Movie Posters

 

Better Than The Oscars

   The Oscars are on tonight and it seems as though many people are not enthused and are more likely to watch reruns of Schitt’s Creek up here in Canada or Gunsmoke below the border. I offer another option - movie posters - which were always, mostly better than the movies. They are found in a research library, but you can view them from home.

   I have lamented the fact that many university libraries are getting out of the library business, but that is not true of The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. Ever since the oil money started pouring into their budget, they have been accepting, collecting and buying just about anything of value, and many things that most Texans would agree are not valuable at all. Like old movie posters. 

   Although the Ransom Center has been digitizing words and images for many years, the movie poster project began in 2018 and there are 10,000 available, of which about half are now online and viewable and searchable. More are coming.

   To learn more and view them go to the Movie Posters Collection, where you will also see a link to the other Film Collections at Ransom. I told you they had a lot. For just one example in this genre, you can have a look at all of the material they have about and from the actor Peter O’Toole. 

The Bonus:
   The Harry Ransom Center probably has more Canadian material than any Canadian library. They have, for example, the papers of a chap who passed through London a few years back. Perhaps you have read one of his books or seen the movie, The English Patient. 
See: "Archive of Michael Ondaatje, Author of "The English Patient"", Acquired," Suzanne Krause, Ransom Center Magazine, Sept. 25, 2017.