GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Original British 27 inch x 40 inch 1-Sheet Poster for the 1974 Joseph Hardy Drama GREAT EXPECTATIONS, based on the novel by Charles Dickens and starring Michael York, Sarah Miles, James Mason, Robert Morley, Margaret Leighton, Anthony Quayle, Rachel Roberts and Joss Ackland.

A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.

Poster art by Tom William Chantrell (1916 – 2001). One of two giants of British film poster art from the 1950s to mid-1980s the other being the prolific Eric Pulford. Chantrell was born in Ardwick, Manchester, the last of nine children born to James and Emily. After a brief stint at Manchester Art College he secured a job at a local advertising agency, Rydales. In 1933 he moved to London and eventually began work with Bateman Artists who at some time in the 1930s acquired accounts with Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox. After his wartime spell with the Royal Engineers he returned to Batemans who in 1950 were bought out by one of their major clients Allardyce Palmer Ltd., eventually moving to Screen House in Wardour Street. Most of Chantrell’s work at this time was for Warners and Fox. In 1972 he went freelance working with many other smaller and independent film companies until his retirement in 1985 having produced a vast array of film posters and campaigns.

The Poster is in very good folded condition.