Bus Stop, 1956
Joshua Logan's screen adaptation of William Inge's successful play Bus Stop revived Monroe's career, and today, the film is still considered as her finest performance. Inge's play had a wondrous run on Broadway, receiving a Tony nomination, so the decision to take it to the silver screen, with Monroe playing the hopeless Cherie, was risky.
Thankfully for Monroe, Logan's risk paid off, and in 1956 in a review for the New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote: ''The striking fact is that Mr. Logan has got her [Monroe] to do a great deal more than wiggle and pout and pop her big eyes and play the synthetic vamp in this film.''
The film allowed Monroe to be taken more seriously in Hollywood than she had been for her previous roles, and her performance remains as the finest of her career.
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, 1958
In the 1950's, a trend for unusually sized humans had hit Hollywood, with titles such as The Incredible Shrinking Man and The Amazing Colossal Man. Nathan Hertz' Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, although not a success at the box office, brought a female protagonist to this genre of cinema.
From Russia with Love, 1963
From Russia with Love was the second James Bond film to be released. Hot off the back of the success of Dr. No, Eon Productions chose From Russia with Love as the second of Fleming's novels to adapt as, at the time, President John F. Kennedy had recently listed the novel as one of his favourites.
The film's US released was delayed following Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
Cool Hand Luke, 1967
Paul Newman gave a stellar performance as Luke, the war hero who is sentenced to a two year prison sentence after damaging parking meters during a drunken rampage.
Rich with Christian symbolism, the film, adapted from Donn Pearce's 1965 novel, celebrates Luke as a hero. Pearce, who wrote the novel based on his experiences working on a chain gang while serving in a Florida prison, makes a cameo as a convict in the film.
Luke's prison number, 37, is a reference to the Bible, Luke 1:37: "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Barbarella, 1968
Jane Fonda's intergalactic glamour in the French-Italian science fiction film has seen her portrayal of Barbarella become a cult icon. Adapted for the screen by Fonda's then husband Roger Vadim from Jean-Claude Forest's comic series, the film was poked fun out of when it was released in 1968.
The film's costumes inspired Jean-Paul Gaultier's creations for the 1997 film The Fifth Element. Barbarella has inspired the music of Kylie Minogue and Prince, as well as Dr. Durand Durand, who Barbarella is sent in to space to rescue, directly influencing band Duran Duran's name.
All original posters from these titles are on sale at The Reel Poster Gallery. Founded in 1991 by Bruce Marchant, works from Marchant's catalogue have been leant to the Design Museum for their exhibition on Saul Bass and to the V&A’s Grace Kelly exhibition in 2010, as well as other institutions around the globe. The Gallery has also participated in many major international art fairs including Grosvenor House, Olympia International Art Fair, Masterpiece and this year, debuted at the LA Art Show.
