Homer's Odyssey 1912 Half Sheet - Any Earlier Film Posters Featuring A Creature/Monster?
Hello everyone!
I’m a newbie to the board but I've been collecting posters for decades, and I’m excited to join this community! I have a passion for early film & advertising posters, especially stone lithos, and even more so, for early posters printed by Morgan Litho of Cleveland.
My collection has been in storage for a long time and I recently photographed it all.
There are many gems but one poster, a half sheet, has always piqued my curiosity. As far as I know, it’s the only surviving copy of a US poster for “Homers Odyssey” (L'Odissea 1911) from 1912.
What's made this a curiosity is the suspicion that this may be one of the earliest, if not the earliest, surviving example of a movie poster prominently featuring a monster or creature. In my research I found that posters exist for Georges Méliès "The House of the Devil " (1896) and "L'Inferno" (1911), but in both cases the monsters depicted are ghosts or demons and thus theological or spiritual in nature, as opposed to the biological grounding of the giant Cyclops, which places this poster for Homer's Odyssey more in line with the likes of King Kong, Godzilla, The Lost World, etc., ie a "Creature Feature" (while The Odyssey as a story wouldn't be categorized as such, the poster for the film is advertising/presenting the film in this way). The only other piece of early movie monster ephemera I’m aware of is a trade catalog for the 1910 silent film adaptation of "Frankenstein" by Georges Méliès, which of course isn't a film poster.
I look forward to the years of passion and expertise that might weigh in on this fabulous poster!
Thanks so much!
P.S. if this should be posted in the “General Discussion” section plmk
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In response to your question regarding are there any known existing posters containing non theological monsters or creatures that pre date your poster, I have to report that I have been unable to locate any.
• Film: 1910 Frankenstein (Edison Film) - Monster Depicted: The Creature (biological) - Status: No Theatrical Poster Known (only catalog)
• Film: 1911 L'Inferno (Milano) - Monster Depicted: Lucifer (demonic) - Status: Surviving Lithograph
• Film: 1911 L'Odissea (Milano-Homers Odyssey US) - Monster Depicted: Polyphemus (biological) - Status: Surviving Lithograph