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HOOPER

£80.00

Film

HOOPER

Additional information

Year

1978

Size/Type

UK Quad / (30″ x 40″) / Single Sided / Printed in England by Leonard Ripley & Co Ltd. London

Country of Origin

UK / British

Condition

Very Fine minus ; originally folded (as issued)

Director

Hal Needham

Actor/Actress

Brian Keith, Burt Reynolds, Jan Michael Vincent, Robert Klein, Sally Field

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“Ain’t nobody can fly a car like Hooper…”

“HOOPER” is just one of those film posters that makes you go WOW ! especially if you’re a fan of Burt Reynolds (who still holds the record as Hollywood’s No.1 box-office superstar for five years in a row starting in 1978) or American muscle cars like the Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am beautifully rendered here (in full action mode) by Brian Bysouth. This country unique (British) design is easily the best looking paper from Hal Needham’s OTT auto-action fest and is very popular across a wide range of collectors. The originally folded (as issued) UK quad film poster offered here is from first year of release in Britain 1978 and displays and presents to excellent effect and represents a first class example of 1970’s nostalgia and desirable original movie memorabilia for the screen’s biggest star of the period.

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TRIVIA: Although not the car in the poster Burt Reynolds sold his personal Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am at auction in 2014 for a whopping $450,000

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Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria... read more +

Film Description

HOOPER Movie Poster

“Your life is worth fifty thousand dollars, that’s the price you put on it when you got behind this wheel !”

Following the success of the 1977 film Smokey And The Bandit Burt Reynolds was, for a short time at any rate, the world’s no.1 box-office star. Alas, like so many actors who get to the top Burt soon found himself losing his mantle as he stumbled from one lousy picture to another. Part of the problem was that Reynolds formed a long-running partnership with stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham, a union that yielded too many bad movies. In total, the two men worked together six times. A chronological list of their films together would run like this: “Smokey And The Bandit”, Hooper, Smokey And The Bandit II, The Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II, and Stroker Ace. Of this sequence, only the first two are really worthy of praise. The others are generally rather poor movies which met with considerable negativity from the critics and did little to enhance the star’s popularity with the public. “Hooper” was released in 1978 and, as noted, was the second of the Reynolds-Needham collaborations. It is a simple but very slick story set in the world of testosterone-fuelled Hollywood stuntmen, and is perhaps the best of Reynolds’ late ’70s/early ’80s films.

Sonny Hooper (Burt Reynolds) is a middle-aged Hollywood stuntman. He leads a freewheeling lifestyle with his girlfriend Gwen (Sally Field) and her father Jocko (Brian Keith), who was himself once a leading stuntman and is something of a father figure for Sonny. Sonny begins to feel the heat when a young new stuntman named Ski (Jan Michael Vincent) appears on the scene and threatens to take his mantle as the bravest performer in the business. Believing that he has never proved his greatness – neither to himself, his girlfriend, his companions nor the younger generation of the profession – Sonny decides to pull off one final stunt so dangerous and outrageous that it will cement his place in legend. Film-maker Roger Deal (Robert Klein) offers Sonny just the stunt he is looking for. Deal is busy making a James Bond style adventure movie and needs two fearless drivers to perform a record-breaking 325 feet leap across a collapsed bridge in a jet-fuelled sports car. Sonny and Ski agree to do the jump, even though everyone close to them urges them to turn it down as the odds of performing it successfully seem almost impossible.

“Hooper” is admittedly a light film with a story that demands little of the viewer, but on its own terms it is an enjoyable and involving film. The performances are surprisingly strong and nuanced for a film set in the world of macho stunt performers. Reynolds appears brash on the surface but elicits genuine humanity in the scenes where he torments himself over the daredevil legacy he wants to leave behind. Field is superb as his terrified girlfriend; Vincent shows gung-ho spirit as the youthful pretender; Keith is wonderful as the old-timer who has lived long enough in the business to appreciate the value of survival; and Klein gives the best performance in the entire film as the single-minded director willing to risk the lives of his stunt team in order to shoot the greatest action sequence ever filmed. The film is punctuated with several impressive action sequences, and climaxes with the jet car leap around which the story is based. This closing sequence is brilliantly put together – with real suspense generated about whether the drivers will or will not survive their attempt. As brash, brainless and brawny as it is, “Hooper” is still a tremendously enjoyable film. Fans of fast cars and sensational stunts will revel in it!

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.