Tom Chantrell (December 20, 1916 – July 15, 2001) was a British illustrator and film poster artist. He was noted as the designer of the Style C poster advertising the 1977 release of Star Wars in British cinemas.
Among Chantrell's best known works are the posters for The King And I (1956), Carry On Cleo (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), One Million Years B.C. (1966), The Land That Time Forgot (1975) and At the Earth's Core (1976).[1][2]
Biography[]
Star Wars poster[]
Tom Chantrell's Style C poster for Star Wars (1977)
In 1977 Chantrell was commissioned by 20th Century Fox to produce a poster for the UK theatrical release of Star Wars. The US release had been promoted with a poster designed by Tom Jung, now known as as Style A. In UK cinemas, the film was advertised with a reworked version of Jung's artwork, the Style B poster by the Brothers Hildebrandt, but Fox and Lucasfilm executives were dissatisfied with the poster and decided to replace it with a more realistic depiction of the lead characters, in order to promote the film more effectively. Chantrell worked from a press pack of publicity stills to create the likenesses of Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, and got his wife, Shirley Chantrell, to pose as a model for Princess Leia's body.[3][4]
Chantrell's Star Wars poster adapted for Hong Kong
Chantrell's Style C poster depicts Luke Skywalker looking directly and pointing his gun at the viewer, flanked by Han Solo and Princess Leia brandishing blaster guns, with a large image of Darth Vader looming behind holding a lightsaber, surrounded by smaller characters and a montage of starfighters in combat. Because of Chantrell's long association with Hammer productions, he included Peter Cushing on his poster; this was the only Star Wars theatrical poster that ever featured Cushing's likeness.[3][4]
In 1978, aside from being used as a cinema poster in the UK, variations of Chantrell's illustration were used as cinema posters and printed on promotional flyers and the cinema tickets themselves in Hong Kong, then a British colony.[5][6]
Other work[]
Chantrell's Post C artwork was reused as the cover for the 1987 first edition rulebook of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. In the book's credits, the cover illustration is credited as "Cantrell".[7]
Chantrell's artwork was used as the cover illustration the 1992 video game Super Star Wars.
Works[]
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Star Wars | Theatrical release Style C poster (UK) |
Bibliography[]
| Year | Title | Contribution | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (first edition) | Cover illustration | Re-use of the Style C poster |
Gameography[]
| Year | Title | Platform | Contribution | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Star Wars | Nintendo Game Boy | Cover illustration | |
| 1992 | Super Star Wars | SNES | Cover illustration | Re-use of the Style C poster |
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Biography: Tom Chantrell and the World of British Film Posters (en) on www.chantrellposter.com (archived from the original on July 28, 2017)
- ↑ Obituary: Tom Chantrell on www.theguardian.com (July 27, 2001) (archived from the original on July 28, 2017)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The History of Star Wars Posters by Dass, William on Film School Rejects (December 14, 2016) (archived from the original on August 7, 2020)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 A short history of the first British Star Wars posters on www.sci-fimovieposters.co.uk (archived from the original on August 7, 2020)
- ↑ Hong Kong Star Wars Style "C" Ocean Theatre Flyer by Ocean Theatre on StarWarsMoviePoster.com (archived from the original)
- ↑ 三集星戰 三間戲院 (Traditional Chinese) on 戲院誌 Talk Cinema (archived from the original)
- ↑ Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (first edition)
External links[]
- Tom Chantrell – The Man Behind the 'Star Wars' Poster (1977) on Fantha Tracks (archived from the original on May 27, 2024)
- Tom Chantrell on MobyGames