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