No Way Out (1950) posters

Posters | Movies | Psychedelic, Pop Art & Politics |

Paul Rand, US 1-sheet, 27 x 41 inches.

Abstract: The collection of movie posters designed for the Hollywood production No Way Out (1950) are distinguished by the fact that three significant graphic design artists were utilised - Saul Bass, Paul Rand and Erik Nitsche. It was usual for one one artist to feature, and for movie poster design to follow a conservative pattern utilised since the first appearance of film in the 1890s. As such, the No Way Out collection of six distinctive posters is notable.

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1. Graphic design imperative

One of the most graphically interesting movie poster collections in post-World War II Hollywood is associated with the 1950 Hollywood film No Way Out, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Three artists are known to have been involved in the design of the six major posters for the US promotional campaign of No Way Out - Saul Bass (1920-1996), Paul Rand (1914-1996) and Erik Nitsche (1908-1998). For example, as noted by emovieposters.com in its auction sale of one of the posters:

The 1 sheet is a much admired poster with a really unusual design by Paul Rand. [It] was dramatically different from other posters of its time, and the person in charge of the ad campaign obviously wanted to make it extremely special, because they hired Paul Rand to do the one-sheet and 24-sheet, and they also hired Erik Nitsche to do several posters, and Saul Bass did the insert! Having these three great artists designing the posters has caused much confusion as to "who did what" over the years, but there has never been any doubt on this one-sheet, because Rand's name is printed under the image! One unifying image from the advertising campaign is the provocative handcuffs/bed image (first suggested by Bass) which he, Rand and Nitsche all used in their designs.

Paul Rand, 24-sheet poster, 9 1/2 x 20 feet. Location: Gerrard Place, London.

The movie's plot centres around the extreme racism of criminal Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) towards black prison doctor Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier), both prior to, and following the death of Ray's brother Johnny, and efforts to get the support of his widow Edie Johnson (Linda Darnell) in carrying out an autopsy. The heightened drama around racial colour is reflected in the posters through the use of blocks of black and red, alongside photographic inserts. Prior to this use of modernist graphic design elements, most American movie posters had followed a strict formula of showing the stars in action, with large fonts promoting the title of the film and name of the respective stars. As a result, since the silent era the posters had in general been graphically conservative, with few variations from this style. In large part it continues through to the present day. However, with the rise of Abstract Expressionism in the US after the end of World War II, there began to appear variations to this, and most especially in the graphic arts as applied to, for example, record covers and sleeves.

The artist behind three of the No Way Out posters is Eric Nitsche (1908-1998), a Swiss-American graphic designer. In a recent emovieposters.com auction sale, the following was noted in regards to the window card by him on offer:

Note that the unusual image on this very striking poster (which is mostly a solid background with cut-outs of Widmark's eyes and a terrified Darnell being grabbed) was decades ahead of its time (and we don't know how the studios or moviegoers reacted to this most unusual image).

Nitsche is less well-known than the other two artist used, with Wikipedia informing us:

His works focused on attention to the details of page composition and simple type presentation. His hallmarks were clear design, brilliant colors, smart typography, and an adherence to particular geometric foundations.

This is clearly evidenced in the material produced to support the premiere release of No Way Out in 1950, some of which is shown below. Nitsche's work is the most conservative geometrically of the three; he works in 90 degree angles and rectangles; Saul Bass presents us with acute angled parallelograms; and Rand favours trapezoidal shapes and arrow heads. Saul Bass is undoubtedly the most well-known of the American poster artists to bring in a unique graphic design style, and a number of books catalogue his work in this area.

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2. Posters

#1 - US 1-sheet, 27 x 41 inches (illustrated above). Artist: Paul Rand (1914-1996). The original release poster was unsigned, with the arrow in orange-red. Some of the posters seen by the writer have the Paul Rand signature, and these may possibly have been later reprints, with the originals unsigned, as was the practice with the majority of US movie posters. A number of different colours were used for the central cross arrow, including bright purple and red. In this poster a section of the face of the widow Edie Johnson Linda Darnell is shown. A possible brown-print variant is known.

Paul Rand

#2 - US 24-sheet poster (refer image above.). Artist: Paul Rand. Features a section of the face of protagonist Richard Widmark. The poster design is a lateral expansion of the 1-sheet design.

Paul Rand

#3 - US insert, 14 x 36 inches. Artist: Saul Bass. Features the faces of all four main characters.

Saul Bass

#4 - US window card, 14 x 22 inches. Artist: Eric Nitsche.

Erik Nitsche

#5 - US 3-sheet, 41 x 81 inches. Artist: Erik Nitsche. Features the fearful face of Linda Darnell.

Erik Nitsche

#6 - US half-sheet, 22 x 28 inches.  Artist: Erik Nitsche. Features the faces of Darnell and Widmark.

Erik Nitsche

The similarity in basic design elements of the Nitsche posters can be seen across all of the posters - a black background; orange-red script; arrows (thin or thick, white or orange-red); partial images of faces, expressing fear or anger; a bedstead with unlocked hand-cuffs. Due to the unique graphic design elements, the posters have often sold at a premium - especially the dynamic 1-sheet by Paul Rand, which has retailed over US$3,000 at auction. It is unknown whether these posters were released internationally, though the 24-sheet is known from a London hoarding circa 1950, illustrated above.

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3. References

Erik Nitsche, Creative Hall of Fame, accessed 25 November 2025. 

No Way Out WC (1950), emovieposters.com, auction sale, 18 November 2025.

Rand-om Thoughts, The Museum of Movie Posters, 27 April 2010.

Wikipedia, Eric Nitsche, Wikipedia, accessed 2 November 2025.

-----, No Way Out (1950), Wikipedia, accessed 2 November 2025.

-----, Paul Rand, Wikipedia, accessed 25 November 2025.

-----, Saul Bass, Wikipedia, accessed 25 November 2025.

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Posters | Movies | Psychedelic, Pop Art & Politics |

Last updated: 25 November 2025

Michael Organ, Australia