RIP Maestro

With kind thanks to Graham Rye

Rare Good, Bad and the Ugly poster (kinda)

Rare Good, Bad and the Ugly poster (kinda(

Here’s a little something you won’t see every day.  Yes, despite the use of varied artwork elements, this is actually a poster for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. If it looks a little unusual, that’s because it is a Trinidadian Poster (27" X 42").

I think this is the first time we have ever featured a poster from Trinidad here on the Archive.  It’s an unrestored poster with bright colour and a clean overall appearance. Despite that of course there are some glaringly obvious errors in the design. In fact, Eli Wallach’s Tuco is the only actual image from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Lee Van Cleef image is in fact taken from The Big Gundown (1967) and the shot of Clint is actually from High Plains Drifter (1973)! This hints naturally that this particular poster comes from a 70’s release (at the earliest). 

Anyway, a rare treat. Thank you to Davy Triumph for finding this one. 

Photo Opportunity #66 Lunch in Madrid 1965

Photo Opportunity #66 Lunch in Madrid 1965

Our October Photo Opportunity features a very rare shot of Clint, Carles Bronson and Steve Rowland.

Clint is captured here (not very flatteringly) having lunch with Charles Bronson and Hollywood columnist Steve Rowland in Madrid, Spain in 1965. Clint was of course in Spain at this time filming the second of the Dollar trilogy, For a Few Dollars More. Charles Bronson was also filming in Madrid – for the epic Ken Annakin movie, Battle of the Bulge.

A great deal of Battle of the Bulge was shot on location in the Sierra de Guadarrama Mountain range and Madrid, Spain, which actually bore no resemblance to the rugged, heavily wooded Ardennes of Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. 

Steve Rowland is an American singer, columnist, record producer and actor. He grew up in Beverly Hills and now lives in Palm Springs, California. His father is film director Roy Rowland, his mother Ruth was a writer, and Louis B. Mayer was his great-uncle. Rowland was also staring in Battle of the Bulge in the role of Courtland.

Above: Not the most flattering photo of Clint, but try finding another of Clint with Charlie Bronson! 

Rawhide Flashback: The Lost Tribe Season 4 Episode 5 1961

Rawhide Flashback: The Lost Tribe Season 4 Episode 5 1961

I have to admit, I constructed this post based purely around a couple of great photos sent to me by our longtime friend, Jayne Smart. The 2 shots feature this striking beauty from the past, Sonya Wilde. Wilde appeared in the episode, The Lost Tribe, back in 1961. 

Sonya Wilde (born November 2, 1937) is an American former actress, best known for her starring role in the 1960 film I Passed for White. She started her career as Maria on Broadway with the original cast of West Side Story. On Broadway, Wilde was an understudy and replacement in the role of Maria in West Side Story (1957).

The Lost Tribe:

Indians stampede the herd and make off with 30 steers, so Rowdy, Pete, Quince and Hey Soos follow in pursuit. The Indians had been dissatisfied with their hot, dry, dusty reservation up North, so they are trying to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico to find more hospitable land, land it so happens Pete had told them about when he had been married to the Chief's daughter and was living with the Indians. Lawmen are also trying to force the Indians to return to the reservation. Pete has to convince Rowdy, Quince and Hey Soos (who have been captured by the Indians) that the Indians have been wronged and are peaceful, they must also defeat an upstart bellicose Indian brave intent on taking over and killing the drovers, and convince the Chief to return most of the steers and safely cross the Rio Grande.

Whilst Wilde was certainly pretty on the eye, her career was relatively short. She made her mark alongside a young James Franciscus in the film I Passed for White (1960). But from there on it was mainly TV westerns such as Bonanza (1960), Cheyenne (1960), The Americans (1961), Gunslinger (1961), Perry Mason (1961) and another show in which Clint made an early appearance, Death Valley Days (1960). 

Our kind thanks to Jayne Smart

Rare Dirty Harry Triple Bill Quad

Rare Dirty Harry Triple Bill Quad

Well, here is something you don’t see every day. This incredibly rare UK quad was recently picked up by a buddy of mine, and second in command here on the Archive, Davy Triumph. This lovely poster was probably printed up by the cinema management for a short run (possibly even One night on a weekend). I remember we use to get Eastwood all night shows on a Saturday Night / Sunday Morning at our local ABC, but very rarely would there ever be an elaborately produced poster such as this – it was just a case of checking the local press to see if there was an all-night Bruce Lee show or perhaps a Russ Meyer marathon on any particular weekend… 

The quad, featuring Dirty Harry, Magnum Force and The Enforcer is believed to date from 1983, which makes perfect sense as it was probably put together to cash in on the recent fourth film in the series, Sudden Impact. 

I’ve carried out some very minor restoration to this image of the poster – just in order to show it close to its former glory and how it would have appeared over 40 years ago. Our kind thanks to Davy Triumph for sharing this great image. 

Photo Opportunity #65 Rare Eastwood AFI photos from 1973

Photo Opportunity #65 Rare Eastwood AFI photos from 1973

Now I have to come clean, I really don’t know too much about these great Photos - photos which I simply must post for this month’s Photo Opportunity.

As far as I can tell - these super photos were taken for The American Film Institute (AFI) in 1973. The American Film Institute is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honours the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. 

