Great poster! I haven't seen it before so thank you for sharing. Based on the rating and at the top, I would say RR, but I don't know for sure. I am sure however, Lawrence will be able to chime in with way more information on the same.
I'm trying to date my Ben Hur poster and can't find an image anywhere. Is this from the original release or a reissue?
It has to be from the Australian first release and not a re-release for the following reasons -
I ) W. F. Schey. was the prefered printer of MGM one sheets around this period of time. They appeared to have ceased printing film posters around the mid 1960s.
2 ) The only re-release that I could locate in the sixties is the 70mm ( and most likely followed up on 35mm as well ) in the late 1960s, which would rule out W. F. Schey printing the poster.
3 ) The For general exhibition - not suitable for children under 12 years classification was a short lived special classification that seemed to only be in play for a few years. Gorgo and Jack The Giant Killer spring to mind as carrying this rating, and I think possibly there were a few others as well.
4 ) The 1959 Oscar ceremony was held on April 4 1960. The Australian premiere engagement of Ben-Hur was held on May 6 1960 at the Metro St. James in Sydney and played exclusively there for a extended period of time.The Melbourne season commenced not long after on May 12 1960 at the Metro Bourke Street Theatre in Victoria One of the first screenings outside the Australian capitol cities were a special season at the Nepean Theatre in Penrith, an outer suburb of Sydney, commencing on August 28 1961.
Something interesting to add is that there is a similar Australian one sheet poster of the same design with the awards mentioned, slightly different in that the special censorship is displayed in a different section of this poster, being the left hand side this side. This poster has no printer's credit though . Where this design fits into the scheme of things I realy don't know.
To sum things up then-
The preferred poster printer had enough time after the Oscar award announcements to have the W.F. Schery poster printed, including the awards announcement. The poster would also have had limited distribution it would appear until the end of 1961, when the start of an Australian wide general release seemed to have commenced. I believe then with all the facts provided above the W.F. Schery poster in question was definitely printed for the first Australian release.
Just looking at the 1969 US reissue there's some differences. It has the awards info but the release is in Metrocolor, not Technicolor like my Aust one sheet. I think the printer info certainly confirms it as an original release.
I meant this aussie db. Understood it to be a RR. Printed by Burton I think so likely a RR. Interesting it uses the same rating at the OS.
This one usually referred to as original release, unless there is another I am not aware of. Wonder if that is why the ratings are all blacked out. Anyone have one without the blackout?
The re-release has the MGM logo from 1966 so it's definitely a rr. Perhaps the one on the bottom had the classification blacked out for screening in NZ?
Yeah I am wondering if the Burton RR db used the OS as its reference for artwork and included the rating in error almost. Like they've blindly followed reference artwork from other countries in the past and incorrectly included say UK rating detail in the aussie poster.
I've never seen an original release db that didnt have the rating blacked out or removed. Could be for NZ, usually is. Wonder why one with aussie rating in tact hasnt surfaced yet. Maybe due to its popularity, they were used up.
The re-release has the MGM logo from 1966 so it's definitely a rr. Perhaps the one on the bottom had the classification blacked out for screening in NZ?
The Robert Burton version, as previously pointed out is post 1966 due to the MGM logo, so probably printed for the late Australian re-release, with the Robert Burton artist just copying the censorship rating from original material which carried this rating Alternatively the poster is a late second printing, created due to the huge popularity of the film at the box office.
The A. & C. copy is definitely the original printed poster due to the printer involved being A. & C., who were the preferred MGM printer in 1960 and they ended this arrangement in 1962 when Richard Burton took over.
Yes the A. & C. version had the For general exhibition in a triangle and the line following reading Not suitable for children under 12 years blacked out for New Zealand distribution.
Oh, it just occured to me. I assumed the black line on the original db was an art thing. Most likey the not suitable for children under 12 wording of the classification also blacked out.
Comments
Based on the rating and at the top, I would say RR, but I don't know for sure.
I am sure however, Lawrence will be able to chime in with way more information on the same.
Peter
I ) W. F. Schey. was the prefered printer of MGM one sheets around this period of time. They appeared to have ceased printing film posters around the mid 1960s.
2 ) The only re-release that I could locate in the sixties is the 70mm ( and most likely followed up on 35mm as well ) in the late 1960s, which would rule out W. F. Schey printing the poster.
3 ) The For general exhibition - not suitable for children under 12 years classification was a short lived special classification that seemed to only be in play for a few years. Gorgo and Jack The Giant Killer spring to mind as carrying this rating, and I think possibly there were a few others as well.
4 ) The 1959 Oscar ceremony was held on April 4 1960. The Australian premiere engagement of Ben-Hur was held on May 6 1960 at the Metro St. James in Sydney and played exclusively there for a extended period of time.The Melbourne season commenced not long after on May 12 1960 at the Metro Bourke Street Theatre in Victoria One of the first screenings outside the Australian capitol cities were a special season at the Nepean Theatre in Penrith, an outer suburb of Sydney, commencing on August 28 1961.
Something interesting to add is that there is a similar Australian one sheet poster of the same design with the awards mentioned, slightly different in that the special censorship is displayed in a different section of this poster, being the left hand side this side. This poster has no printer's credit though . Where this design fits into the scheme of things I realy don't know.
To sum things up then-
The preferred poster printer had enough time after the Oscar award announcements to have the W.F. Schery poster printed, including the awards announcement. The poster would also have had limited distribution it would appear until the end of 1961, when the start of an Australian wide general release seemed to have commenced. I believe then with all the facts provided above the W.F. Schery poster in question was definitely printed for the first Australian release.
Peter
1969 release (courtesy of Bruce)
Peter
This one usually referred to as original release, unless there is another I am not aware of. Wonder if that is why the ratings are all blacked out. Anyone have one without the blackout?
Peter
I've never seen an original release db that didnt have the rating blacked out or removed. Could be for NZ, usually is. Wonder why one with aussie rating in tact hasnt surfaced yet. Maybe due to its popularity, they were used up.
Gotta love it. More aussie paper weirdness!
The A. & C. copy is definitely the original printed poster due to the printer involved being A. & C., who were the preferred MGM printer in 1960 and they ended this arrangement in 1962 when Richard Burton took over.
Yes the A. & C. version had the For general exhibition in a triangle and the line following reading Not suitable for children under 12 years blacked out for New Zealand distribution.