Butch Cassidy and the American - Sorry, Sundance

I must first off say, that this blog was sparked by Intentional Design’s blog, “Compare and Contrast: Design in Film Posters 3 - The Good German”.  I was stoked when I happened on his blog because it reminded me of those fuzzy feelings that were conjured up when I first saw the poster for The Good German.  When Intentional Design noted the reference to the unforgettable Casablanca classic I was enthralled since not only is Casablanca one of my favorite films, but to know that there are still nods to the era of the silver screen made my day.

After reading his blog, it reminded me of a similar experience about a month or two ago when I saw the poster for The American.  I haven’t seen the movie, but I love the poster. 

For me personally, it struck a chord with another classic film, this one from the 70’s (er, 1969).   Both The American and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance film posters use two or three basic and contrasting colors.  The American: a dense orange contrasts with the black and white used for the type and silhouette of George Clooney.  Butch Casssidy uses a yellow to contrast with the black silhouettes of Paul Newman and Robert Redford.  Notice that there are also references to pure black and white imaging as well.  The American - George Clooney's figure; Butch Cassidy - the inset of Butch and Etta riding on a bike.  The typed credits are also in similar placements; skewed and aligned to the bottom left half of the poster.  It’s also not unapparent that the main figures in these two posters also happen to possess some ammunition.  

Whether or not The American movie poster, designed by Mojo, is a tribute to the vintage style of classic films is not part of my knowledge.  However, when looking at this poster I, myself, cannot help but recognize that I am reminded of images from an earlier Hollywood.  It may serve as an example of how images (or styles) can become iconic, and then serve as another means of communicating a type of message (in this case, perhaps a reference?)