Poster for the film Out of Sight: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is an original one-sheet movie poster for the 1966 Universal Pictures film Out of Sight, a comedy parodying the era’s popular spy films, especially the James Bond series. The film, directed by Lennie Weinrib, was an attempt to exploit the teenage filmgoing audience by featuring popular musicians signed to Universal/MCA Music, attractive young actors, and combining aspects of the faddish “beach party” movies with parodies of genre film. Out of Sight told the story of Homer (Jonathan Daly), the butler of super spy John Stamp, who decides to step in for his boss to prevent the criminal organization F.L.U.S.H. from bombing a music festival. Along the way, he and music fan Sandra Carter (Karen Jensen), who overheard the plot, must escape from three femme fatale assassins: Scuba (Wende Wagner), Tuff Bod (Deanna Lund) and Wipe Out (Maggie Thrett), on their way to stop the plot dreamed up by F.L.U.S.H. boss Big Daddy (John Lawrence), who's been "driven mad by rock'n'roll." The film featured musical performances by Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Dobie Gray, the Turtles, The Astronauts, The Knickerbockers, and Freddy and the Dreamers, as well as custom cars designed by George Barris. The poster is based on an illustration of events from the film by artist Joseph Smith. Out of Sight was released by Universal April 25, 1966 and was a moderate box office success.

The poster is an excellent illustration of the economic uncertainty facing the major Hollywood movie studios by 1960s, when the rise of television, changing consumer tastes, and government regulation threatened traditional business practices. Major studios began to follow the lead of smaller, leaner competitors like American International Pictures, whose low-budget, hip “beach party” and hot rod movies, featuring performances by popular rock and roll musicians, succeeded in drawing large teenage audiences and ticket sales.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1966
• Associated Name: Gray, Dobie
• artist: Smith, Joseph
• maker: Universal Studios
• Object Name: poster
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: printed (overall production method/technique)
• Measurements: overall: 41 in x 27 in; 104.14 cm x 68.58 cm
• place made: United States: California, Los Angeles
• Subject: Motion Pictures
• Subject: Entertainment, Film
• Subject: Automobiles
• Subject: Automobiles--Customizing
• Subject: Teenagers
• Subject: Music
• ID Number: 2023.0151.01
• catalog number: 2023.0151.01
• accession number: 2023.0151
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.