TOP: GORGO (1961, Dir. Eugène Lourié) poster by artist Joseph Smith (b. 1912) and concept art for the same poster BELOW.

Smith began his career as a movie poster illustrator at Walt Disney Studios where he developed the posters for FANTASIA (1940), PINOCCHIO (1940), and BAMBI (1942). In 1949, Smith joined Universal Studio’s publicity and advertising department and would remain there for seven years before finally going freelance where he worked for everyone from Allied Artists to Britian’s famed Hammer Studios. Smith did the posters for a number of classic horror and sci-fi films including: IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953), THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956), HORROR OF DRACULA (1958), THE MUMMY (1959), THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (1959),  DINOSAURUS! (1960), THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961), THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (1962), 7 FACES OF DR. LAO (1964), and SKULLDUGGERY (1970) among many others.

However undoubtedly Smith’s most famous poster was for director William Wyler’s epic BEN-HUR (1959). In fact, Smith’s work on BEN-HUR would have a direct impact on his GORGO poster which features the same ‘stone letters’ motif that Smith originally used on BEN-HUR. “I did letters for Ben-Hur that looked like stone,” recalled Smith in an interview, “Then everybody asked for that look.” Smith also claimed that he liked his original concept for GORGO’s poster more than the final version.