BIEN-AIMEE

The French poster artist Hukel was a master, and for that matter so was this other guy named Hurel.

Another day, another unknown talent. The above promo poster was painted by a French artist who signed his work “Hukel.” We’ve found references to him online, but no details unfortunately—not even a full name. However, we know he was active for at least four decades, because he painted the poster for 1981’s Cannonball Run, as well as this quirky 1960 advertising poster. The masterpiece above is the Yugoslavian poster for the French prison drama Tous peuvent me tuer, which was released in English as Anyone Can Kill. The movie starred Anouk Aimée, she of the renowned hawk eyebrows, which are lovingly reproduced by the artist. We will try to dig up more Hukel pieces, or at least a bit of info, and if we find anything you can be sure we’ll share.

Update: While we did see some websites that referred to this person as “Hukel” (such as the link we provided above), we now see that he is actually Clément Hurel. We’ve located a small selection of his work here, and he even has a French Wikipedia page that tells us he was born in 1927 and died in 2008 after a career designing scores of movie posters. Once again, this highlights a problem with the internet—i.e., nobody knows what the hell they’re actually talking about. You’d think Carter’s Price Guide to Antiques (where we got the “Hukel” info) would have their shit straight, but we guess that’s too much to expect in this day and age. The lesson? Check, double-check, triple-check, and don’t assume that someone with a fancy title is automatically more informed than you. After all the errors we’ve found online, we really should know better than to fall into that trap. Anyway, we now know who Clément Hurel is, and we’ll have more art from him soon.

Yugoslavia, France, Tous peuvent me tuer, Cannonball Run, Clément Hurel, Anouk Aimée, poster art, cinema, exyu

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

January 12

1960—Nevil Shute Dies

English novelist Nevil Shute, who wrote the books A Town Like Alice and The Pied Piper, dies in Melbourne, Australia at age sixty-one. Seven of his novels were adapted to film, but his most famous was the cautionary post-nuclear war classic On the Beach.

January 12

1967—First Cryonics Patient Frozen

Dr. James Bedford, a University of California psychology professor, becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. Bedford had kidney cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and was untreatable. His body was maintained for years by his family before being moved to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona.

January 11

1957—Jack Gilbert Graham Is Executed

Jack Gilbert Graham is executed in Colorado, U.S.A., for killing 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in a suitcase that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629. The flight took off from Denver and exploded in mid-air. Graham was executed by means of poison gas in the Colorado State Penitentiary, in Cañon City.

January 10

1920—League of Nations Convenes

The League of Nations holds its first meeting, at which it ratifies the Treaty of Versailles, thereby officially ending World War I. At its greatest extent, from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, the League had 58 members. Its final meeting was held in April 1946 in Geneva.

January 10

1957—Macmillan Becomes Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan accepts the Queen of England’s invitation to become Prime Minister following the sudden resignation of Sir Anthony Eden. Eden had resigned due to ill health in the wake of the Suez Crisis. Macmillan is remembered for helping negotiate the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty after the Cuban Missile Crisis. He served as PM until 1963.

January 9

1923—Autogyro Makes First Flight

Spanish civil engineer and pilot Juan de la Cierva’s autogyro, which was a precursor to the helicopter, makes its first successful flight. De la Cierva’s autogyro made him world famous, and he used his invention to support fascist general Francisco Franco when the Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936. De la Cierva was dead by December of that same year, perishing, ironically, in a plane crash in Croydon, England.