Tom Chantrell, a British artist, gained recognition as a film poster illustrator. Notably, he crafted the Style C poster that promoted the 1977 theatrical debut of Star Wars in British movie theaters.
Among the most celebrated creations by Chantrell are the promotional posters for films such as The King And I (1956), Carry On Cleo (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), One Million Years B.C. (1966), The Land That Time Forgot (1975), and At the Earth's Core (1976).
In 1977, 20th Century Fox commissioned Chantrell to develop a poster for the UK cinematic premiere of Star Wars. The US release was advertised using a poster created by Tom Jung, currently referred to as Style A. British cinemas initially showcased a revised version of Jung's artwork, the Style B poster by the Brothers Hildebrandt; however, executives at Fox and Lucasfilm were dissatisfied with this poster. To better promote the film, they opted for a more lifelike portrayal of the main characters. Chantrell used publicity stills from a press kit to accurately depict Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, and his wife, Shirley Chantrell, modeled for Princess Leia's physique.
Chantrell's Style C poster features Luke Skywalker looking directly at the audience and pointing his gun, accompanied by Han Solo and Princess Leia wielding blaster guns, with a prominent image of Darth Vader looming in the background holding a lightsaber. The poster also includes smaller characters and a montage of starfighters engaged in combat. Given Chantrell's extensive work with Hammer productions, he included Peter Cushing in the poster, making it the only Star Wars theatrical poster to ever include Cushing's image.
In 1978, in addition to its use as a cinema poster in the UK, variations of Chantrell's artwork were used as cinema posters and printed on promotional flyers and cinema tickets in Hong Kong, which was then a British colony.
Chantrell's Style C artwork was repurposed as the cover art for the 1987 first edition rulebook of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The book's credits attribute the cover illustration to "Cantrell."
The artwork of Chantrell was used as the cover illustration for the 1992 video game Super Star Wars.
- Tom Chantrell – The Man Behind the 'Star Wars' Poster (1977) on Fantha Tracks (archived from the original on May 27, 2024)
- Tom Chantrell on MobyGames