SpColl 18: Movie Poster Collection

The Movie Poster Collection consists of more than 7,000 posters for popular films.  The posters range in age from 1915 to the present and are of various sizes (up to 41 x 45 in.).  All genres of film are represented, as are posters for theatrical releases, video releases, premium cable releases, and movie merchandise.  The releases of many studios, such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century-Fox, and RKO, are represented, as are screen legends such as Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, and Sidney Poitier.

The Movie Poster Collection is a valuable tool for researchers as it can provide a comparative view of the career of specific performers, advertising techniques employed by particular studios, and the evolution of various film genres.  The collection may be used either alone or in conjunction with the BPCL's other popular entertainment collections such as the movie scripts or press kits.

The BPCL maintains a stand-alone database of the movie posters, which is searchable by title, date of release, director, producer, cast, production company, and other fields.  Ask at the BPCL Service/Reference Desk for assistance.  To browse the collection by title, there is a binder with a full list of posters located in the BPCL Reference Area.

Compiled by Mike S. DuBose, Graduate Reference Assistant, Aug. 23, 2002.  Updated and revised by Stefanie Hunker, Aug. 2008.