All

Being There

£95.00

Film

Being There

Additional information

Year

1979

Size/Type

UK Quad (30" x 40") Single Sided

Country of Origin

UK / British

Condition

Near mint minus – Very fine plus / originally folded (as issued)

Director

Hal Ashby

Actor/Actress

Jack Warden, Melvyn Douglas, Peter Sellers, Richard Basehart, Richard Dysart, Shirley MacLaine

SOLD - this item is sold. Please browse our currently available stock

“Getting there is half the fun…BEING THERE is all of it !”

A surreal looking film poster for Hal Ashby’s 1979 Oscar winning “Being There” that looks more like a Rene Magritte work of art rather than a movie poster. A perfect complement to what is a excellent (dark) comedy film featuring a standout (should have been Oscar winning) performance by Peter Sellers.  A stylish, detailed design that really impresses and is particularly suited to the landscape format of the British UK quad. The muted colours are offset by incredible graphics. With a limited release & showing in only a select number of independent and art-house cinemas the advertising campaign was very low key and the UK film poster that accompanied the cinema release is truly scarce. Originally folded (as issued) this beautiful unrestored 1979 example displays and presents to excellent effect and represents one of the most collectable Peter Sellers’ film posters available.

 …more detail

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria... read more +

Film Description

Being There Movie Poster

“A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television. After a run in with a limousine, he ends up a guest of a woman (Eve) and her husband Ben, an influential but sickly businessman. Now called Chauncey Gardner, Chance becomes friend and confidante to Ben, and an unlikely political insider.”

The slow and illiterate gardener Chance (Peter Sellers) has spent all his life inside the house of Mr. Jennings in a poor area of Washington D.C. His only contact with the outside world was through television. When Mr. Jennings dies, the house is shut-down by the family lawyer and Chance is forced to leave the place. While wandering on the streets, a limousine hits his leg and the owner, Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine), invites him to go to her house to be treated by her husband’s doctor and avoid any trouble in the hospital. She misunderstands his name and calls him Chauncey Gardner. When the simple Chance is introduced to her husband, Benjamin Rand (Melvyn Douglas), that is terminally ill with anemia, he becomes his friend and Ben interprets his wordings as metaphoric, transforming Chance in adviser of President Bobby (Jack Warden) and prominent figure in the world of economy and politics.

I must confess that this is the first time that I watch Being There and my first thought was that “Forrest Gump” is visibly inspired in this movie. Peter Sellers is once again fantastic in the role of a man that does not know that he does not know and therefore is capable to achieve everything. The forty-five years old Shirley MacLaine is still an extremely beautiful and seductive woman in this film. Melvyn Douglas has a top-notch performance in this movie, unfortunately one of his last movies. Jack Warden is hilarious in the role of an annoying president. The situations are surrealistic but seem to be realistic, and indeed it is a great joke with politicians and their cynical world.

 

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria

Mint
A poster that has never been used or displayed and may show the most minor signs of age and wear. The poster should have no holes or tears.

Near Mint
A generally unused poster with fresh, saturated colors. May have minimal tears at folds. Has no significant holes, no paper loss, may have minor tears along edges, may have fine pin holes.

Very Fine
A poster with bright colour and crisp overall appearance. It may have very general signs of use including slight fold separation and fold wear. It may have pin holes or very minor tears. This is the highest grade allowed for a poster that has been restored either on linen or on paper.

Fine
A poster with good colors and overall clean appearance. It may have minor tears small paper loss and minor stains. It may have some fold seperation.

Good
An average poster with overall fresh color. May have tears, minor paper loss, minor hazing. Paper may be brittle due to age, may have minor stains. May have a small amount of writing in an unobtrusive place. May have medium or major restoration.

Fair
A poster with faded colors and brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have tears and paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In need of restoration or had major restoration.

Poor
A poster that is worn, torn, and/or damaged. May have staining, cracking, dry rot, and/or large tears. May be heavily soiled, may have pieces missing. In need of major restoration.

All photographs and images used on our site are photographs of the actual poster/item you are buying, we do not use stock photographs.

Most Popular Poster Types

US Posters

LOBBY CARD
11 x 14″ printed on heavy stock paper. Used as display in theatre lobbies. Originally made in sets of eight. Some sets have a title card, which contains credits and artwork, essentially a mini-poster. The remaining seven cards are coloured photographic credits and poster artwork showing different scenes from the movie.

WINDOW CARD
14 x 22″ printed on heavy stock paper with the top 4-6 inches usually left blank for the local cinema owner to fill in the cinema and the date it was due to play. Largely discontinued during the 1970’s.

HALF SHEET
22 x 28″ printed on heavy stock paper. The image displayed is normally a smaller version of the main poster, although some do have different artworks and sometimes come in two versions.

INSERT
14 x 36″ printed on heavy stock paper. Inserts usually have the same artwork as a one sheet. Popular with collectors since they are smaller and easier to frame. Normally come tri folded or rolled.

STYLE Y/FORTY BY SIXTY
40 x 60″ printed on heavy stock paper. Rare since they were primarily used for major motion pictures only. Designed to be used outside the theatre, on an easel, normally at a drive-in movie theatre.

ONE-SHEET
27 x 41″ printed on paper. This is the most common size of poster, intended to be displayed in a glass “marquee” case. It is the most sought after size by collectors. Since the 1980’s most posters are sent to the theatre rolled and maybe slightly smaller measuring 27″ by 40″ and with the advent of backlit light boxes a growing number of modern movie posters are available double-sided and the more traditional single-sided.

THREE-SHEET
41 x 81″ printed on paper. These were printed on two or three separate sheets designed to overlap, few survive. Used for larger advertising spaces, normally posted on walls, perfect for huge movie theatres the drive-in, where people could see them from a distance. From the 1970’s on, three-sheets were sometimes printed in one piece and issued as “international” versions to be used abroad.

BRITISH Posters

BRITISH QUAD
30 x 40″ Most common poster size used in the UK. British Quads are horizontal and may have different artwork to the US one sheet. Like a US one sheet they normally come in two versions. Like a US one sheet they are usually supplied single-sided or more commonly now as a double sided poster.

BRITISH ONE-SHEET
27 X 40″, printed on paper. Very rarely used size.

ITALIAN Posters

ITALIAN LOCANDINA
13 x 28″ six inches shorter than the US insert, very nice size to frame. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

ITALIAN PHOTOBUSTA
18 x 26″ Glossy, high quality, used as lobby cards in Italy. Size may vary, either vertical or horizontal format. There are also double Photobusta or mini Photobusta.

2-FOGLIO (DUE)
(DUE): 39 x 55″ This is the standard poster size used in Italy. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

4-FOGLIO
(QUATTRO) 55 x 79″ Very large Italian poster printed in two pieces, often contains very beautiful artwork.

FRENCH Posters

FRENCH
47 x 63″ (GRANDE) or 24 x 33″ (PETITE) French movie posters normally come with different artwork to either the US or the UK. Like the Italian’s some of the artwork is extrememly beautiful.