Created in 1954 by graphic designer Saul Bass, Carmen Jones was the first movie poster that he ever designed, one of many that he would create for acclaimed director Otto Preminger. Designing almost 35 movie posters for various directors in his illustrious career, Bass set a remarkably high bar for other graphic designers creating movie posters, although it is important to note that his design for Carmen Jones was quite unlike any of his other posters. Carmen Jones follows the twisted tale of character Corporal Joe, who falls for, and eventually murders after being rebuffed, a criminal temptress named Carmen Jones. The poster for Carmen Jones shows a picture of actress Dorothy Dandrige in her role as Carmen Jones. The red dress is indicative of her seductress character, as is her provocative pose and leering smile. While Bass uses photos in a select few of his designs, he never again uses a fully black background. It can be said that this piece was Bass experimenting with different designs, before he actually began designing the well known minimalist posters for which he is widely recognized. It must be noted that Bass uses a different balance in this poster than in many of his later works. In Carmen Jones, he has put the cast list on the left of the woman, and sheet music from the movie’s score on the right, instead of his usual placement of the cast list at the bottom of the poster. One must also recognize the importance of this film, specifically the cast within the time period. Carmen Jones came at a time in which racism was openly accepted, and racial segregation was still widely in place. Carmen Jones had an all black cast, something that was not seen in major motion pictures at the time. Otto Preminger “decided to produce [the film] independently” because he knew that “no major studio would be interested in financing an operatic film with an all-Black cast” (Wikipedia Contributors, 2021). This speaks to Bass’s character, showing that he was willing to stand up for his beliefs and endanger his career by starting off designing a poster for a movie that many people would have disapproved of.
