Boy Friend [The] (Original Polish poster for the 1971 film) by Ken Russell (director, screenwriter); Sandy Wilson (screenwriter); Twiggy, Christopher Gable, Max Adrian (starring) - 1973

Poland: ZGK, 1973. Original Polish A1 poster, circa 1973, for the 1971 British-American film. Artwork by Jakub Erol.

Hal Erickson: "The Boy Friend" began life as Sandy Wilson's small-scale pastiche of British musical comedies of the 1920s. When the play was brought to America in 1954, its star was the teenage Julie Andrews. Because the musical required a minimum of sets, props, and costumes, it became a favorite of amateur theater groups throughout the world.

But director Ken Russell, notorious for his onscreen excesses, abandoned the film's simplicity, fashioning a humongous parody of the Busby Berkeley film musicals of the 1930s, staged on a scale that made Berkeley seem stylistically modest. Fashion model Twiggy plays Polly Browne, an aspiring musical comedy star, working as stage manager of a production. She is transformed into a star when she replaces leading lady Rita Monroe (Glenda Jackson, unbilled), who twists her ankle seconds before the curtain goes up. Christopher Gable, who plays Polly's on-stage leading man, also choreographed the lavish musical numbers.

23 x 33 inches. Faint stains to one edge, and a couple of short closed tears.