Amsel’s lost art: THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION

Of all the unused movie poster art Richard Amsel created, I think my favorite remains THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION. It’s an absolutely gorgeous piece, reflecting the Alphonse Mucha / Art Nouveau period in which the film was set.

A digitally restored image of Richard Amsel's unused SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION poster.

I remember seeing the film on television when I was a kid, and while much of it went over my head (it would be a few years before I even understood the significance of the film’s title), I thought it was a hoot. Just picture it: Sherlock Holmes meets Sigmund Freud, and the latter helps the good detective with his drug addiction! It’s a pairing made in literary heaven…and reminded me of TIME AFTER TIME, another film I had fallen in love with, featuring H.G. Wells pursuing Jack the Ripper in contemporary San Francisco.

It would be some time later that I finally learned that both films were written by the great Nicholas Meyer, the man behind both STAR TREK II and TV’s THE DAY AFTER.

Meyer, adapted the SOLUTION script from his own 1974 best-selling novel, and was Oscar nominated for his efforts. He would go on to write a number of other Sherlock Holmes adventures, infusing them with style and intelligence, worthy of Arthur Conan Doyle.

If Richard Amsel’s artwork looks familiar, it’s because it shares an undeniable resemblance to the final poster done by Drew Struzan. Both are beautiful pieces, though I don’t know the full history of their creation. Was it a case of two artists thinking alike, or an art director who gave identical instructions to each of them?

The film's official poster, designed by Drew Struzan.

No matter. They’re both beautifully done, and I’m sure each poster has its champions. Unlike Amsel, however, Struzan wisely omitted the glaring presence of cocaine from his design. In my forthcoming documentary, I draw a funny parallel between Amsel's inclusion of the drug here, to the 70s era of sex, drugs, and rock and roll -- all of which Amsel took part in!

Amsel’s illustration was put up for auction by Christie’s in 1987, in order to help offset the artist’s sizeable tax debts. I don’t know where the original is now, but I did my best to restore an image through extensive digital tinkering.

Finding Amsel’s original art is, dare I say, a task worthy of Sherlock Holmes…