Miloš Forman, left this world on April 13 at 86-years-old. Be sure to check out World of Wonder writer Trey Speegle‘s remembrance here.
Forman is probably most famous as director of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Amadeus (1984) for which he won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture. He also gave us: Hair (1979), Ragtime (1981), and The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), among other great, award-winning films.
Forman was born, and until 1968, lived and worked primarily in what was then called Czechoslovakia.
His first important film was a documentary Audition (1964) about competing singers, followed by Black Peter (1964). Both films made a splash but Loves Of A Blonde (1965) and The Firemen’s Ball (1967), made him world famous and ushered in the Czech New Wave. Both films are biting satires of East European Communism, both are set in small Czech towns, filmed on location, and are cast with non-professional actors. Both were nominated for Oscars for Best Foreign Film, plus both were given international posters that were as revolutionary as the films they touted.
Forman was told by his international distributor that Loves Of A Blonde was too short for American audiences and didn’t feature enough nudity, so he shot additional scenes. Yet oddly, The Firemen’s Ball, the least sexy movie of the two, had the more salacious posters.
Polish poster for “Loves Of A Blonde” by Hannah Bodnar.
Cuban poster for “Loves Of A Blonde” by Eduardo Muñoz Bachs.
German poster for “Loves Of A Blonde”by Ahrle
Italian poster for “Loves Of A Blonde”
American Poster
Polish poster for “The Firemen’s Ball” by Jerszy Flisak
French poster for “The Firemen’s Ball” by Ferracci
Danish poster for “The Firemen’s Ball”, artist unknown
German poster for “The Firemen’s Ball”
USA poster
British poster, artists unknown
Artist unknown
Saul Bass
