TRAPP FAMILY 1956 Ruth Leuwerik TOM CHANTRELL UK QUAD POSTER

Original British 30 inch x 40 inch Quad Poster for the 1956 Wolfgang Liebeneiner Musical Drama THE TRAPP FAMILY (DIE TRAPP-FAMILIE), based on the 1949 memoir “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers” by Maria von Trapp and starring Ruth Leuwerik, Hans Holt and Maria Holst.

The film is about a novice nun sent to care for the unruly children of a wealthy baron, who falls in love with and marries the young woman. Through her caring influence, the family becomes a famous singing group. When the baron is pressured to join Hitler's navy, the family escapes to the United States, where they establish themselves as singers.

Poster art by Tom Chantrell(1916 - 2001). One of two giants of British film poster art from the 1950s to mid-1980s the other being the prolific Eric Pulford. Chantrell was born in Ardwick, Manchester, the last of nine children born to James and Emily. After a brief stint at Manchester Art College he secured a job at a local advertising agency, Rydales. In 1933 he moved to London and eventually began work with Bateman Artists who at some time in the 1930s acquired accounts with Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox. After his wartime spell with the Royal Engineers he returned to Batemans who in 1950 were bought out by one of their major clients Allardyce Palmer Ltd., eventually moving to Screen House in Wardour Street. Most of Chantrell’s work at this time was for Warners and Fox. In 1972 he went freelance working with many other smaller and independent film companies until his retirement in 1985 having produced a vast array of film posters and campaigns.

The poster is in very good folded condition with minor tattering along the top of the right edge.