BB17-072 — TO COMMIT A MURDER
Shop Now YEAR: 1967
ORIGINAL TITLE: Peau d'espion
FILM STUDIO / PRODUCTION: Gaumont / Eichberg-Film / Franca Film
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century-Fox — logo displayed on this Australian poster TAGLINE: “Don’t let the frilly shirt fool you.” / “If you want something done right — do it yourself.”
DIRECTOR: Édouard Molinaro
CAST: Louis Jourdan, Senta Berger, Edmond O'Brien, Bernard Blier, Maurice Garrel, Gamil Ratib
SCREENPLAY: Édouard Molinaro and Jacques Robert, based on Robert's novel Peau d'espion
PRODUCER: Alain Poiré
MUSIC: José Berghmans
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Raymond Lemoigne
GENRE: Spy Thriller / Crime / Neo-Noir
POSTER PRINTER: M.A.P.S. Litho Pty. Ltd.
FORMAT: Australian Daybill
To Commit a Murder is a 1967 European espionage thriller starring Louis Jourdan, Senta Berger and Edmond O'Brien. Jourdan plays former soldier and novelist Charles Beaulieu, who is recruited into a counter-espionage operation involving a scientist planning to defect to China. The film was directed by Édouard Molinaro and adapted from Jacques Robert's novel Peau d'espion.
POSTER DESIGN FEATURES: A strikingly graphic Australian Daybill using an almost entirely turquoise, black and white palette. A large full-length photographic image of Louis Jourdan in a frilled shirt and black gloves dominates the upper section, while a romantic image of Jourdan and Senta Berger appears below. The lower black panel combines the oversized TO COMMIT A MURDER title with a stylised handgun and hand rendered in halftone dots. The restrained two-colour treatment gives the poster a particularly strong 1960s Eurospy / pop-art appearance.
COLLECTOR'S NOTE: A strong example of 1960s European spy cinema, made during the international boom in espionage films. Louis Jourdan gives the poster additional crossover appeal through his long international career, while Austrian actress Senta Berger was already a familiar face in European and American productions. Director Édouard Molinaro subsequently became particularly well known for La Cage aux Folles. To Commit a Murder was one of several thrillers Molinaro directed during the 1960s.
