Of all the Bass/Kallis drawings that we are posting today, I find the work Saul Bass designed for the Naval comedy “Mister Roberts” among his least inspired. I don’t really get these ads, though they do have a certain graphic…
Another case where the 6 Bass/Kallis drawings are better than the ads that were eventually used for the film. The Virgin Queen No. 1 The Virgin Queen No. 2 The Virgin Queen No. 3 The Virgin Queen No….
Al Kallis only has a single drawing for “The Shrike,” another film for which Bass also did the titles. The Bass-designed ad is brilliant. Unfortunately I could not find that a copy of it in this form was ever used,…
Here are the six Bass/Kallis illustrations done for Stanley Kramer’s “Not as a Stranger.” Though Bass had a long and fruitful relationship with Kramer, I could only find evidence that two of these drawings were actually used to advertise the…
“The Racers” was another film for which Bass did both the title sequence and some of the posters and other consumer advertising. The title sequence was, visually, quite simple and was built around the motif of the checkered flag. As you…
Carmen Jones No. 1 In their third collaboration in 1954 Bass and Kallis struck pay dirt. It was Otto Preminger’s movie version of the musical “Carmen Jones.” It was the first film for which Bass designed a title sequence….
Here are the six rough sketches Saul Bass had Al Kallis do for the 1954 musical version of “A Star Is Born.” I love how in the first drawing Bass had the idea of having the words of the title…
Let’s set the scene for this work. It’s 1954. Two years earlier Bass had hung out his shingle as an independent designer, not working exclusively for one studio or ad agency. In 1953, Bass wrote a piece about film advertising…
Press release from ABC, May 11, 2016: ABC announced today a new music series “Greatest Hits.” Each episode will highlight a five-year period celebrating the biggest hits from that time, hosted by Arsenio Hall and Kelsea Ballerini. Each week, iconic…
Press release from WNET, May 11, 2016: Joan Baez celebrated her 75th birthday on Saturday, January 27 at New York’s historic Beacon Theatre. The special event honored her legendary 50 plus years in music with an intimate, career-spanning live performance….