The Professionals didn’t seem to indulge in a lot of marketing promotion. Possibly (credibly) relying on it’s AllStar cast to carry it.
But some of marketing images are still a bit of a head scratcher.
Like this:
This DVD cover/poster headlines “Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance and Ralph Bellamy“. But … ? the image shows Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Marvin, Ryan and Woody Strode.
Palance and Bellamy are Billed, but not pictured. Cardinale and Strode are pictured, but not Billed.
???
This can only be attributed to contractual agreements regarding who would get Billed ahead of who … whom? I guess.
Even stranger: As shown below, Cardinale did not even appear in the original photo, but she was cleverly inserted later – between Lancaster and Marvin.
YET … she is not even identified on the Bill !! ??
Why bother?
Here’s another:
Again, we have actors Billed (Lancaster, Palance, Bellamy) – but not pictured.
And actors pictured (Cardinale, Strode), but not Billed.
I know it’s hot out there in the desert, but …
How hot is it? Check this:
Whew … it’s sweaty out here in the desert.
Who are those slobs in the background?
(Foreign marketers had no problem showing where their interest lies.)
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It’s either contractual nonsense or the marketing goobers kept changing their minds about what was going to “sell” the movie best. Maybe — probably — both.
In researching the movie there is considerable contention regarding the Billing order, Strodes Billing … etc. I would hope that corrections would be made in updated media. But … still a good movie.