''Wild and Wonderful'', 1964 - art by Boris Grinsson
by Movie World Posters
Title
''Wild and Wonderful'', 1964 - art by Boris Grinsson
Artist
Movie World Posters
Medium
Mixed Media - Vintage Movie Poster
Description
A vintage French movie poster of Wild and Wonderful," released in 1964, is a comedy directed by Michael Anderson, featuring Tony Curtis and Christine Kaufmann. The film revolves around a clever French poodle named Monsieur Cognac and his impact on a newly married couple, portrayed by Curtis and Kaufmann.
The plot unfolds in 1960s Paris, where Monsieur Cognac, a white male poodle, is a star on television and advertising. He frequently escapes his mistress, Mademoiselle Giselle Ponchon, to explore Paris by night. In one such escapade, he ends up at a jazz bar where American Terry Williams, played by Tony Curtis, is performing. Monsieur Cognac, while intending to admire female poodles at the bar, ends up joining Terry in a pub crawl and inadvertently gets dyed green.
The story takes a turn when Terry meets Giselle, Monsieur Cognac's owner, under chaotic circumstances involving a false dog-napping accusation. Terry and Giselle eventually fall in love and marry, much to the dismay of both Giselle's father and Monsieur Cognac. The poodle, feeling jealous, tries various antics to disrupt their relationship.
One significant incident occurs on Terry and Giselle's wedding night. In an attempt to ensure some peace, Terry spikes Monsieur Cognac's champagne with a sleeping pill, but the dog cunningly switches the glasses, resulting in Terry falling asleep instead. The next day, a misunderstanding leads Giselle's family to believe Terry has harmed the dog, straining the couple's relationship.
The climax involves Terry realizing that Monsieur Cognac might be less troublesome if he had a companion. Terry introduces him to a female poodle named Madam Poupée, creating more chaos but eventually leading to a resolution. The movie concludes with Terry and Giselle reconciling and sharing a kiss in front of a TV camera during a show recording.
About the poster artist:
Boris Grinsson (1907, Pskov, Russia, - 1999, Paris) was a designer of Russian origin who lived and worked in France. For about 30 years of his career, from the 1940s to the 1970s, he painted more than 2000 posters for the French cinema circuit, becoming extremely popular among film directors.
After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Estonia, where the family moved to escape the Russian Revolution, the artist reached Berlin and enrolled in Decorative Arts. Grinsson immediately started working in cinema at the UFA studios in Balberg and soon began designing posters for the Paramount and MGM. He worked among the many directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Billy Wilder, Alain Resnais, and Luchino Visconti.
His designs were also particularly controversial. In 1932 he drew a polemic caricature of Adolf Hitler. As a result, he was forced to move to Paris to escape the Nazi regime. Nevertheless, he continued to create the French versions of many famous movie posters in France.
Grinsson’s painting style for posters is characterized by his peculiar treatment of colors. If compared with the style of Italian designers, for example, his portraits appear somewhat schematic. Rather than using strong contrasts between light and shadow, Grinsson
modulated his figures with bold flat planes of colors and cool and defined outlines.
His posters often look like works of modern art rather than traditional sketches. Even the color palette is somewhat restricted, preferring different shades of yellows, greens, blues. However, the chromatic and formal restriction of Grinsson’s style is not to be seen as a limitation but as a legacy of the lithography technique that dominated German design until the early 1960s. A historical and peculiar element that distinguishes its very different and endless production.
Search “Grinsson” to see more of his art.
Uploaded
February 3rd, 2022
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