Witness to Murder – Original  Half Sheet. (Click here to enlarge)

Two of my faves, Barbara Stanwyck and George Sanders pair up in this thriller. Noir Cinematography god John Alton crafted the black and white world.   Need to find it and rent it. Or download it, stream it . . .  something.

The graphics in this poster are tres smokin’! Check out the the Vertigo-ish yellow and orange square spiral .  And the black and white photo with the pale blue mezzotint overlay effect looks like rain.  I don’t know why they repeated the same graphic on the left side of the poster under the movie title, surely they could have come up with something new. Other than that, a super cool poster.

Condition

Near Mint. This poster was folded at one time, but the fold lines are nearly invisible. It was originally displayed in a frame, and there are faint ripples in the paper that would be easily flattened out either by mounting to an acid-free backing or a proper framing. No pin-holes, tears, stains or fading present.

George Sanders, Rennaisance Cad

George Sander’s autobiography Memoirs of a Professional Cad was published in 1960 and is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Sanders suggested the title A Dreadful Man for his biography, which was later written by his pal Brian Aherne and published in 1979. It’s a better title, but not a better book.

It’s funny that the titles of these books play up Sander’s swashbuckling ways with the ladies and the artwork makes use of the Gabors in particular when in fact he is a far more interesting person than his publicity and wit will admit. Standing nearly 6’4″ with eyes of blue; George Sanders spoke 5 languages, played the piano, guitar and saxophone and sang professionally. He also knew enough engineering to rewire electrical units, rebuild car parts, and build furniture. Even more impressive he invented things (like what, I don’t know) and had several patents. I also found out that he is a Cancer. Little wonder I was smitten. Purrrrrrr.