SMILEY GETS A GUN

Original British 30 inch x 40 inch Quad Poster for the 1958 Anthony Kimmins Comedy SMILEY GETS A GUN, based on the novel by Moore Raymond and starring Sybil Thorndike, Chips Rafferty, Keith Calvert, Bruce Archer, Margaret Christensen, Reg Lye and Guy Doleman.

Exasperated by the antics of Smiley Greevins, the mischievous young son of blacksmith Bill Greevins, Sgt. Flaxman, the constable of the Australian back-country town of Murrumbilla, admonishes the boy to learn responsibility. As an incentive, the sergeant promises to give Smiley a rifle when the boy performs eight responsible acts. Each act will be scored by a mark on a tree, and a mark will be subtracted for every reckless deed.

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.

Printed by Stafford & Co. Ltd., Netherfield, Nottingham and London

The poster is in good folded condition with some tattering and tear repairs at the upper right corner.