Captain Blood / Capitan Blood (1935) Poster, Italian, Re-release 1948

Captain Blood / Capitan Blood (1935) Poster, Italian, Re-release 1948

Artist: Luigi Martinati (1893-1984)

Unframed: 28 x 13 in. (71 x 33 cm)

Framed: 33 1/4 x 19 in. (84.5 x 48.3 cm)

Luigi Martinati, one of the most celebrated Italian film poster artists, had a prolific career in film poster art. Martinati’s personal style is characterised by one or more large portraits, vividly painted, that dominate the poster. His best known and most admired posters are for Casablanca, Captain Blood, To Have and to Have Not and The Big Sleep. By the time Captain Blood was re-released in Italy in 1948, Errol Flynn was one of the most famous film stars in the world. Luigi Martinati was also at the height of his creativity, and produced this most stunning poster, which is superior to the 1935 poster.

Exceptionally rare Italian poster, that rarely surfaces.

Captain Blood was directed by Michael Curtiz, and stars Errol Flynn in his first swashbuckler role, alongside Oliver de Havilland and Basil Rathbone. Flynn and de Havilland were relatively unknown before this film. The studio took a gamble in casting them both in such major roles. The film was a huge success and launched the pair to Hollywood stardom. They went on to make seven more films together.