Movie Poster Spotlight: Die 3 Codonas – A fantastic Poster for a forgotten Film

The Codona family originated in Mexico and became an internationally renowned circus act in the 1920s and 30s. Among numerous other places, they also performed at Berlin’s legendary Wintergarten Varieté.

DIE 3 CODONAS is a 1940 German drama loosely based on actual events. With production costs of RM 1.206 million and a total gross of RM 2.556 million by January 1942, the film was a major commercial success.

The film was re-released by independent distributor Schorchtfilm in 1951. While the movie has survived, it is basically forgotten today. I had never heard of it either, until a recent purchase brought the poster into my collection:

The extraordinary quality of the poster is not entirely surprising once you look at who printed it. Kunst im Druck Obpacher was not a small post-war printer, but an established Munich printing company with a long tradition in high-quality lithography and poster production that went back to the early 1920s. Choosing a printer like this for a film‘s re-release strongly suggests that quality still mattered, even at a time when paper and other resources were scarce. It also shows a remarkable level of both care and craftsmanship. 75 years later, the film is long forgotten, but the poster has lost none of its impact.

This poster is available for purchase. It will be added to my online CATALOG with one of my upcoming updates.