R.i.p. Eric Pulford, British Film Poster Artist

[julian_craster]

From Roger

September 12, 2005

The Times Obituary
Eric Pulford, British film poster artist
August 8, 1915 - July 30, 2005


Artist and businessman whose posters were at the heart of the British film
industry

ERIC PULFORD is one of the unsung heroes of British cinema. He produced more
than 1,000 movie posters over 50 years, yet his career at the heart of film
publicity is largely unappreciated even by poster collectors who pay small
fortunes for the best examples of his work.
Eric William Pulford was born in Leeds and attended Cockburn High School. He
took up an apprenticeship with Gilchrists, a printing house, and his first
printed artwork appeared on a Brock’s fireworks box.

His turning point came in 1940, when he began freelancing for Format, a
Leicester firm that specialised in engineering illustration for the war
effort. Pulford laboriously turned flat blueprints into 3D artwork until a
company director who was also a part-time publicity manager for the Rank
Organisation employed Pulford to paint posters for Leeds cinemas. Early
titles included Gaslight, The Blue Bird and The Thief of Baghdad (all 1940).

In 1943 Pulford was invited to London by Rank, increasingly dominant in the
British film industry, to set up a design studio. Rank had acquired an
interest in Downtons Advertising, an established agency, and Pulford based
himself nearby. His studio grew to employ 44 artists and photographers, and
in 1963 Pulford bought a controlling interest in Downtons.

It was soon the chief film agency in Britain: in addition to Rank, and its
Gaumont and Odeon cinema chains, it held accounts for Universal, RKO, United
Artists, British Lion, Columbia and Disney. Pulford initially did much of
the poster artwork, including that for Henry V (1944), Odd Man Out (1947),
Oliver Twist (1948) and several Ealing films. But he began to focus on
design, employing such illustrators as Roger Hall and Josh Kirby, and the
designers Arthur Bennett and John Stockle.

From the mid-1950s Pulford employed a series of Italian artists. Their
explosively colourful illustrations revolutionised UK posters, especially
those by Renato Fratini and Arnaldo Putzu.

Pulford took on an executive role as Downtons increased in size, though he
kept a firm grip on the most important Rank series, designing many of the
later Norman Wisdom comedies and Doctor and Carry On films. In 1984, the
year he created artwork for the Charles Bronson film The Evil That Men Do,
he retired to the South Coast. His final design layout seems, fittingly, to
have been The Last Emperor (1987).

Pulford had travelled widely in the course of his work, sometimes watching
films in production (he saw the Ben Hur chariot race being shot in Rome),
and won an international poster award in America for his design on Disney’s
Island At the Top of the World (1973).

After Pulford’s retirement, the poster industry was rapidly taken over by
graphic design technology. He is survived by his wife, Alma, and their two
sons and two daughters.

Eric Pulford, commercial artist, was born on August 8, 1915. He died on July
30, 2005, aged 89.

[Third Man]

Yes, I just heard about his passing a very talented man.He designed the fantastic quad for Powell and Pressburger's 'Black Narcisssus'.

[julian_craster]

From Roger

Guardian Obituary: Eric Pulford
For nearly half a century his design promoted British cinema

Sim Branaghan
Thursday September 15, 2005
The Guardian


The poster artist Eric Pulford, who has died aged 89, was the single most
important figure in the history of the British film poster and responsible
for some 1,000 designs during almost 50 years. Simultaneously he marshalled
a team of artists the like of which is unlikely to be seen again. Yet he
remains a great unknown name of British cinema.
It was in 1940 that Pulford - then freelancing on engineering illustration -
began painting posters for Leeds Rank cinemas. Titles included Gaslight, The
Bluebird, and Thief Of Baghdad. Three years later, Rank invited Pulford down
to London to set up a design studio and work on the company's publicity.

Rank had acquired an interest in the Fleet Street agency Downton
Advertising, and Pulford Publicity was initially set up nearby, and funded
through Downton. Early employees included the lettering artist Tom Brownlow,
father of the writer and director Kevin.
Pulford initially did much of the finished poster artwork himself - classic
early titles include Henry V (1944), Odd Man Out (1946), Oliver Twist (1948)
and several Ealing films. In the early 1950s he began to personally focus
more on design, employing a band of illustrators for the finished art.

Eventually Pulford Publicity was employing 44 artists and photographers. By
1963, having bought a controlling interest in Downtons, it became, as
Downtons, Britain's main film agency, handling Rank and its Gaumont and
Odeon chains, Universal, RKO, United Artists and British Lion. Following a
1965 merger with the Dixons agency it took on Columbia and Disney, and later
Avco-Embassy and Brent Walker.

Perhaps Pulford's most distinctive contribution was his employment, from the
mid-1950s, of Italian artists. Their vivacious, explosively colourful
illustrations, as on Reach for the Sky (1956), revolutionised the more
conservative look of British posters.

As Downtons increased in size, Pulford's role became increasingly
executive - although he kept a grip on the most important Rank series,
designing many of the later Norman Wisdom comedies, the "Doctor" films, and
Carry Ons. He sometimes watched films in production - including the 1959 Ben
Hur chariot race in Rome - and won a US poster award for his design for
Disney's The Island At the Top of the World. (1973). He continued to
contribute occasional finished artwork, including that for Stranger In The
House (1967), The Lady Vanishes (1978), and Breathless (1983). His last such
poster was for the Charles Bronson thriller The Evil that Men Do (1984).

Downtons underwent various corporate changes following the Dixons merger. It
was finally taken over by Saatchi & Saatchi in 1975.

Pulford was born in Leeds. At Cockburn high school, an art teacher
encouraged his drawing abilities, and he was apprenticed to a local
commercial printing house. His first printed artwork was apparently for a
Brocks firework box, and he also sold still lifes through a Leeds Art
Gallery exhibition. Then came the path to London.

Pulford retired in 1984. But he contributed a few further design layouts,
the final one seems to have been for The Last Emperor (1987).

He thereafter devoted himself to sailing and golf. Along with that of his
prolific contemporary Tom Chantrell. Pulford's retirement marked the end of
the great days of British film posters, the field then rapidly taken over by
bland computer graphics. The British Film Institute plans to publish a
history celebrating British posters in 2006.

Pulford is survived by his wife Alma and their four children, Janice, Gilly,
Nicholas and Robert.

Eric William Pulford, commercial artist, born August 8 1915, died July 30
2005