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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with collector Sam Sarowitz about the different ways Hollywood posters are adapted to market films oversees; Sarowitz is the author of a new book on the subject, “Translating Hollywood.”
(Why did you get into this area of collecting posters?) Initially I was just interested in movie posters but the real eye opener was when I saw Polish posters. It was like a breathe of fresh air and I became interested in dynamic designs and the world of graphic design in movie posters. (One of the posters I want to talk about is for �Cabaret� and was from Polish. In Poland the poster features a swastika that is composed of Liza Maneli’s stocky legs and in the middle of the symbol is the other star. Here’s a clip of a neutral, America trailor for the movie. Why did the Poles deal with the politics of Cabaret head on?) many American posters are down the middle of the road. But this Polish poster is probably the most well known Polish movie poster and it captures the essence of the movie much better than its American counterpart. (Is there a movie for which the poster is extremely different?) I think a good example would be Hitchcock’s �The Birds.� The Polish poster has a skull with wings flying right at you and the word �Birds� repeated over and over again. A Czech poster has a figure with a bloody head on it. (Is there something you learned after working on this book?) the more I delved into it, the more I realized American posters are more watered down and less interesting. Global posters are less interested in the stars of the film and more interested with the essence of the film.