Well, we’ve found our new online rabbit hole. Allow us (via Kottke) to introduce you to The Movie Posters Collection of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas as Austin. The poster collection is 10,000 strong, spanning the entirety of moving picture history – but the bulk of it comes from the Interstate Theater Circuit, which is comprised primarily of posters from the 1950s through the 1970s, including a fair amount of big hits and timeless classics, but many more second-tier and exploitation titles where they really had to sell the movie with the poster. And do they ever.
Now, here’s the best part: they’re in the process of digitizing the collection, and 500 of these snazzy, funny, and/or sexy posters have made their way online. We plucked out a few of our favorites, some movies you’ve heard of, some we are now dying to see, which are linked below. After you get done checking them out, peruse the entire (growing) collection here.
Bloody Mama (1970)
Retreat, Hell! (1952)
The Boss (1956)
Count The Hours! (1953)
The Jackpot (1950)
The In-Between Age (1958)
The Big Heat (1953)
Fair Wind To Java (1953)
The Battle Of Algiers (1968)
The Italian Job (1969)