Vintage original 27 x 40 in. "country of origin" British stone lithograph poster from the 1950s British version of RICHARD III, released in the UK in 1955 and directed by Laurence Olivier, depicting Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed King and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.
Printed in the UK for the film's original 1955 British theatrical release by London Films International, this poster is a stone lithograph, which produces very rich colors and fine detail. It is unrestored and folded as originally issued in fine- condition as shown with some separation and a light paper lift along the bottom left fold line.
Of the three Shakespearean films directed by Olivier, Richard III received the least critical praise at the time and it was the only one not to be nominated for "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards ceremony. Subsequently, many critics now consider Richard III Olivier's best screen adaptation of Shakespeare, as the film gained great popularity after its 1966 re-release. Olivier used long takes throughout this movie to allow the actors and actresses to build their scenes more theatrically and his opening soliloquy was shot in one nine-minute take. When he almost dropped the King's crown in the first scene, rather than re-shoot, he used the accident to create a motif for the movie.