HAWK VERSUS DOVE

Original Polish 24 inch x 34 inch Poster for the 1953 Vladimír Borský Czech Drama HAWK KONTRA HRDLICKA (JESTRAB KONTRA HRDLICKA)(HAWK VERSUS DOVE), based on a short story by Svatopluk Cech and starring Jaroslav Marvan as the banker Hawk, Frantisek Smolík as the Dove and Vlasta Fabiánová.

The film is set in Bohemia in the second half of the last century, where Hrdlicka (the Dove), a small-town official, is harassed by a financial predator, Jestráb (the Hawk).

Vladimír Borský’s (1904-1962) career began as an actor in 1926, first appearing in a cameo role in the Czech and German comedy Hadimrsku in 1931 and going on to star in several films of the 1930s.

His first directorial effort was JIRASEK VOJNARKA (1936) with Jirina Štepnicková in the title role. In 1947 he directed the first Czech color film JAN ROHAC Z DUBE (1947). In the fifties he made the drama HAWK KONTRA HRDLICKA (1953) and the thriller COUNTERFEIT (1957). Vladimír Borský died in 1962 in Prague.

Poster art by Konstanty Maria Sopocko (1903 – 1992). Konstanty Maria Sopocko graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Technical University of Warsaw and the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. As a graphic designer he began using various graphic techniques (eg. lithography ), but since 1930 he specialised in woodcuts producing posters, advertising, trademarks and book illustrations.

He was a member of the Association of Polish Graphic Artists “Rite”. Individual exhibitions of his works took place in Warsaw in 1947, 1969 and 1987.

The poster is in very good folded condition with a few thin, light tears to the borders, a soil spot in the upper right border and some wear and loss along the original folds some of which have been repaired on the reverse. The poster has been stored flat so will be shipped in a sturdy tube.