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1-SHEET: (27" X 41") This is the most recognizable standard US movie poster and the size most popular with collectors. These posters were printed on a thin paper stock and were usually displayed in front of the theatre or in the lobby. Almost always created by studio hired artists and illustrators, they would give a bold display of the title, credits, and illustrations or a photo montage of the stars with a graphic depiction of the story line. Studios often printed several different styles of posters for one film, among which might include a “Teaser” or “Advance” to be issued prior to the release of the film to attract potential audience attention.

This size became popular in the early 1900s, and remained so until the size was shortened around 1985 to the now standard 27" X 40". The 1-sheet prior to 1980 was almost always found folded in eighths with one vertical fold and two horizontal folds, and after 1980 were sent to theatres rolled.

James Bond US 1-sheet posters

James Bond US 1-sheet posters Advance/Teaser Style

Although not advertised in the Pressbook, the National Screen Service (the company that supplied publicity materials to cinemas) also issued two other sizes of poster that were only available during the first theatrical run of any film, and printed in much smaller quantities than 1-sheet posters. 30" X 40" and 40" X 60" posters were printed on card stock paper and always supplied rolled.

The artwork was generally identical to the 1-sheet and these styles were discontinued in the mid-1980s. Examples in mint condition are very now hard to find on the collector's market. These two sizes of poster was usually only produced for major studio releases, and gained in popularity during the 1950s as theatre owners found them more durable than 1-sheets, as they could be used both indoors and outdoors.

3-SHEET: (41" X 81") Printed on thin paper stock, these posters were intended to be displayed outside the theatre where the film was playing. They were printed in two or three pieces so the artwork had to be aligned at the time of display. For the bigger release films there would sometimes be two different style 3-sheets printed. In the early 1970s studios began to produce 3-sheets in one piece and by the early 1980s had phased out the printing of this size poster altogether. 3-sheet posters were printed in far fewer quantities than the 1-sheet and are therefore much rarer than the smaller posters.

James Bond US 3-sheet posters 1963 - 1974

6-SHEET: (81" X 81") Printed on thin paper stock in four separate pieces, these posters were displayed outdoors on a small billboard. They were designed to be assembled and aligned upon display and often featured artwork different to the other posters. They were named 6-sheets as they are the size of six 1-sheets when assembled together. Produced in two or four overlapping sections these were sent to theatres folded and were often displayed using wallpaper glue, rendering them unusable for future use. 6-sheet posters were printed in far fewer numbers than almost any of the other posters and due to their display usage far fewer have survived. This size of poster stopped being issued by studios in the late 1970s.

James Bond US 6-sheet posters 1963 - 1979

24-SHEET: (232" X 104") These huge posters were produced to be used as billboard or subway art and usually came printed in 12 sections. Printed on standard paper stock very few 24-sheet posters have survived, and are therefore some of the rarest posters due to their size and low production numbers.

James Bond 24-sheet posters 1964-1979

INSERT: (14" X 36") Printed on card stock paper, these posters were used in conjunction with 1-sheets to promote a film during its engagement at any one theatre. The artwork was generally a cropped version of the 1-sheet.

James Bond US insert posters 1963 -1985

HALF-SHEET or DISPLAY: (22" X 28") Printed on card stock paper, studios often produced two styles of this size. One style would be identical to the Title Lobby Card. These posters were often a photographic or artwork combination and were displayed in the lobby of the theatre. They were advertised in the Exhibitors' Pressbooks and sometimes called “Displays,” or “Half-sheets”, as they are half the size of a 1-sheet.

Half-sheets are highly sought after by collectors due to their landscape format and framing capabilities.

James Bond US half-sheets 1963 - 1983

WINDOW CARD: (14" X 22") Produced on heavy card stock, these small posters were displayed in shop windows to advertise the local showing of a feature film. They all had a blank white area of approximately 4 inches at the top of the card for the theatre's name and date of showing, sometimes overprinted (as shown on the example left) but more often that not the details were hand-written.

These posters are of a size easy to frame and are attractive to collectors for that reason.

James Bond US window cards 1963 - 1971

The Benton Card Company based in North Carolina also issued alternate window cards that offered theatre operators a cheaper option to the more colourful National Screen Service produced card.

A gallery of Benton Window Cards

DOOR PANELS: (20" X 60") Tall, vertical panels, printed on thin stock paper and most often rented in sets of four or six for the more high-profile releases by the studios. They were designed to be displayed on the doors of the theatre and featured their own unique artwork. More often than not, one panel would feature the title of the film and the other panels would be the of the stars or scenes from that film. These sets were rarely rented to theatre owners, presumably due to their relatively high cost compared to the other available posters, and consequently very rare and extremely collectible today.

Door panels were produced for From Russia With Love (1964), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), Casino Royale (1967) and You Only Live Twice (1967).

James Bond Banners

BANNER: (Sizes ranging from 24" X 30" to 84" X 120") Studios began producing banners in the 1920s, and they were painted using full-colour silk screen art on canvas. From the late 1930's there was transition to a card stock material, but still silk screening in a mono-tone colour scheme and adding a photograph pasted to the banner. Although produced by the National Screen Service, banners were not advertised in the US Pressbooks for the films.

SUBWAY: (45" X 59" approx) Produced primarily for display in the New York Subway. Advance versions appeared in the weeks leading up to the release of a new film, with an alternate style listing the theatres showing the film during its opening run in the city.

James Bond Subway posters (1964-1999)

LOBBY CARD: (11" X 14") Printed in sets of eight on card stock paper for display in theatre lobbies. These cards were usually produced in colour (often hand tinted black & white stills) and have become very desirable collectibles. Nowadays sets are often broken up and individual cards sold separately in order to maximise their value. The images chosen were often promotional photographs rather than actual scenes from the film. Some Lobby Cards also utilised behind-the-scenes photographs. Later films also had smaller 10" X 8" sets with identical images issued.

Goldfinger Lobby Cards (1964) & Reissue (1966 & 1969)

The James Bond films 1963-2012 Lobby Cards

STILL AVAILABLE:
007 MAGAZINE ARCHIVE FILES James Bond Promotional Posters & Artwork File #1