TOUCH AND GO 1955 Jack Hawkins Margaret Johnston June Thorburn UK 1-SHEET POSTER

Original British 27 inch by 40 inch 1-Sheet Poster for the 1955 Michael Truman Ealing Comedy TOUCH AND GO starring Jack Hawkins, Margaret Johnston, Roland Culver, John Fraser, June Thorburn and James Hayter.

Jim Fletcher (Jack Hawkins) is a designer with a furniture company. He tries to persuade them to turn out ‘modern’ furniture to his design. The boss rejects the proposal, stating baldly that ‘traditional design is the best design’. Fletcher storms out and decides to emigrate with his family to Australia. Eventually, in an effort to keep him, his boss offers him all he has aked for, and comes round in person to renew the offer on the day of departure, when the taxi is all loaded up to go. The family decide to stay.

Poster art by Eric Pulford (1915 - 2005). Having taken life classes at Leeds College of Art for 5 years Pulford was apprenticed as a commercial artist in 1931 to Gilchrist Bros a process house of 24 staff. Leslie Whitchurch, a partner in a Leicester based agency and also a part-time publicity manager for Rank, became aware of Pulford’s work and asked him to do some freelance work for him. Then in 1943 Rank invited Pulford to start a publicity department for them in London resulting in posters for “Henry V”, “Odd Man Out” and “Oliver Twist”. When the head of Downtons advertising agency, Charles Collins, died, Pulford was asked to take over. He became chairman and managing director but still spent most of his time designing posters. He retired in 1986. Pulford is responsible, either through his own artwork or design, for several hundred posters, some for classic films such as the ones already mentioned plus “Edge of the World”, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, “Genevieve”, “Reach for the Sky” and “A Night to Remember”. He is, without doubt, the most important force in British film poster design from the mid-1940s to the early 1980s.

Poster printed by W.E. Berry, Ltd., Bradford

The poster is in fine folded condition.