X-Rated Adult Movie Posters of the 60s and 70s, released by Reel Art Press, expands on the wonderfully retro collection of Nourmand and Marsh’s original cult bestseller; a riotous romp through kitsch aesthetic, released over ten years ago.
Smoke and Flesh, starring Richard Howell, Ed Sansone and Lee Parker. Directed by Joseph Mangine, 1968.
Featuring over 350 ‘classic’ posters — the crème de la crème of X artwork — alongside pressbooks and stills from the Golden Age of the X-rated movie, this must-have publication — with its insightful and witty text from Peter Doggett — is a curated celebration of unashamed advertising that confirms the much bandied idiom that ‘sex sells’.
An irresistible page-turner, the posters require no decoding, crudely-printed cut-and-paste collages with well-endowed ‘stars’ and provocative titles like Flesh Gordon and Hot Lunch, designed to arouse the desires of potential viewers. During a era where breasts and buttocks were routine, it took a brave man to break the formula. Enter, Stephen Frankfurt: a hot-shot ad executive who took the less-is-more approach with his infamous work for 1974 soft-core masterpiece, Emmanuelle; and other similarly-offbeat works — Smoke and Flesh and Appetites, for example — make up some of the more interesting offerings included.
A cult classic in the making, X-Rated Adult Movie Posters of the 60s and 70s is due for release in September (priced £29.95/$49.95, and currently available for pre-order), when devotees of nostalgic decadence can dive into 368 pages of slapdash and shambolic design that defied convention and defined an age.
Deep Throat, starring Linda Lovelace, Harry Reems and Dolly Sharp. Directed by Gerard Damiano, 1972.
Debbie Does Dallas, starring Bambi Woods, Christie Ford and Robert Kerman. Directed by Jim Buckley, 1978.
Cool It, Baby!, starring Beverly Baum, Joseph Marzano and Christine Cybelle. Directed by Lou Campa and Joseph Marzano, 1967.
Sex Odyssey, 1970.
I Want You!, starring John Holmes, 1970.
Back Seat Cabbie, starring Margaret Leigh and Janet Topaz. Directed by C. Walsh, 1969.
Love and Kisses, starring Kathy Knight, Ruth Alda, Charles Napier and Paul Norman. Directed by Don Dorsey, 1970.
Flesh Gordon, starring Jason Williams, Suzanne Fields and John Hoyt. Directed by Howard Ziehm and Michael Benveniste, 1974.
Appetites, starring Sarah Flatt and directed by Gary Khan, 1973.
Sex Cures the Crazy, 1968.
Days of Sin and Nights of Nymphomania, starring Preben Nicolaisen, Anders Dahlerup and Annette Post. Directed by Paul Nyrup, 1963.