The ‘AFI Life Achievement Award’ was established by the board of directors of the American Film Institute on February 26, 1973, to honour a single individual for their lifetime contribution to enriching American culture through motion pictures and television. The recipient is selected and honoured at an annual ceremony, with the award presented by a master of ceremonies and, recently, the prior year's recipient.

These photos tie-in nicely actually as 1973 was the year that Clint became a member – that year’s first Life Achievement Award was also presented to western legend, John Ford. Director John Ford was a unanimous choice of the board of trustees for the first award as he "clearly stands preeminent in the history of motion pictures." President Richard Nixon attended the gala dinner at which Ford was presented the award on March 31, 1973.

Clint would receive the AFI Life Achievement himself on February 29th, 1996 and was presented by  his friend, Steven Spielberg. 

Anyway, 3 great photos for the month of September...

Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine at the 31st Annual Thalians Ball Hollywood, October 11th, 1986

Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine at the 31st Annual Thalians Ball in Hollywood, California on October 11, 1986:

I recently discovered these photos in a folder, so thought they were worthy of a post. The Thalians is a Hollywood-based charitable organization founded in 1955 by actors and entertainers to address mental health issues, initially focusing on children and now dedicating its efforts to supporting the mental health of U.S. military personnel and their families through the UCLA Operation Mend program. Named after Thalia, the Greek Muse of comedy and poetry, the organization has raised over $50 million for mental health causes over its history and honours "Mr. or Ms. Wonderful" at its annual galas.

Above: Clint with MacLaine and Lana Turner

Shirley MacLaine took time off from her other lives to join The Thalians as Ms. wonderful for our 31st Anniversary Gala Ball. The theme for this fabulous evening was "You Should See Her Now!" Clint Eastwood, John Forsythe, Ruta Lee (in a wild "Irma La Douce" number), Fred MacMurray, Dean Martin and surprise guest, John Travolta along with a line of gorgeous Can-Can dancers entertained the dazzled audience. Presidents Club members were feted by Parisian Designer Pierre Le Prince who introduced his 1986 countre and prêt-a-porter collections. The Presidents Club ventured forth to salute talented Barbara Rush at a performance of her one woman smash hit show, "A Woman of Independent Means." This was followed by a sumptuous dinner at the Hamlet Gardens.

Clint was chosen himself by The Thalians at their 53rd Anniversary Gala/Ball on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The event was to honour his lifetime achievements and benefit the Thalians Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai.

Below: A rare newspaper cutting featuring Clint, Shirley, Lana and James Coburn

Below: The program for the 1986 event

Some relaxing time with Kyle and Alison 1980s

Some relaxing time with Kyle and Alison 1980s

I discovered these in a folder on my desktop, I’m really not sure where these came from or who possibly sent me them? But they are certainly nice shots. The pictures show Clint relaxing with both Kyle and Alison – looking at the terrain, I can only assume this is in Carmel. If I had to guess a date for these, I would probably say around 1983/4. A couple of nice shots that I didn’t want lost. 

Clint at the RFK Tennis tournament - Forest Hills, New York City, August 27th 1977.

Clint at the RFK Tennis tournament - Forest Hills, New York City, August 27th 1977

Firstly, a bit of background information and some great rare photos. So, what were the RFK tournaments? The annual Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Tennis Tournament began at the West Side Tennis Club and carried on throughout the ’70s. It was a celebrity pro-am tournament that saw stars paired with professional male and female players in several tennis matches. Plenty of big Hollywood celebs made appearances at the event over the years. The purpose of the tournament was to raise money for RFK charity programs through entry costs. Both players and observers were charged, with celebrity entry costing $2,500 (over $10,000 by today’s standard) and observer entry costing anywhere between $5 and $100 (up to $480 by today’s standard). 

Below: The Proham for the 1977 event

As could be expected, a considerable number of Kennedy family members opened their schedules every year to attend the memorial for their late kin. Brothers and sisters of Robert, as well as nieces and nephews, gathered in the stands and laced up their tennis shoes to watch and to play as both celebrities and professionals rallied back and forth on the court.

Some notable members of the Kennedy clan that attended the event included Ethel, Ted, and Eunice Kennedy. Often spotted together while watching the tennis matches were John F. Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver, and Jackie Kennedy.

The stars were ready to grab their rackets

Considering it was a celebrity event; it’s no surprise that some of the biggest stars of the time made their appearances at the RFK Tennis Tournaments. Every year, viewers could spot a variety of actors, singers, models, and other entertainers in the stands and on the courts. Some names include Chevy Chase, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Clint Eastwood, Cheryl Tiegs, and many more.

Below: While the tennis tournament was for a good cause, many celebrities took the opportunity to flaunt their personal “tennis club” style, wearing preppy attire they would not be seen in otherwise. Some even decided to show off what they had going on underneath their clothes

Put a group of celebrities in a room together and they’re bound to socialize. Singers were seen shaking hands with politicians while athletes shared jokes with actors. It was a unique experience that put a lot of America’s most famous names in direct contact with one another, making for some pretty incredible photographs.

So, as this event took place almost exactly 48 years ago this month, I thought I would post a nice full set of 18 photos from this event. *The 18 negatives here are from my own personal collection; I have left the original watermarks on them from when I originally obtained the negatives. I know this is a slight distraction and takes away some of their charm, but unfortunately there are still people out there who continue to steal and use images simply in order to profit from them. I really don’t mind sharing However, I didn’t buy these so that other may earn money and profit from them. That just isn’t right. Many Thanks.