Bob Peak, an award-winning illustrator, saw his work appear in magazines, on stamps, and especially on movie posters. We’ll concentrate on the latter. Bet you recognize a lot of these!
Peak was born in Denver in 1927, and graduated from Wichita State University with a degree in art. He served in the Navy in WWII, then went to Los Angeles where he earned another art degree from the Art Center College of Design. He moved to New York and made a career doing ad illustrations for the very biggest magazines: Time, Life, Cosmopolitan, Look and Esquire among them.
But he took off with movie posters beginning in the 1960s. This is where his work became recognizable to the majority of people. Ah, I fell in love with Guinevere as a result of this image.
You’ll see a lot of Peak’s work in this style. Here are a few others that you might recognize.
Ah, Enter the Dragon. Surely you remember this one?
You must recognize this iconic image. These are pretty dynamic, no?
And of course, this one. It’s all about the composition here. Pity about the shirt, blood never really comes out.
Heck, I remember that issue of TV Guide. Peak is ubiquitous! (Oh wait, how many of you don’t know what TV Guide was? Whoops!) Suffice it to say that it was in everyone’s home on a weekly basis. Everyone.
Now he’s getting really artsy. You can practically hear the buzz of the neon tubes.
There’s Paul McCartney, the guy who broke up The Beatles. But hey, I’m not bitter. At least he looks awfully glitzy in this rendition. Nice work, Mr Peak.
One of the greatest films of all time. Here’s another piece.
See how Peak’s style grows in different directions?
This is another of my very favorite films, and another iconic piece. Surely you remember seeing this one?
Now look at that. It’s got the dreaminess of a watercolor with a punch of power behind it. The small town is overhung by a heavy, looming evil. If Peak didn’t win one of his many awards for this one, then there ain’t no justice. (Sorry Niven.)
Looking at this gives me chills. I can hear the soundtrack welling up in the background. Magnificent.
And another from Excalibur, with my very favorite Merlin. Look at the range of color and contrast in this one!
You can’t talk about movies and leave out Sean Connery!
Connery belonged in this one too, but Bach makes up for any disappointment I might’ve felt. Another iconic illustration. But now it’s time to close, with a look at Peak’s contribution to my favorite series.
I don’t know about you, but I certainly remember this one.
Hey! Montalban made it into this post twice!
Gotta say that this series of posters is awfully successful at the in-your-face “SEE THIS MOVIE” message.
My city by the bay. With Klingons.
OK look, at least the artist produced something exciting!
And, that’s a wrap on Star Trek films, and on Bob Peak. Here was a guy who was a success by anyone’s measure. His work was everywhere. If you were in the industry, you knew his name. If you went to the movies, you saw his posters. And of the movies he worked on, there are a very surprising number of my favorites. It’s almost as if he got to pick and choose which films he would end up associated with. Uncanny. Anyway, see you in the movies!
The Michlin Guide 