Vintage Western Movie Posters CD
	Over 280+ scans of authentic vintage Western movie posters made between 1920 and 1973 make up this fascinating CD, making it a true collector’s item. If you are a Western movie buff or just artistically inclined, this CD is set to thrill you like no other. No other genre grabbed the attention of early movie audiences, as did the Westerns. A throwback on the adventurous and thrilling life that pioneers and early settlers were supposed to have enjoyed, most of the narratives were based on myth that gave birth to larger than life screen heroes, such as William Frederick Cody ("Buffalo Bill"), William Bonney ("Billy the Kid"), Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok, Gen. George A. Custer, and Wyatt Earp. Most movies carried a common theme - good guy vs. the bad guy, and what the bad guy could do, the good guy could do even better.

Westerns were often set on the American frontier during the last part of the 19th century (1865-1900) following the Civil War, in a geographically western setting with romantic, sweeping frontier landscapes or rugged rural terrain. Some, however, portrayed earlier periods and events. Common elements that are seen in all these early westerns is a hanging tree, stetsons and spurs, lassos and Colt .45's, stagecoaches, gamblers, long-horned cattle and cattle drives, prostitutes (or madams) with a heart of gold, and a gang of onlookers.

Westerns or cowboy pictures as they were often referred to portrayed much about America's past, glorifying the past-fading values and aspirations of the mythical by-gone age of the West. Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented, and spoofed. Such was the lure and success of Westerns that movie houses were flooded with dozens of thrilling movies, featuring favorite movie stars, never mind that they all carried similar plots.

This competition prompted producers to print incredibly eye-catching posters that were posted in prominent places all over towns and cities in which the movie was being screened. Without doubt, these posters served the purpose for which they were created, and this is substantiated by the plethora of posters that were produced in the first half of the 20th century.

This CD features scans of no less than 282 fabulous vintage movie posters that served as alluring advertisements for early Westerns.

Sample thumbnails taken from the collection. Click on image to view larger picture.

CONTENTS:

The onscreen heroics of Buck Jones, Tom Keene, Charles Bronson, Richard Dix, Randolph Scot, Tim McCoy, Gene Autry, Hoot Gibson and several other Western movie icons are on display in over 280 + thrilling posters of Western movies produced between 1920 and 1973 included in this CD. These posters are proof of the popularity that "cowboy movies" enjoyed for half a century before they were edged out by other genre. This makes this CD a treasury of vintage and priceless posters that for years drew audiences to cinema halls. You may view a poster by clicking on the relevant thumbnail and then zoom in or out to study the poster in greater detail. All the images are fully printable, thus enabling the creation of fabulous wall hangings.

EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Seldom is the archetypal conflict - good vs. bad, morality vs. immorality, and compassion vs. hatred portrayed as forcefully as it is in the early westerns. These audience-grabbers characteristically centered on the simplistic goal of enforcing law and rooting out evil among frontiers towns in the Wild West. Typically, bad guys reigned supreme till a good guy came along and upset their apple cart. Guns and bullets were used freely, with the hero seldom missing the mark. Then there were the wild horse chases and wagons rattling at break neck speed (I think that’s where the term "break neck" originated) over trackless prairie, trying to get a helpless family to safety from deadly Indians or highwaymen. These thrilling cinematic gems usually carried titles such as "The Cowboy Kid", "Colorado Sunset" and "Chain Lightening" which were intriguing enough to lure audiences.

In an era when publicity was limited by the absence of the radio, and television, early producers had to rely on strikingly attractive posters that were pasted on walls and other convenient places in the town or city to create awareness and yearning among movie lovers. These posters were all hand painted in a bright and flashy style, overemphasizing the heroics of the good guy and dramatizing the fast paced action that was in store for the audiences. Often created as a collage of characters in action and, these posters gave the viewer a fairly good idea of what to expect on the screen and also a strong motivation to pay for a cinema hall ticket.

Today, movie posters, like the westerns themselves have become near obsolete, and to me it is a sad end to a means of advertisement that has few parallels. Examine the fabulous collection of early Western movie posters in this CD. You will be enthralled by their historic significance. You will also be enriched by the knowledge of who the early stars were and what our forefathers called "great movies".

CUSTOMER'S REVIEWS:

"I am a die-hard Western movie buff. I have watched timeless Western classics such as "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" countless number of times. The age, title of the Western or the name of the "hero" seldom bothered me. I love action and these celluloid pastimes had plenty of that. It was great viewing these early posters in this CD and recapitulating the thrills of watching a cowboy movie. I could refresh my memory and loved each image included here. Thanks A2ZCDS for this wonderful CD. I have printed some of these and use them as wall hangings in my study."

Customer's Name: Jimmy Hawthorne (Los Angeles, California)