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Pal Joey

HONDOHONDO
edited April 2015 in The 50s

The two different design daybill posters for 1957's Pal Joey buck the trend in which almost all world posters for this title have the billing of the stars as Rita Hayworth first then Frank Sinatra followed by Kim Novak. The only other example apart from the two Australian daybills is a Spanish 3 sheet with Kim Novak then Frank Sinatra followed by Rita Hayworth.  

What makes the two Australian daybills stand apart from all others are the images are only of Frank and Kim with no image at all of Rira Hayworth.The billing In bold lettering is Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak with only at the bottom section of the poster the 3 stars listed as in order Frank, Kim  then Rita. Very unusual.

image  image



Hondo

Comments

  • DavidDavid
    Even tho' Novak was a beauty, third billing for Rita would piss off our Matty to no end. 

    Both are nice, if I was to choose one - I'd take the left.
  • DavidDavid
    Billing order was obviously a local distributor preference, or there may be something recent in which Novak had been well received in to get her higher up

    Off Wiki:

    Pal Joey is one of Sinatra's few post-From Here to Eternity movies in which he did not receive top billing, which surprisingly went to Hayworth. Sinatra was, by that time, a bigger star, and his title role was predominant. When asked about the billing, Sinatra replied, "Ladies first." He was also quoted as saying that, as it was a Columbia film, Hayworth should have top billing because, "For years, she WAS Columbia Pictures", and that with regard to being billed "between" Hayworth and Novak, "That's a sandwich I don't mind being stuck in the middle of." As Columbia’s biggest star, Hayworth had been top billed in every film since Cover Girl in 1944, but her tenure was soon to end, in 1959 with Gary Cooper in They Came to Cordura.

    This might reveal more

    The feared and hated head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn, created Kim Novak to be his perfect blonde star, and with her performence in Alfred Hitchcock’sVertigo, she seemed to have fulfilled his dream. 

    Kim Novak was Harry Cohn’s revenge on Rita Hayworth. 

  • HONDOHONDO
    edited April 2015
    David said:


    Off Wiki:

    Pal Joey is one of Sinatra's few post-From Here to Eternity movies in which he did not receive top billing,



    Other films that Frank didn't receive top billing ----

    Young At  Heart ( 1954 ) 2nd billing to Doris Day.( Her company produced the film )

    Not As A Stranger ( 1955 ) 3rd billing to Olivia de Havilland & Robert Mitchum

    Guys And Dolls ( 1955 ) 3rd billing to Marlon Brando & Jean Simmons

    High Society ( 1956 ) 3rd billing to Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly

    The Pride And The Passion ( 1956 ) 3rd billing to Cary Grant & Sophia Loren

    The Devil At 4 O'Clock ( 1961 ) 2nd billing to Spencer Tracy


    Hondo

  • DavidDavid
    I think this statement would be more about top billing in the US of A not Australia
  • HONDOHONDO
    edited April 2015
    David said:
    I think this statement would be more about top billing in the US of A  not Australia

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               My statement is correct for Australia as well as the U.S.A.as I have sighted daybill posters confirming Frank's billing order.


    Hondo.

  • DavidDavid
    I don't write 'em, I just report 'em
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    I think by 1957 Rita was already past her HUGE star days
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