Movie Poster of the Day - The Gauntlet (1977)

Although The Gauntlet is not one of the best Clint Eastwood movies, it is fun. Here's what IMDB says about the film: "A hard but mediocre cop [Ben Shockley, played by Eastwood] is assigned to escort a prostitute [Augustina "Gus" Mally played by Sondra Locke] into custody from Las Vegas to Phoenix, so that she can testify in a mob trial. But a lot of people are literally betting that they won't make it into town alive."

It features some pretty decent action scenes, including a house being demolished by small arms fire. The film ends with Eastwood driving an armored bus into Phoenix, where heavily armed cops (who think Eastwood is the bad guy) are waiting for them.

Unfortunately, nothing in the movie quite equals the poster by Frank Frazetta. Frazetta's work always has an epic feel to it. Even though his work usually had fantasy, science-fiction or horror themes, The Gauntlet poster has this same feel. The burning, wrecked bus and orange sky overwhelming the buildings create a post-apocalyptic background. Shockley's rippling muscles are reminiscent of Frazetta's Conan paintings. And "Gus" - looking nothing like Sondra Locke, other than being female and blonde - has the same full hips and tattered clothing of any number of Frazetta's fantasy women. We don't see what Shockley is looking at...but we know he's going to kick it's butt.

If you want to see more of Frazetta's work, you can find his art work here.