Ironically in the early days of movie making actors were not usually depicted on the film posters. The title of the film and the producer and directors names were usually the attraction until Hollywood realized that it was the actors who brought in the viewers. It was at that time that the stars of movies were then plastered on each poster giving life to a new era in the film industry.
Movie posters created before the eighties were mainly returned to the studios or poster sources and destroyed when the archives became full or the film's run had ended. Many early film posters made for hit movies such as Casablanca, King Kong, Frankenstein and The Wizard of Oz were destroyed as a result of natural disasters that occurred during World War II. As people became more aware of their value theatre owners began to ignore return policies and those film posters that were spared are widely sought today by collectors and dealers.
To find out how influential a film poster was in the promotion of a film I asked people in my media class what they thought and why. The general concensus on the topic is that they are actually very important. If you go to the cinema regularly then you will see trailers for new releases often but if you are not a regular cinema goer then a film poster is what makes you go online to watch the trailer, which then makes you go to the cinema. So as you can see there is a great need for a film poster even with all of today's technology. There are obviously other ways that people find out about new films but this proves that posters are still very influential.
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