Sale Pamono Star Wars Original Style C Printers Proof One Sheet Movie Poster, 1977

A rare uncut printer’s proof of the International Style C US one sheet for ‘Star Wars’, with artwork by prolific British poster artist Tom William Chantrell. When the studio realised how successful the first instalment of George Lucas’ original, genre-defining, sci-fi trilogy was going to be, they commissioned Chantrell to create this bold, action packed design for the British campaign. Considered the best poster artwork created for the 1977 film, Chantrell’s design was reused for the Style C US one sheet poster, becoming synonymous with the franchise. Chantrell often used his family as models for his poster artwork; for this design, his wife posed as Princess Leia in their garden with a plastic sword. It is believed that less than 1000 copies of the Style C one sheet were printed in the US for international use in other English speaking territories – note the lack of MPAA ratings box.

Before a poster design was printed in large quantities for distribution to theatres, the printer would print a limited number of test ‘proofs’, which would be shown to studio and marketing executives for final approval. As seen on this example, the colour chart would often be left uncut along the edge of the poster, which adds an extra inch to the width of the poster. Printer’s proofs are highly desirable to collectors for their rarity and authenticity, as there are no known fakes or reproductions. A similar example of this poster sold at Sotheby’s in September 2021 for £18,900.