Top 25 Czechoslovak Movie Posters (*for US Films)

They’re bizarre and beautiful takes on films you know and love – and in many cases, you’ll wonder if the artists knew anything about the movies they were illustrating apart from the title. These promotional posters for classic US films are unique and wonderful – and they can also be yours. 

Some writers attribute the bizarre nature of Czech (and Polish) movie posters from the 1960s through the 1980s to “an artistic alternative to banned U.S. publicity material” (what, the posters were banned, but the movies weren’t?), but the actual story is much more interesting.

While artists behind promotional material elsewhere needed to be able to sell their product in the most effective (read: least imaginative) way possible, the communist regime inadvertently created a unique environment for this particular form. Free from most commercial interests, the artists behind these posters were given an incredible amount of free reign over their design – an artistic freedom even the filmmakers behind the movies didn’t enjoy. 

Of course, the art of the movie poster is now all but gone. Next time you see giant floating heads and choppy PhotoShop work while walking down the street or in a metro, you can shed a tear for a dead art form. 

This low-key but expressive sketch for Billy Wilder’s classic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine screams 1960s minimalism – just like much of the design in the film itself. 

A perfect mash-up of the original French comic and the Jane Fonda live action feature by famed Czech comic book illustrator Karel Saudek.

Artist: Bartošová, 1988

The lakefront background and setting sun here evokes images of the Alfred Hitchcock classic, but the weirdness up front is more H.P. Lovecraft.

I love the artistic representation of Liza Minnelli in this poster for the classic musical. 

Many of the Walt Disney features got unusual posters that didn’t retain the classic look of their famous characters. This one for Dumbo is a standout.

Striking artwork for the Bob Rafelson drama starring Jack Nicholson. I’ve seen this concept – angelic wings emerging from the eyes – elsewhere, but I’m not sure if it has a specific connotation.

Artist: Zdeněk Ziegler, 1987

Through stylized text alone, this one perfectly recreates the feel of the 1980s classic.

This poster for the supernatural comedy is one of the most bizarre creations on this list. Squint and you can make out some elements from the film, including the proton pack.

Beautifully minimalistic, and probably classier than the cross-country car chase movie it represents.

This one wins the award for most strained relationship to the actual film, with the Sidney Poitier-Rod Steiger racial drama turned into some kind of neon hot rod porno fantasy.

This one is just gorgeously rendered, with a classy-but-fun appeal that matches the tone of the Julie Andrews-Dick van Dyke musical. 

There’s… a lot going on in this classy artwork for the Audrey Hepburn-Rex Harrison musical.

Another by comics illustrator Saudek, with an… interesting depiction of Satan & Gregory Peck. 

A simple concept for the Steve McQueen-Dustin Hoffman film about famed fugitive Henri Charrière, beautifully pulled off. I love the detail of the fingerprints on the scissors. 

There’s the elephant, the suds, and much more: see if you can identify all the elements of the Blake Edwards-Peter Sellers comedy included in this groovy poster design. 

How many Robert De Niro faces can you count in this surreal poster for the Martin Scorsese classic?

Simple-but-striking, this poster for the Howard Hawks Western starring John Wayne is a perfect fit.

You can vaguely get a feel for Number 5 in this poster for the 80s sci-fi film, but the artwork is much more ominous than the comedic film it portrays.