Printed Originals presents · A rack of original posters
Robert McGinnis From the paperback rack to the picture house · 1961–1974
He painted mystery and pulp paperbacks for Dell from 1958. Three years later Paramount asked for Audrey Hepburn. Then came Bond.
II · The rack
First the paperbacks. Then the films.
McGinnis was born in Cincinnati in 1926 and apprenticed at Walt Disney Studios as a teenager. In 1958 a chance meeting with the illustrator Mitchell Hooks took him to Dell, and to paperback covers. He painted more than 1,200 of them: mysteries, detective novels, romances.
His film posters use the same means as his covers: one figure, poised and long-limbed, often against a painted sky. Pick a spine below and that poster turns face out.
Use the arrow keys to move along the shelf. Every poster on the rack is in the archive.
III · 1961 · Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The first poster. One figure, a lot of white.
Paramount gave McGinnis his first film poster in 1961. He painted Hepburn full length, one hip out, on almost bare paper. He later recalled, “You didn’t have to do much with her, she’s so perfect.” Choose a number to look closer.
A second copy The same 1961 one-sheet, folded as issued, with a damaged corner and light wear. Available · from £8,040.00 · View this poster →
IV · The Bond files, 1965–1974
Six missions. One painter.
For United Artists, McGinnis painted Bond from Thunderball in 1965 to The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974, several times with Frank McCarthy. Open a file. Each copy is stamped: printed in his lifetime, or redrawn by another hand.
File 1 of 6 · 1965
Thunderball
His first Bond campaign. Three panels: Bond on a jet pack, Bond under the sea, Bond on the beach with four women. The women are pure McGinnis. In 2022 his original Thunderball painting sold at Heritage for $275,000.
Lifetime printing
United States, one-sheet
Available · from £2,495.00 · View this poster →
File 2 of 6 · 1967
You Only Live Twice
Bond in a bath, surrounded by attendants with wooden buckets. Sources credit the bath scene to McGinnis. Abroad the campaign was reset, and in Australia redrawn.
Lifetime printing
United States, landscape
Available · from £3,370.00 · View this poster →
Lifetime printing
Italy, August 1967
Available · from £3,770.00 · View this poster →
After McGinnis
Australia, redrawn locally
Available · from £3,080.00 · View this poster →
File 3 of 6 · 1969
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The one Lazenby film. Bond and Tracy ski away from an avalanche of gunmen. Our copy is Style B, number 70/9 in the margin.
Lifetime printing
United States, one-sheet Style B
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
File 4 of 6 · 1971
Diamonds Are Forever
Connery’s return. Bond stands on a giant claw between two women, an oil rig burning below. Britain set the same painting in a circle.
Lifetime printing
United States, one-sheet
Available · from £810.00 · View this poster →
Lifetime printing
Britain, quad
Available · from £1,530.00 · View this poster →
File 5 of 6 · 1973
Live and Let Die
Moore’s first Bond. Four tarot cards fan out behind him, Devil, Death, Lovers and Fortune, with a figure stepping out of each.
Lifetime printing
Export printing, Indian censor certificate
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
Lifetime printing
France
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
File 6 of 6 · 1974
The Man with the Golden Gun
His last Bond campaign. A hand loads a golden gun with a bullet engraved 007, aimed past Moore. We hold it from four countries.
Lifetime printing
International release
Available · from £340.00 · View this poster →
Lifetime printing
France
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
Lifetime printing
Japan
Available · from £190.00 · View this poster →
Lifetime printing
Australia, daybill
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
McGinnis died in 2025, aged 99. Every Bond poster in our archive was printed while he was working; the one stamped “After McGinnis” was redrawn in Australia in 1967. Casino Royale (1967) was a Columbia spoof, not part of this series: it is on the rack.
V · Two hands, one bath
Same scene. Different painter.
Both posters were printed for You Only Live Twice in 1967. One carries McGinnis’s painting. The other was redrawn in Sydney from his design. Hover or tap a row to compare.
His painting · United States
- Painted by
- Robert McGinnis; the campaign was shared with Frank McCarthy
- Printed
- 1967, United States, landscape format
- Faces
- Soft modelling, black bobbed hair, a lattice screen behind
- Class
- Unsigned original
Redrawn · Australia
- Painted by
- A local artist, unrecorded, working from his design
- Printed
- 1967, Sydney: the printer’s line sits under the frame
- Faces
- Flatter faces, blue-black hair, an extra attendant and a cat
- Class
- After McGinnis: a period poster, not his hand
Both are genuine 1967 cinema posters, and the Australian one has a charm of its own. We list it as an Australian one-sheet after McGinnis, not as his painting.
VI · 1968 · Barbarella
Barbarella, three ways.
VII · Signatures
No pen. No printed name.
We zoomed into every margin and the lower art of every McGinnis poster we hold. None carries his signature, in pen or in print. 18 are unsigned originals, printed for the films’ releases from his paintings. 1 was redrawn by another hand. We hold no hand-signed copy; if one comes in, it will lead this page.
Unsigned original
Printed for the film’s release from McGinnis’s painting, with no signature of his on the poster. This is how his film posters reached cinemas. Made with the artist, not after.
On this poster: the lower right margin of our 1961 one-sheet: a small printed number, no name and no pen. Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
Show all 18 in the archive ↓Hand-signed
Signed by McGinnis in pen on that copy. We have not found one among our posters.
Plate-signed
His signature printed as part of the design. We found none on our copies: the paintings were printed without his name.
After McGinnis
A poster whose image was redrawn or reproduced by someone else, with no involvement from McGinnis. Ours is a period poster, printed in Sydney for the 1967 release.
On this poster: Bond’s face, redrawn in Australia in 1967. Compare it with his painting in act V. Available · from £3,080.00 · View this poster →
Show this poster in the archive ↓VIII · The Printed Originals McGinnis archive
The whole rack.
13 available now · 6 sold. Every McGinnis poster we have handled, from 1961 to 1974, all printed in his lifetime. Sold posters show no price.
IX · Collecting
Read it like a paperback: front, spine, small print.
- Country one painting, many local posters
- Size each country printed its own
- Small print numbers and printer lines in the margin
- Hand his painting, or a local redrawing
Did McGinnis sign his film posters?
Not the ones we hold. We checked every margin and the lower art on all of them and found no signature, printed or in pen. They are unsigned originals: printed for the films’ releases from his paintings.
Why does one painting appear on posters from several countries?
The same painting served the whole campaign, and each country set its own titles and credits. Our The Man with the Golden Gun copies from France, Japan and Australia all carry it, each with local lettering.
How do I read the numbers in the margin?
On our US posters a number in the lower margin begins with the release year: 65/272 on Thunderball, 71/303 on Diamonds Are Forever. Italian posters often name the printer and the month: our You Only Live Twice reads Rome, August 1967. More in poster sizes and formats.
Is a redrawn poster an original?
Yes, if it was printed for the film’s release. Our Australian You Only Live Twice is a genuine 1967 poster, but the drawing is a local artist’s, so we list it as after McGinnis.
Which sizes should I expect?
Our McGinnis archive alone holds a US one-sheet (27 × 41 in), a British quad (30 × 40 in), an Italian 2-fogli (39 × 55 in), a French 60 × 80 cm and an Australian daybill (13 × 30 in). Each listing gives the size we measured.
Condition and framing
We grade condition in six steps and describe every mark (condition grading). Framing is optional, and all our framing is conservation framing (framing original posters).